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
God dwell in you there is no Truth more plainly attested in Scripture than the Indwelling of the Spirit in Believers And there are Three Things implyed in the Expression Presence Power and Continuance He is in them He Rules in them and He Remains and Abides in them 1. It implies a Presence There is a Special Presence of the Spirit in every Believer All Men have a share in His General and Essential Presence Whither shall I go from thy Spirit Or Whither shall I flee from thy Presence Psal 139.7 But there is a Special Presence made up of Grace and Favour which none share in but Believers for it is derived to them from Christ as Head of the Body 2. It implies Power and Activity Where the Spirit is he is an Operative Principle Isa 30.21 Psal 32.8 He Teaches us the Way of Duty He quickens and stirs us up to the Doing of it He mortifies Sin in us helps us against Temptations makes the Means of Grace Effectual Works all our Works in us and for us 3. THIS dwelling of the Spirit in us implies Abiding and Continuance He is not in them as an Inmate but as an Inhabitant Not as one that truns aside to tarry for a Night but as one that takes up his constant Rest He dwelleth with you and shall be in you John 14.17 And ver 16. He shall abide with you for ever And there is a double ground for this 1. THE unchangeableness of his Nature where He takes up his Abode it is for ever This is my rest for ever Jam. 1.17 Heb. 13.8 here will I dwell Psal 132.14 There is no shadow of Change in Him He is yesterday and to day and the same for ever 2. THE Infiniteness of his Power which is such as that none are able to dispossess Him He that can dispossess all can be dispossessed by none He is stronger than the strong Man and therefore casts him out but there is none stronger than the Spirit of God and therefore where He once takes up his Abode He will never with-draw more Q. BUT how is the Spirit said to dwell in us that must be a little Inquired into because it is Twice mentioned in the Text. If the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you He shall quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwells in you A. 1. THE Spirit of the Lord dwells in Believers not only by his Gifts and Graces but He dwells in them by his Person He is really in them and united to them I know it is disputed by many whether the Spirit dwells Personally in Believers or whether He dwells in them only by his Gifts and Graces But to me it seems plain for the Indwelling of the Spirit is one of the greatest Promises of the Covenant of Grace Ezek. 36.27 I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my Statutes NOW what is that which is called my Spirit it can't be the work of Grace for that is promised in the former Verse under the Terms of a new Heart and a new Spirit A new heart will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you And then it follows And I will put my spirit within you The new spirit that is the Work of Grace but this my spirit that is the Spirit of Grace that effects the Work 2. THE Spirit of God dwells in Believers considered in a large and general Sense i.e. with respect to their whole Persons For as the whole Man is the Subject of Sanctifying Grace 1 Thess 5.23 so the whole Man is the Habitation of the Spirit of God 3. THE Spirit of God may be said to dwell in Believers in a more restrained Sense with respect to the Soul which is the chief Subject of Grace BUT the dwelling of the Spirit here in the Text refers to the Bodies of Believers distinct from the Soul that is to their Bodies not whilest living and united to the Soul but to their Bodies whilest dead and having their Souls separated from them He that raised up Christ from the dead shall quicken your dead bodies by his spirit which dwells in you that is that dwells in you when dead SO that the Words hold out to us this Truth That the Bodies of the Saints are the dwelling place of the Holy Ghost even while they are dead and lying in the Grave And it must necessarily be so FOR 1. If it were not so then the Relation of God to his People would be either Empty or Changeable but it is neither It is not an empty Relation no God fills up every Relation as becomes a God NOR is it a changeable Relation Death it self hath no Power to break it Therefore it is said when we die we are the Lord's i.e. that part of us that dies is his Portion and Right Rom. 14.8 as well as that which lives the dead Body as well as the living Soul 2. If it were not so then our Relation to the Holy Ghost as his Temples would cease For the Scripture calls our Bodies the Temples of the Holy Ghost 1 Cor. 6.19 Know ye not that your bodies are the temples of the Holy Ghost Now either this Relation must cease in the Grave or if not then these Temples must stand empty and forsaken of the Spirit or else He must still dwell in them even in the Dust They are still appropriated to the Spirit and must be possessed by Him 3. The Proportion that is between the Personal Union and the Mystical may make out this For when the Godhead of Christ was once United to the Man-hood Personally they were never separated again When the Body of Christ was dead and in the Grave the Soul was separated from it but the Divine Nature was not So when the Bodies of Believers are lying in the Grave their Souls are separated from them but the Spirit of Christ is not As it dwelt in them when they were living so it maintains its possession and right when the Body lies rotting in the dust 4. If the Spirit of Christ be not in Union with the Flesh of a Believer in the Grave then Death is as really a Curse to the Saint as to the Sinner and as Solomon says in another Sense so it may be said in this As dies the wicked Eccles 2.16 so dies the righteous The wicked dies accursed and so doth the righteous For what is the Curse of Death but to be separated from the Lord And if there be no Union between the Spirit of the Lord and the dead Body of a Saint in the Dust then the Body is under a Curse and if so the Believer would be Blessed and Cursed at the same time the Soul would be blessed being in Union to the Spirit in Heaven and the Body at the same time Cursed being separated from the Spirit in the Grave But how can this be when the Scripture says expresly That the dead
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