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Whom God hath - raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.
THE precedent Verse, and this of the Text, represent Christ unto us in a very different condition; That, in the low ebb of his Exinanition;* 1.1 This, in a high pitch of his Exaltation. In the former we find him under the
power of death; In the latter raised up to life; There a Worm, and no Man;* 1.2 Here more than Man, Declared to be the Son of God with power by the Resurrection* 1.3 from the dead.
Christ had given sufficient evidence of his Manhood in his natural Infirmi∣ties and Necessities; but, above all, in his Passion: But the main proof of his Di∣vinity was to be taken from his Resur∣rection. A proof at this time most ne∣cessary, in relation to his greatest Ene∣mies the Jews, who were so apt to tri∣umph in his ruine, to fancy they had now prevailed against him; to say with∣in themselves, Now that he lieth, let him* 1.4 rise up no more; and once more to lay that in his Dish, which they objected to him on his Cross; He saved others,* 1.5 himself he cannot save.
With these buisy mockers which gnash∣ed upon him with their teeth; these Athe∣ists that could say, Where is the promise of his return? and that had called him* 1.6 in express terms a Deceiver, St. Peter* 1.7 had to doe; and had not the Holy Ghost appeared a little before in a cloven tongue of fire on his head, his own could never have been able to make them credit such
a thing as a Resurrection; Christ's much less, to whom they were so spightfull: It was necessary then that so great a Mi∣racle should make way for another as great, which was to persuade them in∣to a belief of Christ's Resurrection; Men so incredulous, that they would not* 1.8 believe, though one rose from the dead, as Lazarus had done; who having brought them news from another World, they, for his pains, would needs have sent him* 1.9 back to the place from whence he came; so that nothing now but the sight of him they had so lately crucified (if yet that would doe) was sufficient to con∣vince them; whom though St. Peter could not present to their Eyes, yet their Ears hear the certain news of his return from the Grave; That he that was dead, was now alive; That that body* 1.10 which had been sown in weakness, was now rais'd in power; by a power no less than divine, the power of an Omnipotent God; a power able to break in pieces the chains even of death its self; strong ones indeed to hold all others, but weak to hold him who was as well God as Man; Whom God hath raised up, &c.
From which words, Four things are to be gather'd.
Of these in their order, and of such practical Inferences as doe arise out of them: And first of the first Particular, the Certainty of Christ's Resurrection, in these words, Hath raised up.
1. There is not any truth in Scrip∣ture,* 1.11 which God has been so carefull, or (as I may so say) curious to secure as
that of his Son's Resurrection; Which he did as by taking away all grounds of doubting of it, so by making use of all manner of proofs to ascertain it. For, first, whereas Sceptical Men might have questioned whether Christ died truly or no; or, if so, whether his disciples did not come by night and steal him away; These two grounds of suspition God took care to remove: The first, by that Evidence the Centurion gave in to Pi∣late of his real dying; besides that of so many Spectators, who beheld that stream of bloud wherein he poured forth his Soul unto death: And the second, by the ex∣act care of the High Priest, who caused a vast stone to be rowled before the door of the Sepulchre, adding his Seal and Soul∣diers of his own chusing to guard it from the attempts of the Disciples; who, had they had a will, had neither power nor courage to break open a Sepulchre hewen out of a new entire Rock, or force such a strong guard as kept it; much less Money to bribe their silence, as the High Priests and Scribes did; And to say that his Disciples stole him away, while* 1.12 the stout Watch-men slept, was surely no better than a Dream, or rather not
a Dream, but a studied Lie; and yet such a Lie too, as does most clearly con∣firm the truth of our Lord's Resurrec∣tion.
But then secondly, As God took a∣way all cause of doubt, so did he draw Arguments from all Topicks to prove this great Truth. Heaven and Earth here gave in their Evidence: For not only the Souls of Holy Men were fetcht thence to be united to their Bodies for proof of that Resurrection by which themselves were raised; but the Blessed Inhabitants of Heaven, the Angels, came down on purpose to publish it to the Wo∣men, as these did to the Apostles, to whom Christ shewed himself alive too, after his* 1.13 Passion, by many infallible proofs, and expos'd himself to their very Senses; who did not only see and hear, but con∣verse and eat with him after he was risen from the dead, that they might not mi∣stake his Body, as once they did, for a Phantasm; or Christ for a Spirit, having flesh and bones, as they found he had; and retaining still the marks and prints* 1.14 of the nails and spear, to shew the Iden∣tity, as well as Reality, of that Body which arose; The very Infidelity of an
Apostle being not the least confirmation of our Faith too in this particular. Not to mention other instances, the Earth∣quake, the empty grave, the stone rowled away, the linnen cloths curiously wrapt up together as dead Witnesses, when there were so many living ones, Angels and Men; and among these, such as were ready to seal this Truth with their dear∣est Bloud; of such credit and honesty too, as might highly recommend their Testimony to our belief; of such Pru∣dence, Experience and Holiness withall, as neither could betray them to Error, nor suffer them to abuse the credit of others: Such were the Holy Apostles, who with great power gave witness of the* 1.15 Resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and whose principal office it was to doe so, as ap∣pears upon the Election of St. Matthias into the place of Judas, grounded upon this necessity, Act. 1. 21, 22. To whom we may add no less than five hundred Brethren at once, all agreeing in the same* 1.16 story: (Nemo omnes, neminem omnes fe∣fellerunt;) which made their Evidence rise to such a strong demonstration, as was sufficient to stop the mouths of Christ's most contradicting Enemies, and
open ours to confess with the Disciples and Primitive Christians, The Lord is risen indeed, Luk. 24. 34.
