Member I know not how this can be answered but by saying either That the Dead Body of a Saint is not in Membership with Christ or by saying That though it be in Membership yet it is not in Union to the Spirit Now as to the First if the Dead Body of a Believer be not in Membership with Christ then the Death of every Believer Maims Christ's Mystical Body he sustains a Loss as well as we And he hath said Nothing shall be Lost AND as to the Second if it be said The Body of a Saint may be in Membership to Christ and yet not in Union to the Spirit that is Absurd and Impossible for we are no longer Christ's than as the Spirit of Christ Dwells in us It is the Spirit that Unites Christ and the Saint together and he it is that maintains the Union it holds no longer between Christ and the Believer than the Spirit dwells in Him If any have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his Therefore either the Spirit must maintain a Union to the Dead Body of a Saint or else it cannot be in Union to Christ it is none of his for it is destitute of the Spirit 2. The Believer is as really in Covenant with God as Christ was his Soul as really as the Soul of Christ and his Flesh as really as the Flesh of Christ both are in Covenant and by this Covenant the Union between the Spirit of God the Flesh of Christ remained firm inviolable and is there not the same reason why it should remain so between the Spirit of God and the Flesh of the Believer The Spirit would not leave Christ when in the Grave no not for a Moment and will it leave the Believer when laid there Where then is his Covenant Faithfulness who hath said I will never never never leave thee nor never forsake thee Heb. 13.5 The Promise is Extensive to every part and every state of the Believer Never here never hereafter never in life never in death never in thy Soul never in thy Dust So that Death can't touch the Union that is between the Spirit and the Saint neither as to Flesh nor Soul Indeed when Death comes and pulls down this earthly Tabernacle it forces the Soul out of Doors and it quits it But doth it force out the Spirit of God too Is it stronger than He The Scripture says That Death shall not be able to separate us from the Love of God which is in Christ Rom. 8.38 39. But if the indwelling of the Spirit be lost while the Body lies in the Grave then Death can separate us from the Love of God in great part that is as to the Body so long as it lies in the Grave For the Love of God can no way be enjoyed but through Union to the Spirit and this is the only thing wherein the dead Body of a Believer can be any way capable of receiving Love from God the preserving it in the Union of the Spirit to a glorious Resurrection State Most evident therefore to me it is that the Union between the Spirit of Christ and a Saint cannot be broken in any part of it neither as to Soul nor Body no not by dying for if the Spirit of God should be separated from the Body in Death what a dreadful thing would Death be to a Believer As to his Flesh it would be no better than a falling from Grace and what a sad Contradiction would that be that the Soul in death should be receiv'd to Glory and the Body in the mean time fall from Grace and this by an Act of God for Death is God's Act While the Believer lives the Spirit of God dwells in Soul and Body both now if at Death he utterly separates from the Body then it is fallen from Grace and that by God's Act only What a sad Consequence is this I say therefore that the Union between the Spirit of Christ and the Body of a Saint is never broken no not in Death For why more in Death than in Sleep The Spirit of God dwells in the Body of a Believer when it sleeps and yet then it is uncapable of any Act of Communion with Him uncapable of Service and Obedience Whatever the Soul in that case may do yet the Senses are locked up and the Body as to any Duty is but as a dead thing And yet the Body is the Temple of the Holy Ghost when it is asleep as really as when awake and so it is when dead as well as when living And it must be so if you consider but the nature of the Union that is between the Spirit of God and the Believer in those two Essential Properties of it viz. total and indissoluble 1. It is total and of the whole Person the Covenant is made with the whole Person and so is the Union that comes by it with Body and Soul God owns the Body as really as the Soul He loves the Body as really as the Soul He Sanctifies the Body as really as the Soul He Redeems the Body and will glorifie the Body as really as the Soul for the Union is a total Union 2. It is indissoluble and can no way be broken off as it takes in Body and Soul both to make it total so it takes them in for ever to make it indissoluble The Body is for ever in Union to the Spirit as well as the Soul and as really in the Grave as in Grace or Glory I pray what else is the meaning of Sleeping in Jesus 1 Thes 4.14 Them that sleep in Jesus will God bring with him Why are the dead Bodies of Believers called