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
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
continued Dependance and Subjection In a Word Is our closure with him sincere and truly Unitive and do we accordingly live to him and with him and carefully abide in him while we are in this Earthly Tabernacle If so we may commend our departing Spirits into his Hands and our Flesh may rest in Hope and we shall have Confidence and not be ashamed at his Coming The infallible Word hath given us this as the only Ground of our Hope 1 John 5.12 He that hath the Son hath Life And He that hath not the Son hath not Life John 11.25 26. I am the Resurrection and the Life He that believeth in me though he were Dead yet shall he live and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never Die. Every true Believer hath a Life in him by Vertue of his Union with Christ which is Immortal and not liable to the touch of Death a Life that shall not End in the rottenness and darkness of the Grave or in a Horrid Hell but run on through the Territories of Death and the Grave into Everlasting Life And besides this His bodily Life in the Reunion of Soul and Body shall be revived the Pains or as some rather read it the Bands of Death shall be loosed and it shall be impossible for him any more then the Prince of Life himself to whom he is United to be holden by it Acts 2.24 Now having made this Vse of the Doctrine in General I shall make some further Improvement of it as it refers Particularly to the Case at Present before our View That which is spoken of Believers indefinitely that they shall not be left under the Power of Death and the Grave but be raised and glorified may I doubt not without one disagreeing Judgment or Voice be truly spoken of the Person whose Decease hath given this special occasion and additional to the usual Business of this Day Therefore Let this Point assisted by this unquestionable Instance work some correspondent Effects and leave some suitable Impressions upon us And what can those be but of Imitation and Peaceful Submission or Satisfaction of Mind 1. Let this Doctrine assisted by this known Instance impress us to Endeavours of Imitation When a Man Prospers in the World and increases in the Favour of his Fellow-Creatures we presently enquire into the Methods and Rules of such a ones Conduct and are ready to govern our Selves as near as our Circumstances will admit by the same How much more studiously should we imitate one that in the the truest Sense is Prosperous and Happy and being entituled to the Divine Favour both in Life and Death is therefore Interested in his full and final Redemption Tho such an one is now gone from our lower World and hath left us yet Her Example remains We have known what manner of entring in She had among us 1 Thess 1.9 2 Tim. 3.10 and Her manner of Life Purpose Faith Long-Suffering Charity and Patience Her Temper was Rare and Excellent and truly deserving of Emulation Her natural Patience and Fortitude of Mind Great and Uncommon Her Prudence and Discretion obvious as well as useful in the Sphere wherein She acted Her Contempt of the Vanity and deluding Greatness of the World Her Holy Indifference of Life and Resignation to the Will of God are more especially to be imitated because they depend more upon our own Endeavours than the former The natural chearfulness and pleasantness of Her Spirit was Great and Delightful yet Grave and Solid But considering She was not only under but had received the Sentence of Death in Her Self it must be ascribed in great Part to Supernatural Reasons and a Pre-assurance of Future Blessedness This is evident by the Fears She often expressed least others knowing Her outward and bodily better than Her inward State might make censorious and prejudicial Constructions and believe Her rather insensible of than Resigned to the Divine Will Her Death was no less Serene and Calm than Her Life With Her wonted Composure of Mind She bore Her last bodily Disorder and without Sigh or Motion expired in a Moment as if it had been designed She should Experience a Victory over Death almost without conflicting with it or tasting its bitterness With that tenderness did Her Gracious Redeemer Govern and Over-rule the Stroak of Death having before disarmed it of its Sting So gently were the Bands of Life untwisted The sighing Part She hath left to us who are yet in the Vale of Tears and have the Valley of the Shadow of Death yet before us to pass through And how can a Communion of Saints do less than Sigh when there is one Hand and Heart the less to be lifted up in its Prayers and one Instrument or well tuned String the less in its Consort of Praises How can a