Thus we see how exact the Holy Ghost was, as in removing all such Doubts as might in the least obstruct our Faith; so in using all manner of Ar∣guments to confirm and establish the un∣doubted Truth of Christ's Resurrection, not only to show the possibility of a Resurrection in general by so pregnant and visible an Example, but the impor∣tance of it in regard of ours, where∣of our Lord's was the Fountain and Pledge.
1. I say, the clearing of the Truth of Christ's Resurrection was absolutely ne∣cessary, in regard of the slowness and indisposition of most Men, and in all times, to admit of the possibility of a Resurrection. The Philosopher, we see, could not digest it; To the Stoicks and Epicureans it became matter of laughter, who took it for some new Goddess, Act. 17. 18, 32. Nay, some of the Disciples themselves lookt upon it as a Fable, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Luk. 24. 11. A considerable Sect too among the Jews, the Sadducees, ut∣terly deny'd it, Act. 23. 8. Simon Magus
and the Gnosticks were of the same per∣suasion, and so was Marcion, as Tertullian in∣forms* 1.17 me, who deny'd the truth of Christ's flesh, and consequently his Nativity and Resurrection, as Valentinus's Disciple did the Resurrection of that Flesh he con∣vers'd in. Some there were who affirm'd 'twas already past, as Hymenaeus and Phi∣letus; Others turn'd it into a meer * 1.18 Al∣legory, a Renovation, Matth. 19. 28. A state of the Gospel call'd a New Heaven and a new Earth, 2 Pet. 3. 13. And the World to come, Heb. 2. 5. And lastly, how doe all loose Christians decry it as a thing utterly inconsistent with their interest! It was requisite then that this foundation should be laid very deep in men's Hearts, which the Holy Ghost fore-saw so many would endeavour to over-throw.
2. 'Twas absolutely necessary to clear this Truth, in regard of the importance of it to Christ's glory, and the happiness of all true Christians.
1. To Christ's glory, which in the esteem of Men being much eclipsed by his Death, was to shine out brighter by his Resurrection; for nothing but this could take off that stain which his igno∣minious
Sufferings had cast upon his Ho∣nour. And hence Christ scarce menti∣ons his Death, but he still closeth with his rising again the third day. Which was* 1.19 the reason of the Jews exquisite care to secure his Sepulchre, that the last error,* 1.20 as they call'd it, might not be worse than the first; That is, lest the reputation of a glorious Resurrection should bely and confute all their former Calumnies and Reproaches; as indeed it did: For by this his Resurrection his Godhead was clearly manifested, which else must needs have been obscur'd and call'd in questi∣on; there being nothing so unsuitable to a God as to suffer, especially to dye. A little loss of Bloud, we reade, made A∣lexander the Great quit all his Pretensi∣ons to Godhead: And St. Augustine tells* 1.21 us out of Varro, That the Egyptians made it Capital to affirm that their God Apis was dead, forbidding any mention of his Sepulchre: Nay, St. Peter, v. 29. concludes David inferiour to Christ from his Death and Burial, and Sepulchre, still remaining: For although Christ's Sepulchre did remain still to St. Peter's, as it does yet to our times; yet his Body did not abide in it as David's did, and
still does in his; if we will take an An∣gel's* 1.22 word for it; Come see the place* 1.23 where the Lord lay: and again, He is risen, he is not here. For had he remain∣ed there, as David did in his Grave, he had then seen corruption, and so had been no God.