the dead in Christ ver 16. The dead in Christ shall rise first The Body tho' dead yet it is said to be still in Christ because of the indwelling of the Spirit in it AND so much for the first thing That the Spirit of God dwells in Believers And how He dwells in them not only in the Soul but in the body and not only in Grace but in the Grave 2. HE dwells in them as a Principle of Resurrection Power and this is one great end of the Union he maintains with the Dust of a Saint while in the Grave that He may raise it to Glory at last For as the Resurrection of every Believer is secured by the Resurrection of Christ Because I live ye shall live also So the Spiritual Union is the great Foundation upon which it stands John 19.19 It is one of the great Works of the Spirit of God to Raise the Bodies of the Saints at last and He hath given the highest Evidence of it in His Raising Christ for this was His peculiar Work THO' the Resurrection of Christ is ascribed to each Person in the Trinity To the Father Gal. 1.1 To the Son John 2.19 21. Acts 2.32 John 10.17 18. Yet the peculiar Efficiency in Raising Christ was from the Spirit He was put to Death
Saints are blessed Revel 14.13 Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord You 'll say they are blessed because their Souls are gone to Heaven and enjoy God I but that is not all for then it would rather have been said Blessed are the Souls of them that die in the Lord. But pray mind it is that which dies that hath the Blessing affixed to it Blessed are the dead Now the Soul is not dead that lives and who knows not that the Soul that lives in Heaven is blessed But the design of the Holy Ghost here is to Comfort Believers concerning their bodies when in the Dust Doth the Body die why yet it partakes of a blessing in Death Blessed are the dead Nothing of a Saint dies but his Body why then Blessed are the dead And mark how his Right to the Blessing accrues He dies in the Lord i. e. in Union to the Lord Death makes no separation And if so then as what Union there was between the Spirit of Christ and the Soul of a Saint remains still so what Union there was between the Body of a Saint and the Spirit of Christ remains still He dies in the Lord. 5. IT must be so if we do but duly consider the Subject of Sanctification and what is that Not the Soul only but the whole Person that is Body and Soul it is not any one part only that is Stamped with the Image of God but the Intire Nature of every Believing Person the whole Soul and the whole Body For Sanctification is a Repair of the Decay of the Vpright State of our Creation Now in the First Creation our whole Nature was stampt with God's Image not only the Soul but the Body too was Interested in the Image of God by a Participation of Original Righteousness AND when Man Sinned the Image of God so far as it was our Righteousness and Holiness was utterly Defaced and Lost it departed from our whole Nature Body and Soul and hence the whole Person is said to be Polluted and Defiled by Sin not only all the Powers of the Soul but all the Members of the Body As you may see Rom. 3.13 14 15. Rom. 6.19 NOW this being the Case of all Men therefore our Sanctification which is the Reparation of God's Image must Respect the whole Man equally and the Image of God must be stamped upon the Body as well as the Soul and so it is wherever Sanctification is wrought This is Evident from the Apostle's Prayer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Thessal 5.23 The God of Peace Sanctifie you throughout i. e. in your whole Man for so he Explains it in the next words in body and soul and spirit It is not a Sanctification thoughout if the Body be not made Holy as well as Soul and Spirit NOW do but see how Christ Argues about his Lying in the Grave from the Holiness of his Body Psal 16.9 10. My Flesh shall rest in Hope for thou wilt not leave my Soul in Hell that is my Body in the Grave nor suffer thine Holy One to see Corruption What is meant here by thy Holy One it is meant only of the Body of Christ for his Soul was in Heaven nor was that capable of seeing Corruption NOW God would not Suffer the Dead Body of Christ to see Corruption and why Because it was Originally and Perfectly Holy never Tainted with the least Sin and therefore saw not the least Corruption in the Grave which else it would have done and which the Bodies of the Saints do BUT that other Argument of Christ is common to all Believers with him My Flesh shall Rest in Hope for thou wilt not leave my body in the Grave And this Not leaving the Body in the Grave speaks Two Things I. The Abiding Vnion of the Eternal Spirit with the Body II. THE Future Resurrection of the Body by the Spirit from the Grave and why Because the Body is God's Holy One. NOW I would Querie Whether was the Spirit of God separated from the Dead Body of Christ or no That his own Soul was separated from his Body that is certain for that he recommends to his Father Luke 23.46 Father into thy hands I commend my Spirit