Family do less than Sigh when deprived of so amiable and useful a Relative Such Stroaks cannot but be lamented But let our principal Care be that the Person hereby removed be Imitated in Her Humble and Truly Charitable Temper and in Her Holy Inoffensive Life and Deportment whereby She adorned the Doctrine of Christ and recommended Religion as an amiable and acceptable Institution to all that Conversed with Her Let us be followers of Her in all Things wherein She was a Follower of Christ 1 Cor. 11.1 And shew the same Diligence to the full Assurance of Hope to the End and be Followers of Her who through Faith and Patience do now inherit the Promises Heb. 6.11 12. And it is reasonable that all Relatives according to the Degree of their Relation should account themselves more obliged to this Use May Her Example therefore with Her Name live in their Remembrance Particularly may Children remember and not forsake the Law of their Mother Prov. 1.8 Prov. 20.3 but so attend to it as that they may be blessed after Her May Servants also Remember Her that had the Rule over them and spoke to them by an Exemplary Conversatition the Word of God whose Faith follow considering the End of Her Conversation Heb. 13.7 The concluding Part of a Christians Life does not only bear a Testimony to His or Her preceding Course but demonstrate the singular Advantage of Faith and Holiness and therefore being observed is mightily Assistant to our Imitation 2. Let this Doctrine attended with this Instance impress us to a Peaceful Submission of Mind and Satisfaction in the Divine Pleasure It becomes Christians to attain a submissive and satisfied Temper through the Power of their Faith and Hope How absur'd is it for such to expect and find more Cure of their Grief and Sorrow from Time than from Reason and Grace Though there be a smartness in the Dispensation yet receive it with submissive Silence considering it is God who hath done it Psalm 39.9 This sad Event is not the Fruit of Blind Chance but both as to Time and Manner the Act of Infinite Wisdom that cannot err and of Infinite Power that cannot be resisted and which is more Consolatory of Infinite Goodness and Kindness to his Departed Servant Can we imagine that a glorified Soul does wish to be again embodied for a Residence in this our lower World Or prefer a painful afflicted and tempted Life before the Blessedness of Her Coelestial State and the hopeful Rest of Her Dear Associate Can we imagine that a Glorified Soul is in the least dissatisfied with Her Translation or leaving the Body when the Body as She knows is not left in Hell nor suffer'd to see Corruption Was not this Her Habitual Sense while remaining among us that to Depart and be with Christ was best And was not this the Ultimate and Highest End of our Solemn and Renewed Addresses to God in Days of Prayer on Her Behalf while we professed to ask Her Continuance in the Flesh with a sincere and most absolute Resignation to the Divine Will If then not only the Will of God be done but Her Will accomplished and also our Prayers answered it is reasonable that Our Wills should be abundantly satisfied And it cannot be otherwise than unreasonable that Our Wills should be repugnant either to God's or Her 's which with a most joyful Concurrence have taken Place and are now to remain the same for ever To be thus Self-willed in such a Case as it carries much of Unreasonableness and Irreligion in it so likewise an Inconsistency with a pure Rational and Christian Love towards our departed Relatives Our Saviour tells his Disciples whose loss of him and of his Bodily Presence was much greater than any of ours If ye loved me ye would rejoice because I said I go to my Father John 14.28 A true and pure Affection does directly and chiefly Terminate in the Happiness and Exaltation of the Person loved Now Death is a sure Advantage to Believers and their Descent into the Grave is an infallible step to their Glorious Preferment To look upon the Case before us with an Eye of Sense it is all over black and sad Death hath killed and taken Possession of one of us it hath turned a living Creature into a dead Clod it is laid among such and Buried in the Grave and our Eye of Sense carries us no further But when by an infallible Word we are assured that the Power of Death shall be abolished and this Mortality put on Immortality and this Corruption put on Incorruption we must no more Mourn as those that are without Hope To Consider and Believe that God will redeem his own from the Power of the Grave and receive them takes away all Causes of an unremitting and reliefless Sorrow at his taking away any of ours of whom we are perswaded that they belonged to him FINIS