2. This Truth was to be clear'd and confirm'd in regard of our advantage: For had not Christ risen, we should still* 1.24 have remain'd in our sins, and been of all men most miserable, by depriving our selves of the Goods of this life, and ha∣ving no expectation of those of a bet∣ter: Nay, in a worse condition than the Beasts that perish, who innocently fol∣lowing their natural appetites, have no∣thing to check or restrain them. All our Theological Vertues would be to no purpose too; Our Faith, our Hope, our Charity vain, (the substance of St. Paul's whole discourse, 1 Cor. 15.) All our Mo∣ral Vertues also would be not only use∣less, but troublesome: Justice, Tempe∣rance, Fortitude, and the like, but so many insignificant Cyphers; adding no∣thing to the summ of our Happiness, but much to the abatement of it; Si post mortem nihil, ipsáque mors nihil. For
who would stick to devour others, who should himself so quickly be made a prey to Death, and be swallowed up of the Grave? Who would deny himself the use of those Pleasures, which should ne∣ver return? There would be no Hope for us, if no Resurrection; and no Re∣surrection for us to be sure, if Christ had not risen. Which consideration made the Apostles (one main part of whose Office, as I told you, 'twas, to be Witnesses of his Resurrection) to lay that still in all Churches as the first corner-stone in that spiritual Fabrick, as 1 Cor. 15. 4. St. Paul does, That Christ rose again according to the Scriptures, calling this his Gospel, 2 Tim. 2. 8. and placing it among his grand fundamentals, Heb. 6. 2, 3. as it is a principal Article of our Creed, which St. Peter offers here to his Auditors as most necessary for them to know in or∣der to their Conversion, who would ne∣ver have been persuaded to embrace a crucified Saviour, a stumbling-block to Jews, 1 Cor. 1. 23. and a rock of offence, which was to be taken out of their way that they might come to Christ; who being now represented to them in a more pompous and glorious shape of a
triumphant Conqueror, might in some sort be more suitable to those Idea's they had of a Messiah, and so be more wil∣ling to become his Subjects. Thus did these few words, hath raised up, take a∣way that veil that had hitherto been over their eyes, and made them see him they had pierced; and readily own him for their Saviour, who had so visibly been rescued from the Jaws of Death; that the bare mentioning of the matter of fact, whereof many of them had been eye-witnesses, without any other argu∣ment, was sufficient to change those late implacable Persecutors into Converts.
II. And here, to stop the mouth of* 1.25 Carnal reason, which might be apt to fancy a Resurrection impossible, it was necessary for St. Peter, in order to a full persuasion and assurance of Christ's be∣ing truly raised from the dead, to let them know that this was done by a di∣vine Power; That God, to whom no∣thing was impossible, was the only Agent here; He who could kill and make alive;* 1.26 That 'twas his Hand alone which brought this mighty thing to pass, his own right hand that had purchased himself this victo∣ry
over Death: An Act beyond the acti∣vity of any created Being. Whence it is that the Resurrection is in Scripture called the power of God, Matth. 22. 19. and the glory of God, Luk. 11. 40. and the glory of the Father, Rom. 6. 4. Such power and such glory, as he can no more give away to another, than his Godhead. And therefore the Lord is said to descend from Heaven to raise the dead, 1 Thess. 4. 17. It being his own proper work that. For although an Angel shall blow the trump at the last day, yet the voice of the Son of God must be heard before the dead can live. Angels may gather the Elect* 1.27 from the four corners of the Earth, but God must enliven them. An act so in∣communicably his, that the Devil can∣not doe it. He who is God's Ape in o∣ther things, would fain be in this, or at least be thought able to effect it, to raise his credit among the Sons of perdition. For that Samuel the Witch of Endor call'd up, was but a counterfeit; he was not the Prophet himself, but Satan under his Mantle. Nay all those Heathens, who seem'd to have bid fair to such Miracles as Christ did, as Apollonius Tyanoeus and Vespasian, whom therefore Julian the
Apostate opposes to our Saviour to les∣sen and decry him, although they are said to have done many strange things, yet doe I not find that ever they preten∣ded to be able to raise the dead; As Pharaoh's Magicians, who could counter∣feit most of Moses's Miracles, could not with all their skill put life into one sin∣gle insect. Here they confess'd the fin∣ger of God: and such is the Resurrection, not only God▪s finger, but his arme; an equal act of Power in him to restore, as to create: which St. Paul going about to describe, uses such an Exaggeration of lofty Expressions, as no humane Elo∣quence can parallel; Ephes. 1. 19. That we may know, says he there, what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the work of the Might of his power, which he wrought in Christ when he raised him up from the dead. Where we may observe a sixfold Gradation, Power and Might, the Great∣ness and Might of his Power, the exceeding Greatness of his Power, and a working of the Might thereof; and yet all this still dull and flat, till he quickens it with an active Verb, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him up from the
dead. An act proper to God the Fa∣ther, who is entitled to it, ver. 33. and by St. Paul too, Gal. 1. 1. Yet so, as that he has communicated this Power to his own Son, Joh. 10. 17, 18. and 5. 21, 26. As the Father raiseth up the dead and quickneth them, even so the Son quickneth whom he will; who had a Power to lay down his life, and to take it again; to dis∣solve* 1.28 the Temple of his Body, and in three days to raise it up; so that Christ here did as much rise as was raised up; and this the word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 in St. Luke imports, a Verb of an active signification, imply∣ing a Power in himself to rise, and in that respect a certain argument of his being the co-essential and con-substantial Son of God, as the Apostle concludes him hence to be, Rom. 1. 4. in spight of all those his adversaries; who by deny∣ing him this Power, prove themselves worse enemies to him than the Jews were, who robb'd him of his Life; whereas these of his Divinity also, as far as in them lyes.
