Sermons, preached partly before His Majesty at White-Hall and partly before Anne Dutchess of York, at the chappel at St. James / by Henry Killigrew ...

The Sixth Sermon. (Book 6)

ROMANS viii.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 quicken your mortal Bodies, by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

IF the Resurrection of Christ had been of his Person only, it would have been a rare and glorious Event, but an Event of no Con∣cern to us; and if we did meet only this Day to celebrate his Resurrection from the Dead, and not our Own that shall be, though we celebrated a Great Miracle, we should not celebrate a Great Benefit. But S^t Paul teaches us in my Text, how we may be assured to commemorate our own Resur∣rection, as well as Christ's, namely, If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead, dwell in us.

Those whom the Spirit does not inhabit in this Life, when they dye, they dye for ever: but they on the other side in whom it dwells and inhabits now, the Resurrection of Christ is not to them a History, but a Precedent; and such Persons shall not be only Ad∣mirers, but themselves Partakers of the Miracle. 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, &c.

To look further into this Mystery, and the Expe∣dient propos'd to bring this Wonderful thing to pass, I shall observe in the Words these three Particu∣lars:

I. What it is for the Spirit of God (or, which is all one, of him that raised up Jesus from the dead) to dwell in us.

II. The Effect or Consequence of such In-dwelling of the Spirit of God, viz. if it be in a Man, He that raised up Christ from the Dead, shall raise up his Mortal Body.

III. By what Means God will produce this Effect in such a Man, even by that which dwelleth in him,—by his Spirit that dwelleth in him.

I. What it is for the Spirit of God to dwell in a man.

The Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the Dead is no other, than the Eternal Spirit of God, the third Person in the Trinity, the Spirit which is mentioned in Genesis, that in the beginning of the World gave Life to all things, is the same Spirit that still gives the Palingenesia, the second Genesis, or Re∣generation: whether we understand the Word of the Change and Renovation of our Soul and Affections

to the Will of God in this Life, or the Resuscitation of the Body from the Grave in the next, and the Re∣uniting it with the Soul in order to Eternal Bliss.

The Spirit is said here to be the Spirit [Of God] but not the Spirit [In God:] as if it dwelt in God, as it dwells in us: it is in God Personally and Essenti∣ally, as his Being, but 'tis in us only by way of Tenancy, as an Inhabitant or Inmate, to excite in us its Gifts and Graces. And this may serve to refute and silence those deceived Souls, who of late times, through their misunderstanding of the Union of the Saints with God exprest in Scripture, have run into such high-flown and horrible Blasphemies, as to say, They are In-Godded in God, and In-Christed in Christ: thus claiming Prerogative, instead of Privi∣ledge; and affirming Divinity, instead of a Divine Spirit, to be in them; supposing themselves to be in∣spired even Essentially with the Divine Nature. But such Blasphemous Conceits as these, so audacious and injurious to the Deity, are so far from being Effects of God's Spirit, which is the Principle of Eternal Life in those it dwells, that they are Demonstrations of the Spirit of Satan, an Affectation to be like the Most High, and to equal their Maker, and unrepent∣ed of will certainly consign them to have a Portion with him in Eternal Death: for what the Jews blind∣ly objected against our Lord as a Crime, That being but a Man, he made himself God, may be justly char∣ged on these, that being indeed but Men, and com∣monly but the Dreggs of Men, they fansie themselves to be Gods: Only the Sin of these is more unpar∣donable, in regard that after so long a time, and so much warning of the like Miscarriage in this kind, they have not exploded this old worn out Stratagem of Satan's. But though this Diabolical Frenzy must

be abhorr'd, yet when 'tis said that the Spirit of God dwells in a Man, we must look upon it as denoting something more Extraordinary and Excellent, than the common Lodging or Abiding of an Inhabitant in a House; as representing rather God's Residence in his Temple at Jerusalem: which Temple as it was Splendid and Glorious with all that Art and Cost could make it, a Representation of Heaven, so God by wonderful Tokens and Testimonies declared his Divine Presence in it. And after this manner the Heart of every Christian ought to be embellish'd with Vertue, and sanctified like a Temple, appear like a little Heaven upon Earth, in which the Holy Spirit may be seen to dwell by shewing his Divine Operations. Know ye not, says S^t Paul, that your Bodies are the Temples of the Holy Ghost? Solomon built God but one Material House, but Christ by his Spirit has raised to God as many Living Temples on Earth, as there are Believers.