Therefore it is evident his Soul was separated from his Body but yet the Spirit of God was not and the Reason was because in that Covenant that passed between the Father and the Son the Father engaged to take Care of him in Death and to Raise him again to Life And for this Cause though his Soul was Separated yet the Spirit of God was not his Holy Body continued in Union to and under the Special Care of the Spirit of God every moment it lay in the Grave and in the Faith and Comfort of This Christ died so he tells you Therefore my heart is glad my glory rejoyceth myflesh also shall rest in hope Now mark the Reasons he gives they are Two-fold ONE is from His State in Death THE other is from his Certain Restauration to Life I. FROM His State in Death which is a State of Union to the Eternal Spirit Thou wilt not leave my body 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lisheol in the Grave It is not only meant of his Remaining there but of his being left of the Spirit while he was there Tho' my Body lye in the Grave thou wilt not leave me when I am in that state II. THE other is from his Certain Resurrection to Life v. 11. Thou wilt shew me the Path of Life Herein he points to the Covenant between Father and Son wherein God promises that He shall prolong his Days Now therefore Isa 53.10 says Christ in the highest Considence and Assurance Thou wilt not leave my Body in the Grave There is the Union asserted Thou wilt shew me the Path of Life There is the Resurrection secured NOW then I assume the Querie again Was the Spirit of God separated from the Body of Christ when Dead in the Grave or not If it be said that it was then it will undeniably follow That there was a part of Christ's Sufferings that was not Meritorious yea the greatest Part for his Death was the Chief Part of his Sufferings the Compleating Act and there could be no Merit in Christ's Death if his Body was not in Union to the Spirit of God for what should give the Value and Virtue to his Death That which gave Value and Virtue to his Death was the Eternal Spirit AND if the Dead Body of Christ was in Union to the Spirit when in the Grave then so must the dead body of every Believer be also and that upon a Two-fold Account 1. Because every Believer is a Member of Christ Body and Soul are in Membership and therefore if the Spirit was in Union to Christ as Head so it must be to the Members also for we have the Spirit from Christ it is in us derivatively from him as he is the Head of Influence to every
Comfort in DEATH A Funeral Sermon PREACH'D Upon the DEATH OF Mr. Timothy Cruso LATE PASTOR of a Church in London Who Died Novemb. 26. 1697. By MATTHEW MEAD LONDON Printed by S. Bridge for Tho. Parkhurst at the Bible and Three Crowns in Cheapside And John Lawrence at the Angel in the Poultry 1698. A Funeral Sermon On the Death of Mr. Timothy Cruso ROMANS viii II. If the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you He that ruised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal Bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you IT is the great Privilege and Advantage of all that are United to Christ that however things go with them in this World it shall be sure to go well with them in the next The great Care of God is about their Eternal State that whatever befals them in the Way they may not miss of Happiness in the End and this Happiness is asserted here Negatively in verse the first There is no Condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus NOW this eleventh verse with the former is a Prolepsis or a Pre-occupation of a secret Objection or Doubt arising from the fore-going Assertion The Objection or Doubt is this How can it be said There is no Condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus since Death which is the Fruit of Sin yet seises the Godly as well as others NOW this the Apostle makes Answer to in this and the foregoing Verse both by way of Concession and by way of Correction I. BY way of Concession The body is dead because of sin He doth not say only it is Mortal and subject to Death it shall and must die but in the Present Tense which carries great Emphasis in it the Body is dead and he Expresseth it thus for Three Reasons 1. Because of the Divine Determination It is appointed for all men once to die Heb. 7.29 And therefore the Bodies of Believers are as Mortal and as subject to Death as other Mens 2. It is dead because Death is begun Mortality seises upon us betimes by the many Infirmities that attack us how many Deaths do we die daily by Gout Stone Collicks Asthma's Catarrhs Fevers c. before Death it self comes to relieve and release us 3. Because of the Ground whereupon it proceeds and that is Sin The body is dead because of sin We do not die as the Beasts die Death is not a natural Accident but a Punishment it is an effect of the Justice of God for Sin By one man sin enter'd into the world and death by sin Rom. 5.12 II. HE Answers by way of Correction opposing a double Comfort against this dying