Believers by vertue of which union his Resurrection doth assure theirs Christ and Believers constitute but one Mystical Body it is the Spirit of Holiness which thus unites them of which they both must necessarily tho not equally Partake He is the Head they are the Members and therefore must have Communion with him in his Resurrection and Life Whatsoever Glorious or Inglorious Change the Head suffers the Members must feel something of the same in a proportionate Degree And this is so Infallible that the Apostle argues not only from the Negation of Christs Resurrection to the Negation of ours but from the Negation of our Resurrection to the Nullity of Christ's 1 Cor. 15.13 This Union is continued even while Believers are under the Power of the Grave The Relation of Christ to the Father did not cease when he was detained by Death in the Bowels of the Earth tho the Comforts of that Relation were suspended yet the Relation it self never brake of So in a State of Death the Union between Christ and Believers remains It is the Man who dies not the Christian Both parts of the Human Person are separated from each other but neither of them separated from Christ Hence it is that when their Spirits are returned to God their flesh doth rest in Hope and their Bodies take a joiful and quiet Repose in their Beds of Dust because He to whom they are so dearly and Indissolvably United will not leave them under the power of Death for ever But 2. The Spirit dwells in Believers not only as a bond of Vnion between Christ and them but as a Principle of Power for their Resurrection Rom. 8.11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you He that raised up Christ from the Dead shall also quicken your Mortal Bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you The Resurrection of Christ is ascribed in the Scripture to all the Persons in the Trinity It is ascribed to God the the Father because he is the Fountain of action in the Deity as at Acts 3.15 and it is ascribed to him as he is the God of Peace as invested with that Title because he was the Person to whom satisfaction was made as at Heb. 13.20 And it is ascribed to the Son himself because all that he did as Mediator was to be his own Joh. 2.19 and chap. 10.18 But the efficiency is ascribed to the Holy Spirit Whether we consider him as given by the Father or giving himself a Sacrifice for our Sins he is said by the Eternal Spirit to offer up himself Heb. 9.14 so whether the act of his Resurrection be spoken of as done by the Father or by himself yet it is by the Spirit which proceeds from both 1 Pet. 3.18 Now the Spirit that dwelleth in Jesus dwelleth in Believers And as it abode in him and acted in him to the offering up himself to the Death of the Cross and afterwards presided over his Body in the Grave and put forth its Power in raising him So far doth it act in Believers while here and preside over their dead Bodies to the same purposes And thus to ascribe the Resurrection of Believers to the Spirit of Christ is but congruous with other acts of Divine Goodness and the precedent workings of the Spirit For as he quickens the Souls of Believers and raises them from Death in Sin and conforms 'em to the Image of Christ so 't is requisite that He should be the Author of their Corporeal Resurrection and likeness to Christ also Now the Resurrection of Believers being fixed on these Grounds We shall next briefly consider its Necessity When Death which was introduc'd by Sin hath been reigning and acting the part of a Conqueror over Mankind and bringing all both just and unjust under its Dominion it is necessary that sooner or later it be overcome and swallowed up of victory 't is necessary that some of its Captives be released that some Souls be Redeemed from its Power Otherwise 1. The Glory of Christ Redeemer would suffer a great and perpetual Eclipse And 2. The Felicity of Believers would never be Compleat and Perfect 1. The Glory of Christ Redeemer would suffer a great and perpetual Eclipse The Perfection of Beings in their several Kinds was the Glory of the Creator To be redeemed from the Power of Sin and be left under the Power of the Grave were it supposeable would be such an imperfect Redemption as we cannot but apprehend to be inconsistent with the Wisdom and Power and Love and absolute Perfection of the Redeemer That Creatures capable of Immortality should be left in a State of Discipline and Probation here and that their Future State should be according to their present Behaviour and Deportment carries nothing of inconsistency in it But that these Creatures capable of Immortality when they have demeaned themselves aright and gone through their State of Tryal with Approbation should be left under the Power of Death and not entred into their Masters Joy is such a dealing as we cannot conceive worthy of God That Death and He who hath the Power of Death that is the Devil should perpetuate their Authority over the