III. The principal and sole Agent* 1.29 then in this great Work was God, the Father and the Son; And such an Agent
was necessary, since the task was so dif∣ficult; the knot which Death had tied being so hard, required no less than a God to unloose it. Now by Death here is meant, not only a seperation of Soul and Body, (though that be the most natural import of the word,) but all those sad things that preceded, as so ma∣ny Prologues to his last Tragedy, sty∣led Propassiones; All those ingredients in the bitter cup he drank of: Such as were Christ's natural apprehensions of the terrors of Death, the curse of the Law, the load of our Sins upon him, and a lively sense of God's wrath due to those Sins, which put him into an Agony, and made him sweat great drops of bloud; and, to close up all, the bitter pangs of that cruel death he underwent to satisfie God's Justice: All which are compar'd here to the Pangs of a Woman in travail; from which God at last freed him, by raising him up to a life uncapable of pain or sorrow; making him forget his for∣mer Sufferings, as a Woman does her Pains when delivered of her Child, Joh. 16. 21.
This is implied in the word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉; But because to loose the Pains seems a
hard expression, and unloosing properly denoting the untying of some knot, and so supposing some chain or cord where∣with Christ was bound, and which God dissolved, which the following word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 seems to make good; some conceive it better to interpret the word Pains by Bonds, as the Syriack does, calling them Funes Sepulchri, those ada∣mantina mortis vincula, in the Poet; And* 1.30 the rather, because the Psalmist promis∣cuously useth these words, Psal. 116. 3. The snares of Death compassed me round a∣bout, and the pains of Hell gat hold upon me. Both of them signifie no more, but the power of death; those Shackles and Manacles; which the Angel of the Cove∣nant struck off from himself, and then from us; which could no more hold him▪ than the withy bands could Sampson; herein a Type of Christ, being but as Flax and Tow to him who was the Power of God; and though he might suffer himself to be entangled, yet could not possibly be holden of them. And that,
1. In respect of the Truth of God's* 1.31 Word, viz. those many Predictions and Types of Christ's Resurrection, which
else must have been voided. The Pre∣dictions are many and clear relating to this point; That of Esay 53. 8. That Christ should be taken from his prison; That of Hosea 6. 2. After two days will he revive us, and in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight: see Esay 26. 19. But most expresly that of the Prophet David, Psal. 16. 10, 11. That his flesh should rest in hope, and that God would not suffer his Holy One to see Corruption; which Prophecy could not be apply'd to David himself, as St. Pe∣ter here in the Verses immediately fol∣lowing tells his Auditors, because he did see Corruption; but only to Christ, who did not, and who did rise the third day according to the Scriptures, Luk. 18. 33.
As for those Types too, which sha∣dow forth Christ's Resurrection, they are many and exactly representative of it; As Adam's awaking from sleep, a Type of the second Adam's from death; Sarah's conceiving when old; Isaac's being sacrifi∣ced, and yet living, Gen. 22. 12. An ex∣press figure of Christ's Resurrection, Heb. 11. 14, 17, Joseph's being taken out of the Pit, and lifted up out of the Dungeon, as
Jeremy was too, and Daniel out of the Den of the Lions, Dan. 6. 23. And more clearly, by Christ's own application, Jo∣nah's being taken out of the belly of the* 1.32 Whale, Mat. 12. 40. All which Types would be meer shadows without their substance, and insignificant Types, if they had wanted their Anti-types, and should not exactly have answer'd them; which they could not doe, if Christ could have been holden by the pains or cords of death.
2. Not possible, by reason of that in∣dissoluble tye of Christ's Personal Uni∣on; (so strait, that Christ's Body, even in the Grave, was inseparably united to the Deity which drew it to it;) For al∣though Death could dissolve his Natu∣ral, yet not his Personal Union; and therefore necessary it was, that his Body and Soul should be re-united, that so he might become a perfect Man, which could not be without his rising.