of the Body Verse 10. The Spirit is Life because of Righteousness That is one Comfort BY the Spirit here we are to understand the Soul yet not simply and absolutely considered but as renewed by Grace So it doth live for the present and it shall live for ever AND mark the ground of the Benefit Because of Righteousness Because of Imputed Righteousness which gives us tight to this Life or because of Inherent Righteousness which is the beginning of this Life AND then the other Comfort is in the Text and that is If the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus front 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 Sum of all is this IF you are Believers indeed though your Bodies die yet your Souls shall live and that for ever and your Bodies though they die yet they shall not die out-right they shall not finally perish for they shall be raised again SO that though Sin infers Death yet that Death is neither total nor final 1. NOT total It is but an half Death it seiseth only upon the Flesh The Spirit is Life because of Righteousness 2. NOT final Death is not such a Night as hath no Morning It is for a limited time and then the dead shall return again As the Life of Man is for an appointed time so is his Death too As Life is a Lease which when a Man hath lived out then he dies So Death is a Lease too which when a Man hath died out then he shall Live again JOB calls it a Set Time chap. 14.13 O that thou wouldst hide me in the Grave But how long would he be hid there Not for ever No but for the set time That thou wouldst appoint me a Set Time and remember me and in v. 14. he calls it an appointed time All the days of my appointed time will I wait till my change comes This Change is not meant here of a Change by Death as many interpret it but of a Change by Rising again as appears by the Context It is the great Change when we shall all be changed 1 Cor. 15.51 when Christ will change our vile Body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious Body After this Change we shall hear no more of Changing for when this Mortal shall have put on Immortality then Death shall be swallowed up in Victory 1 Cor. 15.54 But how shall this Change be brought about That is Answered in the Words of the Text 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 In which Words you have Two General Parts I. A happy Resurrection Promised He that raised up Christ from the dead shall quicken your mortal bodies II. The Condition upon which the Promise is made If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you In the Resurrection promised you have Two Things I. The Author of it or the Efficient Cause and that is God the Father Described by this Periphrasis or Eminent Work of Power He that Raised up Jesus from the Dead II. The Way or Manner of bringing it about and that is By his Spirit that Dwelleth in you The Doctrine that I intend to Insist on upon this Occasion is this Doct. That the Bodies of all the Saints shall at the the last day be quickened and Raised by that Spirit which Dwells in them I shall speak to this under Two Heads I. That the Spirit of God Dwells in the Children of God II. He Dwells in them as a Principle of Resurrection Power and is the Ground and Cause of their Happy Resurrection 1. That the Spirit of God Dwells in the Children of God This is plain in the Scripture 1 Cor. 3.16 Know you not that ye are the Temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you 2 Tim. 1.14 That Good Thing which was committed to thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwells in us John 14.17 The Spirit of Truth He Dwelleth with you and shall be in you So in the Verse but one before the Text If so be the Spirit of
in the Flesh but Quickened by the Spirit 1 Pet. 3.18 Declared to be the Son of God with Power according to the Spirit of Holiness by the Resurrection from the dead Rom. 1.4 And this is the sense of that in 1 Tim. 3.16 Justified in the Spirit How was He Justified in the Spirit Why the Spirit by Raising Him from the Dead did therein declare him acquitted from all the Guilt he was charged with and all the Reproaches he underwent NOW as Christ arose so doth every Believer rise by the same power and that is the Power of the Spirit of God so the Apostle tells you 2 Cor. 4.14 He which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise us up also by Jesus He dwells as a Principle of Resurrection Power in every Believer and holds a Union with the Flesh for that very Purpose that while it is in the Grave He may preserve it and at last raise it again NOW pray mind the Text again 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 dwells in you The Dead Body of a Saint is designed for quickening e for a Resurrection to Life And that is not all but it is to be conformed to the likeness of Christs Resurrection in its quickening This the Prophet intimates Isa 26.19 Thy Dead Men shall Live Together with my Dead Body shall they Arise So we Read it but the Hebrew is Nebelathi jekumun cadaver meum