But to be more particular: Dwelling in a House implies three things. 1. Legitimate Possession by Legal Title and Introduction. 2. Command and Dominion. 3. Residence or Mansion. And all these Properties the In-dwelling of the Spirit of God ought to have in those, whom it hereafter quickens to Everlasting Life.

1. The Spirit must have Legitimate Introduction and Possession. God dwelt not in his Temple at Je∣rusalem, till it was Dedicated and consecrated to him, till he was introduced into it by Supplications and Sa∣crifices. And his Holy Spirit will not dwell in Mens Hearts, till they be dedicated and consecrated to him by Baptism, and he be introduced by Prayer, and Vows of Faith and Repentance, Ephes. 3.17. S^t Paul beseeches God, that he would grant to the Ephesians,

according to the riches of his Glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the Inner-Man, that Christ may dwell in their Hearts by Faith. They that by Faith in Christ do not unite themselves unto him, and so receive of his Spirit, have not yet introduced the Spirit into its Temple: and they that recede again from the Faith after they have received it, dislodge and thrust the Holy Spirit out of his Tenure and Occupation. The Jews reckoned that God was still among them, as before, when they had rejected and crucified the Holy One: but after such their Infidelity and Wickedness he remained no more in their Hearts, than he did in their Material Temple, after that Voice was heard to come out of it, migremus hinc, let us depart hence. Wheresoever it is so, That either Men believe not on the Son of God, or else having believed on him, through the Allurements of the World and the Flesh fall back again into Unbelief, and chuse ra∣ther to dispossess his Spirit, than their Sins and Lusts, there no Quickening Power will be found to revive their Mortal Bodies at the last Day: for where the Spirit it self is not, its Operations cannot be expected. 'Tis true indeed, that Sinners and Infidels shall rise again, as S^t Paul says, Acts 24.15. There shall be a Resurrection of the Dead, both of the Just, and Vnjust. Those that crucified Christ in the days of his Flesh, and those that crucifie him by their Wicked Lives now in his Glory, shall rise no less than True Belie∣vers, than his holy Apostles and Martyrs: But how, and to what Resurrection shall they rise? Even to such a Resurrection as is no other than a Second and Worse Death, a Death not of Extinction or anni∣hilation, but a Death of Eternal Duration in Tor∣ment; Non-Existence being not the State of the Se∣cond Death, but Endless and Insupportable Misery:

insomuch that they shall wish, that the Grave had for ever swallowed them up; that as they liv'd like the Beasts that perish, so they had also dyed like them, without the Expectation of any After-Being. So that the Resurrection of the Wicked is but an Ae∣quivocal Resurrection: as the lifting up of the Head of Pharaoh's Baker on the Gallows, and the hanging Haman fifty Cubits high, were but Aequivocal Ad∣vancements. The Bodies of the Saints that rose after the Passion, dy'd again the same Death; but those that shall rise at the Last Day, not having the Spirit, shall dye again, not the same Death (that would be a Happiness) but a Death that shall have no End; and the Miseries of which we can no more describe, than we can the Joys of Eternal Life: but we must suffer a Change, and be endued with new Powers and Faculties, before we can support the Bliss of the one, or the Torments of the other.

The second Property of an Inhabitant or Dweller in a House, is to Command and Rule. 'Tis the Saying of every man to those that withstand the Exercise of their just Authority, or but their Civility, Give me leave to Command in my own House. The Spirit of God must Rule and Command where it dwells; we must not only give it House-room, but Domini∣on; look upon him as a Tenant, but revere as our Land-Lord, resign our Actions, Wills, Affections, the Whole Man to his Dispose and Guidance. Faith invites the Holy Ghost, but Obedience and Submissi∣on to his Gracious Motions perfumes his Habitation, and makes him delight to stay in it. The Spirit of Love, Meekness, Purity, and Holiness, will not re∣side, but where these and the like Vertues bear the Sway. Let the Word of Christ, says S^t Paul, dwell in you Richly in all Wisdom: So let the Spirit of God

dwell in you Richly in all Wisdom: it will not Co∣habit with the Sons of Men, unless it be Richly, i. e. in the Abundance of its own Divine Graces and O∣perations. If we will have the Spirit of God quicken our Mortal Bodies hereafter, we must suffer him to quicken our Souls in this Life; if we hope to reign by his Power in the World to come, we must submit to his Dominion in this present World.