3. Not possible, in respect of God's immutable Decree so determining it; which being still of force, nothing could render ineffectual. God had anointed his Son from all Eternity as to be a Pro∣phet and a Priest; so a King, to accom∣plish
the work of Man's Redemption; none of which Offices could be fully executed, but upon supposition of his ri∣sing from the dead. (1.) The preaching of the Gospel was to follow that, Luk. 24. 47. (2.) As was also the preaching of Repentance and Remission of sins through his bloud; the Expiation whereof, as well as our Justification, (the not imputing our Sins to us) was an effect of his Re∣surrection, Rom. 4. 25. Who was deliver∣ed for our Offences, and raised again for our Justification. God having declared, by raising his Son from the dead, that he had accepted of his Death, as of a sufficient ransome for our Sins. For if Christ had remained still under the power of Death, his satisfaction could not have been perfect, neither could he have applied the Vertue thereof to us. And in like manner was Christ's Resur∣rection our Justification: For Christ be∣ing* 1.33 our true pledge, after he had satis∣fied for us by his Death, returning unto Life, gives us a clear Evidence, and af∣fords us a sure Argument, that God was fully reconciled, and Life purchased for us. Which assurance we could not have had, if Christ our pledge had still re∣mained
under the power of death, for as much as his continuance in his pay∣ment would ever have argued the im∣perfection of it. The summ of all is* 1.34 this, That our Justification was begun in Christ's Death, but was perfected by his Resurrection; That we have Re∣demption by his abasement, and Appli∣cation of it by his advancement. (3.) A∣gain, The pacification of our Conscien∣ces, the confirmation of our Faith, and the support of our Hope depended all upon the Exercise of his Regal Office, which was mainly to triumph over his and our Enemies; the last of them espe∣cially, Death; which he could never be said to have done, while he still remain∣ed under its Dominion: For then he had never ransomed Men from the power of the Grave, nor redeemed them from Death; but, as it followeth in Hosea 13. 14. Death had been his Plague, and the Grave his Destruction; and so ours too. So far should he then have been from swallowing it up in victory, or leading cap∣tivity* 1.35 captive, that himself should have been a slave and a captive to them; so far from spoiling Principalities and Pow∣ers, or making a shew of them openly; tri∣umphing* 1.36
over them, that the gates of Hell should have prevailed against Himself, and consequently against his Church, contrary to his express Word and Promise, Mat. 16. 18.
4. Not possible, as the word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 implies an unsuitableness or incongruity, as well as an absolute impossibility; (for id possumus quod jure possumus;) And according to this notion of the word, 'twas impossible, that is, 'twas altoge∣ther unsuitable and unbecoming, as I may so say, God, to suffer Christ to be under the power and dominion of Death; It did not become his Love thus to for∣sake his only beloved Son; nor his Justice* 1.37 to suffer his Holy One to see Corruption, to leave his Soul in Hell, i. e. the Grave, who had done no violence, neither was guile* 1.38 found in his mouth; or to let him go without his reward, who by his active and passive Obedience; the Sufferings in his Life, and Obedience at his Death, had merited Heaven for himself and us;* 1.39 It being most unfit that he should remain any longer in Death's prison, who had paid his own and our debt, even to the discharging of the very uttermost farthing. And to conclude this point; How un∣beseeming
the Power of God was it also, (even in the judgment of Reason,) That he that looseth the bands of Orion, should not be able to break Death's cords; That that Death, which God never made, (a meer privation,) should fetter him who made all things, and that no∣thing* 1.40 command Omnipotency its self; That the Devil should be said to have the power of death, and the Prince of life* 1.41 be under that power. Such Chains of dark∣ness suit well with that roaring Lion, who goes about seeking whom he may devour; but not at all with the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, who was to rescue the prey out of his jaws. Certainly He that had the keys of Hell and Death could open the gates of Death to himself, as well as to all believers. The Grave to him was no other than a Womb, which soon grew weary of its load; and 'twas as natural for Christ to force his passage out thence, as for the Child, now ripe for the Birth, to drop from his Mother's Womb. If the Creature groans to be de∣livered from the bondage of her Corruption, it is but reasonable to imagine that the Earth could not chuse but be in pain, so long as she became an Instrument of her
Creator's captivity; and 'twas as abso∣lutely necessary for those Iron gates of death to let out the Lord of life, as it was for those Everlasting ones to be lifted up to receive the King of Glory in∣to Heaven.