resurgent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thy dead Men shall live They shall arisc my dead Body The Natural body of a Believer belongs to the Mystical Body of Christ and shall arise as a part of his Body and therefore shall arise as his Natural Body did How is that By the Spirit dwelling in him AND the Spirit is said in the Text to dwell in the Dead Body of a Believer for that purpose He shall quicken your Mortal Bodies by His Spirit that dwells in you Your Margent reads it Because of His Spirit that dwells in you And that makes the Thing more plain viz. That the Great Reason why the Spirit dwells in the dead bodies of Believers is to be a Resurrection Principle in them to raise them again to Life This the words speak out plainly He shall quicken you because of His Spirit that dwells in you SO that a Resurrection to Glory is made plainly dependant upon the indwelling of the Spirit in such Bodies as shall be so Raised I don't speak of a Resurrection absolutely and simply but of a Glorious Resurrection For though the Resurrection of the Body considered in the thing it self be a business Absolute and Determined yet the Resurrection to Glory which is the thing intended is Conditional and not vouchsafed to any but upon an antecedent Work of Grace wrought in their hearts whereby they have the Spirit of the Lord dwelling in their persons and hereby he becomes a Resurrection-Principle in the Dust of a Saint to quicken his Dead Body to a Glorious Life Therefore you have a double dwelling of the Spirit mentioned in the Text If the Spirit dwell in you he shall quicken your Mortal Bodies by his Spirit that dwells in you There is a Dwelling in you to sanctifie the Person of the Believer then a dwelling in you to raise the dead body of the Believer So that the Sense of the Text is this If the Spirit of God dwell in you now to Sanctifie your Persons here the same-Spirit shall dwell in your Bodies in the Grave to Raise them to Glory hereafter AND so I come to the Application of this Truth IS it so that the Bodies of all the Saints shall at the Last Day be Quickened and Raised again by the Spirit of God which dwells in them THEN the First USE that I would make of it shall be for Caution and that is That you would take heed of slighting this Truth or any other Truth of the Gospel because it may seem New or Strange This was the Spirit of the Learned Men of Athens when Paul Preached up Jesus and the Resurrection What New Doctrine is this say they for thou bringest certain strange things to our Ears Acts 17.19 20. Many are very apt to slight Things though of the Greatest Weight because they do not understand them the Line of their Reason is too short to Fathom them Do you think to Ketch the Sea into your Nut-shell Or to take a full Prospect of the Mysteries of God by the Dim-light of Pur-blind Reason Alas it can never be for these are Things the evidence whereof lies in Revelation and therefore we ought to believe them because God says them and to take comfort in the Truth of them tho we are not able to see the reason of them As we should not undervalue any Truth because it is common so we ought not to disown any Truth because it is to us new but if the Scripture doth confirm it it is our Duty to believe it This is a Truth of great Concern so great that the not believing of it takes away all the comfort of the Grave For what difference is there between the Death of a Saint and a Sinner The one hath no more Priviledge in the Grave than the other but only in this Solomon says The righteous hath hope in his death This is a hope that springs from Christ's hope Pro. 14.22 for he had hope in his Death my flesh shall rest in hope * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Psal 16.9 23.4 shall dwell confidently i.e. confident of its Union confident of its Resurrection This was the confident hope of Christ in his Death and from hence it is that the righteous hath hope in his Death It is the same hope Christ had Now take away this Truth and what hope hath the Righteous in his Death then He hath hope after Death but what hope hath he in Death The Union of the Spirit with the Dust of a Believer gives hope in Death Tho I walk through the Valley of the shadow of Death I will fear no evil for thou art with me Who then would slight so useful and so comfortable a Truth as this is that doth so sweeten Death and make the Grave so easie 2. This Truth shews us the great disterence between the Resurrection of Man and Man of Saint and Sinner tho all shall rise yet they shall not rise alike Some shall have a better Resurrection than others shall there is a Resurrection both of the Just and the Vnjust Acts 24.15 He. 11.35 There is a Resurrection that ends in Misery and a Resurrection that runs into Glory Daniel calls the one an awaking to everlasting life and the other a waking to shame and contempt Dan. 12.2 And Christ calls the one the Resurrection of Life and the other Joh. 5.29 the Resurrection of Damnation Therefore there is a