The third Property is Residence and Mansion; our Houses are called our Manours and Places, i. e. the Places where we ordinarily abide, and where the Law presumes we are to be found: so that if a Writ be delivered to any of the Houshold, or but fastned to the Ring of the Door, 'tis counted the same thing as if given into our hands. Thus our Hearts must be the Holy Spirit's Manour or Place: for what David says of God's constant Abode in his Temple on Mount Sion, This is the Hill which God delights to dwell in, yea the Lord will dwell in it for ever: the like must be said of the constant Abode of the Holy Spirit in our Hearts, This is the Habitation of the Holy Spi∣rit, and if we grieve him not, nor drive him away by our Sins, he will delight to dwell in us for ever. When we were devoted to God in Baptism, we de∣volved and made-over to his Holy Spirit an Estate in our Hearts, even the Whole Term we had to live in this World: and if we make good this Grant or De∣mise, he will never abandon his Tenements, till he has raised them up to Eternal Glory. The Reason that a Great Schole-Man gives, Why God punishes the Sins of Men, which were but Temporal, with an Eternity of Torments, is, Quia peccaverunt in suo ae∣terno, because they sinn'd out all the Eternity they had, i. e. all the Time God allowed them in this World; and had he continued their Lives to the End

of all Ages, they would have continued still the same Wicked Persons. The like Reason may be given for God's rewarding the Temporal Obedience of the Righteous with Eternal Glory, Quia obedientes fue∣runt in suo aeterno, because they were Obedient all that little Eternity he allowed them in this World, and would have persever'd in their Obedience if he had drawn out their Lives to the last Period of Time. Abiding and Persevering in Righteousness is that which will give us Immortality: if we give up the Possession of our Souls to the Dispose and Conduct of the Blessed Spirit the Whole Little Aeternum we have in this World, we shall certainly obtain an Eternity, that shall have no end in the next. And thus I have shew'd the Manner of the Spirit's Dwelling in every Christian: and they that pretend to his In-dwelling without these Properties, boast of an In-mate which they have not; and as they want this Divine Guest, so they will want the Blessed Effects and Consequence of his inhabiting in them, the quickning of their Mortal Bodies at the last Day to Glory. Which is the second thing I propos'd to explain,

The Effect or Consequence of the Spirit's dwelling in us.

If the Spirit dwell in you, He that raised up Jesus from the Dead, shall quicken your Mortal Bodies. The Words suggest two things to our Consideration: 1. What shall be done to such Persons in whom the Spirit dwells, He shall quicken their Mortal Bodies. 2. Who shall be the Author to effect or bring this to pass, He that raised up Jesus from the Dead.

1. What shall be done to such Persons in whom the Spirit dwells. 'Tis said, He shall quicken their

Mortal Bodies. Our Bodies are Mortal three Ways; by Natural Death, the Dissolution of the Substance of them; by Eternal Death, which succeeds the Na∣tural, that Riddle of a Death, which by its Existence is in truth a Life, but by the Torments belonging to it may deservedly be called a Death; and by Spiri∣tual Death, which is the Cause of the other two. Now our Mortal Bodies may be quicken'd or reviv'd again to three Lives; To a Life of Eternal Duration; to a Life of Eternal Joy; and to a Spiritual Life, or a Life of Grace, which is the Cause in us of the other two Lives. Some understand these Words [shall quicken our mortal bodies] only of Spiritual Prosely∣tism, of the raising us from the Death of Sin, and the enlivening us to a Life of Grace. But though this meaning sutes well with S^t Paul's Design in this Epistle, to confute the Imagination of the Jews, that they could obtain Eternal Life by Virtue of the Law of Moses, without Faith in Christ: Yet the Words of my Text point at the Blessed Immortality the Righte∣ous shall hereafter be Partakers of, and are only to be understood after this manner: If Christians give themselves up to be led and governed by the Spirit of God in this World (which is the Spirit that rai∣sed up Jesus) they in like manner shall be raised up by it at the Last Day; and the more they are quick∣ned to a Life of Grace here, the more they may be assured they shall be quickned to the Life of Glory hereafter.