sincere Servants of Christ and take their Reward from them How Inglorious a Person would this bespeak our Redeemer to be Moreover as he is the Head of the Mystical Body his Honour suffers a visible Diminution by the Absence of any Member There is so much lost of his Praises as should belong to those that are thus kept back For who can declare his Righteousness in the Grave Or Praise him in the House of Silence Psalm 88.11 12. Psalm 115.17 We are not to imagine our Lord so careless of his own Glory when he hath already done so much for that end and when it is still in his own Power as he is absolute Lord of the whole unseen World to perfect his own Praise As surely as he hath triumphed over Death and all Principalities so surely will he make all his Members to Triumph over them and that for his own Glory And none shall be detained under their Dominion unless such as by their own choice while here remained in an inviolable Union with Death and the Prince of Darkness that is the Devil 2. The Felicity of Believers would never be Compleat and Perfect The Perfection of their Personal Felicity necessarily requires the Concourse or Union of all that is essential to or constitutive of the Person The Body and the Soul from their first setting out in the World to the Grave run the same Race therefore they must enjoy the same Reward There is 't is true a great inequality in their Operations as respecting Holiness so there will be a great inequality in their Enjoyments but both must have their proper share And it would not be beseeming the Divine Goodness to deal so differently as that the Soul should be Everlastingly Happy and the Body lost in forgetfulness
me into his Family that I am no more under the Dominion of Satan as one of his Houshold or Slaves And this is a Pledge and Earnest that he will receive me to himself into the Mansions of his Glory where I shall no more fear the Arrest of Death or be molested with any other natural Evils Now having seen the Sense of the Words there is something material to be observed if we look on them in their Mutual Aspect and Relation to each other And 1. The latter Part of the Words doth direct and confine our Apprehensions of the former There is a Resurrection both of the Just and Unjust Acts 24.15 These are specified by their different Ends One is a Resurrection unto Life the other unto Damnation John 5.9 And it is determined which Resurrection must be here meant by that which is added For He shall receive me All must be rais'd and though it is by the same Almighty Power yet not to the same ultimate Purpose and End Some are rais'd that they may be sent into the most remote and reimpassible Distance from God Others that they may be taken into the nearest Union with him 2. There is a Mutual Security inferred from the Expressions on each other But God will redeem my Soul from the Power of the Grave for he shall receive me He must first redeem me from out of the Hands of Death before he can receive me My final Blessedness consists in my Reception with him This Blessedness must reach to the Body which is an essential Part of the Man as well as the Soul otherwise it is not Compleat and Perfect And 't is his Word whereon he hath caused me to Hope that where he is his Servants shall also be John 12.26 This makes it necessary that the Body be raised Good Actions and whatsoever is a part of Divine Service or belongs to us to do as his Servants though designed by the Counsel and Resolution of the Spirit yet are performed by the Ministry of the Flesh And the Body is the Consort of the Soul in all its Obedience and Sufferings They must be both offered as one living sacrifice to God Rom. 12.1 They must both concur to render us his Servants therefore their Concourse is necessary that his Servants may be where he is And because it is a God one who is infinitely powerful and faithful that is to make me thus finally and perfectly Blessed I have no Reason to doubt But he will redeem my Soul from the Power of the Grave His rewarding Goodness as well as his revenging Justice must be made manifest And how can that be unless the Body be raised that the entire Person may be capable of a just Recompence If I am one of those whom he will receive it is impossible that I should be held under the Power of Death or remain its Captive any longer than for such a Season as the Method and Order of his working makes needful And there is an equal Necessity inferred also on the other side Because He will redeem my Soul from the Power of the Grave therefore He shall receive me to himself There is a Mutual Insurance because it is equally impossible for a Believer to be redeemed from the Power of the Grave and not be finally and perfectly Blessed as to be perfectly Blessed without being first redeemed 3. This Mutual Relation between the Words doth intimate a Manifestation of my belonging unto God Resurrection alone simply considered doth not prove me to be his but when he shall both raise me and receive me it is thereby manifestly determined whose I am Here it is still liable to Question both as to my self and others To whom I belong and though I find this weighty Question sometimes comsortably resolved yet at other times I cannot discern or take the Comfort of any such Answer But then it will be finally decided Redemption from the Grave is a demonstrative Argument of his Interest in us to which we cannot but Assent As the Jews professed a readiness to believe that Christ belonged to God and was his Son if as a Father he would deliver him from the power of Death on the Cross Matth. 