And into that place, whereinto his* 1.42 Resurrection has made a way for Him∣self, we hope one day to enter; that where the Head is, there the Members may be also. We have ground for this Hope from St. Paul, 1 Cor. 6. 14. God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power. He can, for he did raise up others before he raised himself; * 1.43 Jairus Daughter, † 1.44 the Widow's Son, ‖ 1.45 Lazarus after four days rotting in the Grave, are all preg∣nant instances of his Power; Et ab esse ad posse valet consequentia; What he has done, he can still doe; unless we shall fancy his Arme shortned, or that the Ancient of days has lost his strength. And that he will, we have his own Word for it; Joh. 6. 40. Whosoever be∣lieveth in me, may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day. If he can and will, why should we doubt
of it? Who hath resisted his Will? Or what can tie up his Hands? Death, we see, could not; her Cords were too weak to Manacle him; and why should we think they can now hold us? He that could break them off from himself, can he not dissolve ours too? Let me then put St. Paul's question to the most doubt∣ing Sceptick, Act. 26. 8. Why should it be thought an impossible thing that God should raise the dead? Since we see he has effectually done it in the Person of Christ, and every day does it in Nature. For what is Nature its self but a conti∣nual Resurrection? We may see it every Day in a perpetual orderly Succession of Nights and Days, in the Setting and Rising of the Sun, in Winter and Spring. The Serpent's casting off his old Skin; the Eagle's renewing his strength with his Beak; (not to mention the Phoenix ri∣sing from her Ashes, which yet some of the Fathers, as Clement and Tertullian* 1.46 use as an argument to prove the Resur∣rection;) the Seed corrupted in the Earth, and thence springing up into a full Ear, our Lord's and St. Paul's instances, all* 1.47 Emblems, or rather Demonstrations of it. Our very Bodies (to go no farther
than our selves) even in our life-time are continually altered, and those we now carry about us are not the same they were a few years past; so that we may change the Tense and reade, not that we all shall be, but that we are con∣tinually* 1.48 changed. Our sleep, what is it but a shorter death, and our awaking thence but a return to life? What are Church-yards but 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Sleeping∣houses, from whose Graves, as from so many Beds, we are one day to be raised up by the sound of the last trump? And as Nature, so Art shadows forth a Re∣surrection; That Art, whereby a little rude piece of Earth is refin'd into pure Metal; whereby a Chymist can raise a flower out of ashes, at least to shape and colour; And shall not God be able to change our vile Bodies, and make them like unto his glorious Body? And when he has turn'd Men into destruction, to say, Come* 1.49 again ye Children of Men. If the Disputer of this World, the conceited Rationalist should deny a possibility of a return from a privation to a habit, a re-pro∣duction of the same thing once corrup∣ted; Let me ask him, why that God who created our Bodies out of nothing,
cannot be able to recall them out of something? For since even Philosophy its self will grant, that in every dissolu∣tion the parts dissolved doe not perish, the Materials still continuing; All the Skill here will be but to join and re∣unite the scattered parcels. Quasi non ma∣joris miraculi sit animare quàm jungere. Tertullian's reasoning here is very con∣cluding;* 1.50 and we cannot resist the argu∣ment. Utique idoneus est reficere qui fe∣cit; quanto plus est fecisse quam refecisse; initium dedisse quàm reddidisse. Ita resti∣tutionem carnis faciliorem credas instituti∣one. An Artificer can take a Watch or Clock asunder and put it together again; and shall not the great Creator be able to doe as much here, to re-unite what he has severed, having still reserved the loose scattered pieces and fragments? The separation of our Bodies and Souls by death, as 'twas violent; so their de∣sire of re-union being natural, shall not be frustrated. They are incompleat Sub∣stances in that state, and long for their perfection, which is their re-union; for by that are the spirits of just Men depart∣ed made perfect, and God will not leave them in an imperfect condition, lest a
power and inclination should for ever be in the root, and never rise up to fruit. This may suffice to silence, though not to satisfie Natural reason; especially if we consider, that many Philosophers have had strong apprehensions of a Re∣surrection upon the dissolution of the World by fire; a reduction of all things to a better state, as Seneca terms it.* 1.51 Nor was there any Article of the Faith more generally believed among the Jews than this, as appears by Joh. 12. 24. and Act. 23. 8. The Patriarchs were certain of it; witness their great care before their death, to have their Bones carried away by the Children of Israel out of Egypt, that they might be buried in A∣braham's Field; out of a hope, no doubt, of being the first that, by vertue of Christ's Resurrection, might rise from the dead; as 'tis very probable they were of the Number of those many Saints which arose and came out of their Graves after his Resurrection, and went in∣to the holy City, and appeared unto many, Matth. 27. 53. But then to the Faith of a Christian, nothing is so easie as a Resurrection; since God's Word clearly tells us, That Christ is our Resurrection