Many Practical Uses and Advantages might be in∣ferred from hence: but I shall collect only this one, which may be of great Encouragement to our Chri∣stian Industry and Endeavours to lead a Godly Life, and that is the Expedition we shall make towards the attaining the Unspeakable Rewards of the Kingdom

of Heaven. There are three Lives to be attained, and all to be attained by the Well-Ordering of One, of our Spiritual Life alone in this World: if we rise from the Death of Sin to Newness of Life, we shall attain by the same Performance three Resurrections, to that of perfect Grace, to that of perfect Time or Duration, and to that of perfect Joy and Glory. This I say is so rich a Harvest, and to be purchas'd with such Expedition, that the Nicest and most im∣patient of Toil and Difficulties may be encouraged to strive for it. Happy is he, says S^t John, that has a share in the first Resurrection, i. e. in the Life of Grace: for the other are but Corollaries or Additi∣onal Complements of this: Sanctification is as cer∣tain and assured a Way to Glorification, as Childhood is the Way to Manhood; 'tis the Inchoation or Be∣ginning of it, and in a sense may be said to be it. Those whom he Justify'd, says S^t Paul, those he also Glorify'd: as if these were done together, and not in process of Time. But to proceed.

The Author, secondly, of this Grace and Bounty is God. And why did not the Apostle express him∣self so in a Word, but used this Circumlocution, [He that raised up Jesus from the dead?] Because since Christ's coming in the Flesh, and having perform∣ed the Work of our Salvation, God has left off to govern in the Church immediately by himself, and does all things by and through our Lord Jesus Christ. God Created and Drowned the World, and wrought all the other wonderful things we read of in the Old Testament, in his Own Name, as God: But now under the Gospel he dispenses all his Mercies as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and we must expect the Gift of Grace, the Pardon of Sin, Resurrection to Eternal Life, and all his other Blessings and Favours,

from his Relation to his Son. It is indeed by the Power of God that all men shall be raised from the Dead: but then it is again for the Merits sake of Christ, and their Believing in him, that they shall be raised to Glory. And that we should take notice of the Change of his Name in the New Testament, from that he delighted to be called by in the Old, is his own Will and Pleasure. Says he there, By my name Jehovah I will be known: but now to us, by the Name of his Relation to his Son, as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Manichees from the Mi∣stake of some Passages and Observations like this raised their detestable Heresie, That the God of the Old Testament, and the God of the New were two Different Persons; the Father of Christ another God from the Creator of the World; who sent his Son in the Flesh with a Design to win men from the Crea∣tor of the World. But these are Wicked and Impi∣ous Dotages: 'tis only an Other Name that God has taken, 'tis not an Other God that acts among us: there is but One God from and to all Eternity, whose Name be Blessed for ever. The meaning of the Scri∣pture is only to teach us, That 'tis not God, quatenus God, that we expect should quicken us at the Last Day, but God as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And this manifests the Perverseness of the Jews, who still adhere to Moses and the Synagogue for their hopes of Salvation: and the Blindness also of those, who perswade themselves they can please God and at∣tain Heaven by Natural and Moral Performances, without Faith in Christ: But the time permits me not to insist on these things. I haste therefore to my last Particular, The Means by which God will quick∣en our Mortal Bodies at the last Day, viz.

By his Spirit that dwelleth in us.