27.43 The Honour of our Lords Relation to the Father was much eclipsed by his poor Life and ignominious Death And though his darkest Nights were enlightened with some discoveries of his Deity yet they were vanishing and transient But in his Resurrection he was declared to be the Son of God with Power Rom. 1.4 And the Father publickly owned him in the Face of a contradicting World The glorious Resurrection of Believers will be an illustrious and convincing Evidence that God is their God and that they are his People The Doctine or general Proposition from the words is this True believers tho they die yet shall not perpetually remain in a state of Death but be raised and received up into Glory That they die as well as others tho they are delivered from the Sting of Death is necessary for divers reasons * Bates of Death cap. 4. namely for the more Eminent Exercise of their Grace and Illustration of the Divine Glory for the preserving a due and just difference between the Militant and Triumphant State of the Church And that the sinful frailties which cleave to them here may be abolished and they prepared for the Caelestial life of which the Natural Body is uncapable And 't is likewise necessary that they remain under the power of Death for a time that the established Order of Providence might be preserved †Bates ut supra and that the Glory of our Redeemer at his second appearance might be greatned together with their own Glory by their simulraneous Resurrection and Glorification and Triumphant Entry with him into Heaven But it is not of this that we are to speak All are equally subject to the stroke of Death but all are not again redeem'd from its power Death and the Grave is not universally Overcome as to all It still remains a Conquerer over Multitudes and will be finally victorious over them But tho Death worketh in Believers and surronds them on every side and at last gains a temporal conquest over their bodily Life Yet hereafter that Vanquished Life shall revive and that more Noble Life which is hid with Christ in God shall be consummate and made perfect In this present State Christians may vanquish the fears of Death But 't is at their Resurrection when their corruption shall have put on Incorruption and their mortals shall have put on Immortality that the saying shall be brought to pass which is written Death is swallowed up in Victory O Death where is thy Sting O Grave where is thy Victory Thanks be to God who giveth us Victory through our Lord Jesus Christ 1 Cor. 15.54 55 56 57. I shall briefly State the Grounds of the blessed Resurrection of true Believers and shew you its necessity and then make some Application of this
Point The Ensuring Grounds of a Believers Resurrection are principally two 1. The Resurrection of Christ 2 Cor. 4.14 Knowing that he who raised up Jesus from the dead will also raise us up by Jesus 1 Cor. 6.14 1 Thess 4.14 for if we believe that Jesus died and rose again even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him Christ rose not as a Private but as a Publick common Person Our Nature was raised in his Person and therefore in our Nature all true Believers He rose as the First Fruits of them that sleep 1 Cor. 11.20 And upon this account our Resurrection is secured and not our Resurrection meerly but in all its happy Modifications and Issues as the First Fruits offered to God did not only assure but sanctifie the whole following Harvest And this security tho of something future is so strong that that the Apostle illustrates it by an opposite Instance wherein the security is actually and most lamentably felt as at 1 Cor. 15.21 22. for as by Man came Death so by Man comes the Resurrection from the Dead As in Adam we all die so in Christ shall we be made alive but every man in his order Christ the First Fruits afterwards them that are Christs at his coming so that as our Death and the Death of all that shall come into Being is secured by Adam's so with an equal but more joiful certainty the Resurrection of Believers is secured by Christ wherefore because he lives they shall live also John 14.19 This inferring a believers Resurrection from Christ is grounded on three reasons 1. He is the Meritorious Cause of our Resurrection The Prayer of the Prophet as it engaged the Divine power raised the Shunamites Child 