and our Life, Joh. 11. 25. and that our life, which is now hid with him in God, shall one day be revealed, Colos. 3. 3. That God is not the God of the dead, but of the living, Matth. 22. 32. Nay, the Lord of dead and living, Rom. 14. 9. For that he will one day raise them up to life again. For the dead Bodies of Saints, while they lye rotting in the Grave, being still united to Christ, as his Body there was to the Deity, can∣not be for ever separate from him; the Members must at last be joined to their Head. If the first-fruits be risen, the* 1.52 whole lump shall follow. Not one hair of* 1.53 our head shall perish. He that numbers the sand of the Sea, numbers our dust; nor can the least Attom escape him. All our* 1.54 members are written in God's book. He that puts our tears into his bottle, locks up the pretious dust of his Saints in his Cabinet, can recall our dispers'd Ashes, and require our Bloud of every Beast that has drunk it; fetch those several parcels of us which have been buried in a thousand living Graves, and been made a part of those Graves which have devoured them. God can make the* 1.55 Earth cast out her dead, cause the
Sea to disgorge them, and our dry bones to gather together, as in Ezekiel's Vision, ch. 37. He that calleth all the Stars by* 1.56 their names, knows his by name, (for their names are written in Heaven,) and will call them by their names as he did Lazarus, bid them come forth, and by bidding enable them to doe so, in spight of all their bands. Now that we may be of the number, and partake of the lot of these happy ones, we must hear Christ's voice here, calling us to repen∣tance and newness of life, that we may hear that with comfort which shall here∣after call us to Judgment, and be able to answer it with joy and confidence, Here we are. Let us be sure of our part in the first Resurrection, that the second death may have no power over us. All shall one day be raised; All must one day appear before the Judgment-seat of* 1.57 Christ, good and bad; But there is a Resurrection of damnation for these, and for those, of life. Both shall come out of their Dungeons; but the one like Pha∣raoh's Baker, to an Execution; the o∣ther, like his Butler, to an Exaltation; The former shall have 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 the lat∣ter only, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Sinners shall arise,
but the godly be quickned. How hap∣py would it be for wicked Men, if they* 1.58 should never have been born, or should never rise again, since they shall rise no otherwise than as drowsie Malefactors, who lying down with their Sentence, are afterwards awakened to be set on the Rack. But 'tis not so with the God∣ly, who sleeping in Christ, doe rest in hope. I would not have you ignorant, Brethren,* 1.59 concerning them which are asleep, says St. Paul, that ye sorrow not, even as other which have no hope: For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again; even so them also which sleep in Jesus, will God bring with Him. What doest thou fear then, O good Christian? Sin? Behold the Resurrection of thy Redeemer pub∣lishes thy discharge. Thy Surety has been arrested and cast into the prison of his Grave for thee. Had not the utmost farthing of thine Arrearages been paid, he could not have come forth. But now that thou seest, he is come forth; now that the summ is fully satisfied, what danger can there be of a discharged debt? Or is it the Wrath of God thou dreadest? Wherefore is that but for Sin? And if thy Sin be defrayed, that quar∣rel
is at an end; And if thy Saviour suf∣fered it for thee, how canst thou fear to suffer it in thy self? Surely that infinite Justice hates to be twice paid. He is risen, and therefore he hath satisfied. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather that is risen again, Rom. 8. 34. Lastly, Is it Death that affrights thee? Behold thy Saviour over∣coming Death by dying, and trium∣phing over it in his Resurrection. And canst thou fear a conquered Enemy? What harm is there in this Serpent but for his sting? (The sting of death is sin.)* 1.60 And when thou seest that pull'd out by thy powerfull Redeemer, how can it now hurt thee? It may possibly hiss at, but it cannot bite thee: Look upon the Ser∣pent lifted up for thee on the Cross; and this Serpent's sting, if it has any to wound, it can have none to kill thee. If thy Saviour has not quite destroy'd this thine enemy, at least he has brought it under and made it subject; like the Gibeonites, if not banished, 'tis enslaved, and made now instrumental to Christ's Kingdom. Loose thou then the bands of thine iniquity, and those of death, which Christ has bro∣ken,