This Particle [By] in the Original [〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉] does not infer any Means that God shall use as Instrumental for the quickening our Mortal Bodies, but implies here, and in many other places, the Motive only or Reason that invites the Agent to perform an Action. God will raise us from the Dead, as he does all his o∣ther Works, by his Word or Omnipotent Power: but though his Power does the thing, yet 'tis for something in Men that invites him to do it, namely, his Holy Spirit; which he gave them to that very End and Purpose to dispose and fit them for the re∣ceiving Eternal Life. David says of himself immedi∣ately, and Christ typically, and of all Faithful People mystically, Thou wilt not suffer thy Holy One to see Corruption, i. e. God will not leave or forsake the Righteous either in their Life or Death, as if he had forgotten them, and the Motive of this his Favour to them is, Because they are Righteous, or Holy Ones. And the Psalmist expresses the thing with some Indig∣nation, and as if it were an injury to God to imagine, that he could suffer in his very Nature, that that which was Holy should be swallowed up in the Grave, that which was Righteous should perish, that which was Incorruptible, should see Corruption. And indeed there is not only an Incongruity, but an Impossibility, that this should be: For what the Apostle says of Christ's Resurrection, God raised him up, having loosed the Pains or Bands of Death, because it was possible he should be held of them: may be said of the Resurrection of all the Faithful, with this Difference only, That the Impossibility of Christ's being detain'd in the Grave proceeded from his Di∣vine

Nature, ours from a Divine Promise: Nay, we may add, and with good Warrant, That the Impos∣sibility of our remaining in the Grave depends not only on an External Promise, but on Something With-in our selves, though not Of our selves, even on the Spirit of God which dwelleth in us; by which we are united to Christ, and made Members of his Body, he being the Head; and our Resurrection must necessarily be a Consequence of his by the very Law, as I may say, of the Body, or the Inseparable Conjunction of the Limbs to one another: for it is not possible that the Head should be quickened, and the Body mortified: that the Head should be raised to Life, and crowned with Glory, and the Members remain in Death and Dishonour. And 'tis on this account that Christ is said To be the First-fruit of those that Sleep: and not only in regard that none went before him, but the First-fruit in relation to them that were to follow after him. The First-fruits in the Law, were Part of the Fruits of the Season, one Sheaf of the Harvest, which being lift-up and consecrated to God in the Name of the rest, sanctifi∣ed the Whole Crop: So Christ being lift up as the First-fruit of the Dead, consecrated and san∣ctified the Whole Harvest of the Dead. And, as Saint John says of every true Believer in point of Impeccability, He cannot Sin, because the Seed of God abideth in him; i. e. none can be a Child of God's, and a customary Sinner, for these are irre∣concileable: So we may affirm with unspeakable Comfort in the point of our Immortality, A true Be∣liever cannot be held in Death, because God's Seed abideth in him, i. e. Death, and a Seed or Principle of Immortality are inconsistent with one another.

And thus we see we have not only Matter of Con∣gratulation for Christ's Victory over Death and the Grave, but the highest Cause of Jubilee and Rejoycing for our own Deliverance from this heavy Curse and Punishment of Sin. As Sin sub∣jected us to the Dominion of Death, the Spirit of Sanctification breaks the Bonds of the Tyrant a∣sunder, and enables us to conquer this Conque∣rour of Mankind; as Disobedience shut the Gates of Heaven against us, Obedience sets them open again; Holiness of Life in the Faith of Christ in this World, is the Ticket whereby we receive Happiness and Immortality in that to come. The Young Phoenix is said to spring out of the per∣fum'd Ashes and Reliques of the Old: but though this be never so fabulous, I am sure we shall be renewed and quickned to Eternal Life, from the perfum'd Reliques of a Holy Life, the remain∣ing Good Works and Graces the Spirit of God wrought in us; which, as S^t John says, can never dye, but will follow us into the other World. If therefore we give our selves up to be led and go∣verned by the Spirit of Christ in this Life, conform our selves in all things to his Divine Will; if the Spirit of Christ conducts us safely, to use the Psal∣mist's Expression, through Fire and Water (i. e. through the Sharper Tryals of Afflictions, and the Softer Allurements and Temptations of the Flesh and the World) he will carry us also safe through the Regions of Death and the Grave, pass us in∣demnified by the Gates of Hell, and neither the Malice of Devils, the Weight of our Tomb-Stone, the Load of our Flesh, or the yet greater Load of our Infirmities shall hinder, but our Bodies shall be raised, and so winged, that they shall overtake their

Souls, and be joined to them, that took their Flight so long a time before them, and both of them toge∣ther shall be transported in Triumph to Heaven, and crown'd with Immortality and Glory; the As∣surance and Pledge of which Christ has given us this Day in his own Resurrection.

To God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, be ascribed all Honour, Glory, Worship, and Thanksgiving, this Day forth and for ever∣more. Amen.