2 Kings 4.33 34. the dead Souldier revived at the touch of the Prophet's Bones chap. 13.21 How much more shall the will of Christ and the power of his Death raise us * Baxter 's Sts. Rest p. 1. cap. 5. Sect. 2. He was our Surety when under the arrest of Death and making full satisfaction to the Justice of God merited not only our Impunity but our Advancement Now having finished the work of our Redmption by his sufferings and Death his Resurrection is but the just consequent of his Passion and Discharge or Acquittance upon this our Justification is grounded Rom. 5. ult Now the price being paid and the Acquittance received there is no Barr against our happy Resurrection any more than against his because the Price was paid in our stead and the Acquittance received is for the use of the principal Debter whoever receives it Furthermore the Redemption of Christ extended to the Body as well as to the Soul otherwise he had been but an incompleat Saviour therefore Christians who have experienced the vertue of his redeeming Grace are said to wait for the final act of his Redeeming Power in the Redemption of their Bodies Rom. 8.23 * Athanas. de Inearnat verbi Whether there should have been no Resurrection of the Body at all if Christ had not died and whether he died so far for all both just and unjust to raise them as some think Or whether there should have been a Resurrection of the Body if Christ had not died and Man should have still suffered both Temporal and Eternal Death in toto supposito in his whole Person as others think †Cocceus de faedr Cap. 2. Sect. 2. yet certainly in the present order the Resurrection of Believers must be ascribed to the Merits of the Cross and looked upon as the fruit of Christs Death so that it remains as sure as the vertue and efficacy of his Passion 2. He is the effective Principal or cause of our Resurrection All power is given him in Heaven and in Earth He is the support of our Bodily Life and the Author of that Spiritual Life we live as Believers and by him all things are upheld and do consist therefore t is requisite that all things should be likewise beholden to him for their Restitution It must be a Mediating Power the power of a Mediator to preserve things in being where their being is forfeited and Annihilation deserved and likewise to heal the disorders Sin hath introduced among all kind of Beings that relate to the Use and Comfort of Apostate Man And as he is the Author of this Restitution among the Creatures so likewise of the Resurrection of Man which will be accompanied therewith By his General Power and Agency wicked Men shall be raised He is Lord of the whole unseen State who as he can commit so can bring forth having the Key of Death as well as of Life He will exert his Power to recompact the scattered parts of their Bodies and as a Judge Authoritively Summon them to appear before him But Believers are raised tho not by an Inferiour yet by a more benign and advantageous power His own Resurrection put him in the Possession of that Power which do effectually secure ours Rom. 14.9 For to this end Christ both died and rose and Revived that he might be Lord both of the Dead and Living 3. Christs Resurrection is the Example or Pattern of a Believers because he arose therefore they shall rise and shall so arise as he did and be restored to Life according to his Pattern Phil. 3.21 Our vile Bodies shall be changed into the likeness of his most Glorious Body His Body was raised the same so shall ours and yet his Body was improved by the Resurrection so shall ours too and so much the more improved than his as they need it more whereupon as to our Bodily State we shall become like the Angels that are in Heaven Mat. 22.30 As we shall be purged from all our present Infirmities so we shall no longer need the means of bodily Sustentation for the Children of God which are the Children of the Resurrection are equal unto the Angels and can die no more Luke 20.36 Our Lord was raised that he might ascend and be glorified so shall we God will redeem our Souls from the Power of the Grave that he might receive us to himself The Second Ground is 2. The Inhabitation of the Spirit And this is a more immediate or proximate Foundation of this blessed Priviledge Resurrection simply considered hath its dependance only on the Will and Power of God but it is of a Glorious Resurrection that we here speak The meer Resurrection of the Body is absolute but a Resurrection unto Glory is conditional and therefore appropriate to some only and the Author of this Glorious Resurrection hath determined to whom it shall be vouchsafed He himself hath confined it to such as have a work of Grace effectually wrought by the Spirit of Christ dwelling in them Now the Inhabitation of the Spirit in Believers will more clearly appear as the Ground of their Resurrection by considering these two things 1. The Spirit of Holiness is the vital bond of Vnion between Christ and