shall no more be able to hold thee, than they could doe him. Death in its most affrighting shapes to thee is but a scare-crow, 'tis but the shadow of death, while God is with thee; Nay, 'tis but an 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 a going out, a departing in peace to a Holy Simeon. 'Twas no more be∣tween God and Moses, but go up and dye, as 'twas said to another Prophet, up and eat. Ever since our Lord has swallow'd death up in victory, our Tombs become Death's Graves more than ours. Sepul∣chrum* 1.61 non jam mortuum, sed mortem de∣vorat; says a Father. Our Bodies are not lost in the Earth, but laid up to be improved; like Porcellane-dishes, which the ground does not consume, but re∣fine. In the Transfiguration, that body of Moses, which was hid in the valley of Moab, appeared glorious in the Mount of Tabor. And though we appear now like Aaron's dry rod, yet that dry rod shall at last bud and bring forth fruit unto glory. The Israelites garments▪ indeed, in the Wilderness, waxed not worse for wear∣ing; but though our Bodies, which are the garments of our Souls, doe so, and are rent and torn by afflictions and
death, yet God can and will mend them: Nay, when these Temples of the Holy Ghost we carry about us are dis∣solved, he will so build them up, that as it was said of the first and second Jewish Temples, Haggai 2. 9. the glory of our latter houses shall be greater than that of the former.—Diruta stante Major Troja fuit—God will bless us as he did Job, more at our latter end than at our beginning, and Exalt us, as he did Christ, by our Sufferings. If with him we drink of the brook in the way, (tast of his Cup) he will lift up our heads too. We shall be like him as now He is. A golden Head, and Members of Clay, suit not well together. This is our great comfort, that Christ is risen; for if the Head be above water, the Body is safe. Joseph is alive (said Jacob) and that news revived the drooping Patri∣arch. So when we hear that Christ, our elder Brother, the first-begotten from* 1.62 the dead, is alive too, let us take cou∣rage, go and find him out, seek him not in the Grave, (He is not there, he* 1.63 is risen; and why should we seek the li∣ving among the dead?) but in Heaven,
where he now is; and set our affections on things above, and not on things below. It befits us not to lye in our Beds of ease and pleasure, to lye sleeping there when Christ is up: such a spiritual Le∣thargy does not suit with a Resurrecti∣on. How are we conformable to Him, if when He is risen up, we remain still in the Grave of our Corruptions? How are we Limbs of his Body, if, while He hath perfect dominion over death, death hath dominion over us; if, while he is alive and glorious, we lye rotting in the dust of death. O let us then rouse* 1.64 our selves up this day with the Lion of the Tribe of Judah: Let this be our Re∣surrection-day too; and that it may be so, let it be our Passion-day also, as it is our Lord's: For as he rose this day for us, so does he now this day dye for us too. And although St. Paul tells us, Rom. 6. 9. That Christ being raised from the dead, dieth no more; and that death▪ hath no more dominion over him; or, to speak in the Language of the Text, that he be not holden of it; yet in regard of the constant vertue and benefit of his Death and Passion, he may be said to
dye daily for us, who receive him worthily in the Blessed Sacrament. Let me then bespeak you in the words of St. Thomas, utter'd upon another occa∣sion, Joh. 11. 16. Let us also go and dye with him; Dye with him unto sin, that we may live unto God through him, Rom. 6. 9, 10. Let us feed on him by Faith, flock like true Eagles to his Ho∣ly Carcass, and eat thereof that we may live. This is the way to be rai∣sed to glory: Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my bloud, hath Eternal life, (is even now in possession of it,) and I will raise him up at the last day, says Christ himself, Joh. 6. 54. The very touch of the Prophet Elias's bones, Ecclesiasticus 48. 5. could raise up a dead Man to a Temporal; and shall not the sense and application of Christ crucified be able to quicken us, who are dead in trespasses and sins, to a spiritual and immortal Life? O let* 1.65 us then be planted with him in the like∣ness of his Death, that we may be also in the likeness of his Resurrection, Rom. 6. 5. Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus,
that great Shepherd of the Sheep, through the bloud of the Everlasting Covenant, make you perfect in every good work to doe his Will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Je∣sus Christ: To whom with the Fa∣ther, &c. Amen.
〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Ire∣naeus.
Psal. 22. 6.
Rom. 1. 4.
Psal. 41. 8.
Mat. 27. 42
2 Pet. 3. 4.
Mat. 27. 63
Luk. 16.
Joh. 12. 10.
Rev. 1. 18.
Part 1. The Cer∣tainty of Christ's rising.
Matth. 28.
Act. 1. 3.
Joh. 20. 20.
Act. 4. 34.
1 Cor. 15. 6, 8. Act. 1. 3.
De carne Christi, e. ••. De Resur∣rectione carnis, c. 56. 2 Tim. 2. 18.
Vid. Ter∣tul. de car∣nis Resurr. c. 19.
Mat. 20.
Mat. 27. 64.
Lib. 18. de civit. Dei, c. 5.
Mat. 28. 6.
Luk. 24. 6.
1 Cor. 15. 17, 19.
Part II. The sole A∣gent or effi∣cient Cause of Christ's Resurrecti∣on, God.
Deut. 32. 39▪
Joh. 5. 25.
Joh. 2. 19, 21.
Part III. Of the Manner.
Horace.
Part IV. The Necessity of Christ's not being holden.
Jona. 2. 11.
V. Reyn. on Ps. 110. v. ult.
1 Cor. 15. 17.
1 Cor. 15. 54. Ephes. 4. 8.
Col. 2. 15.
Joh. 3. 35.
Esay 53. 9.
Psal. 110. 2: Phil. 2. 8, 9.
Heb. 1. 2.
2. 14.
Applicat.
Mar. 5.
Luk. 7.
Joh. 11.
V. Tertull. de Resurr. Carnis, cap. 13.
Joh. 12. 24. 1 Cor. 15. 36.
1 Cor. 15. 51.
Psal. 90. 3.
De Resurr. Carnis, cap. 11.
V. Sen. Nat. Qu. lib. 3. cap. 26, 27.
1 Cor. 15. 20.
Mat. 10. 30.
Psal. 139. 15.
Esay 26. 19
Exod. 33. 12. Luk. 10. 20
2 Cor. 5. 10.
Mat. 26. 24
1 Thess. 4. 13, 14.
1 Cor. 15. 56.
1 Cor. 15. 54.
Rev. 1. 15.
Luk 24. 6. Mat. 28. 6.
Applic. to the Sacra∣ment.
Heb. 13. 20, 21.