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Christ shall all be made alive." Christ is the Lord of the dead, and so hath a right by that dominion to raise them all to life: it is called the resurrection of the dead indefinitely, and comprehendeth them universally. "By man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead;" and so the resurrection adequately answereth unto death. Christ shall destroy death, but if any one should be left still dead, death were not destroyed. The words of our Saviour are express and full, "The hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth, they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation," John v. 28. In the description of the judgment which followeth upon the resurrection, "when the Son of Man shall sit upon the throne of his glory," it is said that "before him shall be gathered all nations." "We shall all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ," and if so, the dead must all arise, for they are all fallen. "We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad;" and before we all appear, the dead must rise that they may appear. This is the latitude of the resurrection; the resurrection of the dead is the resurrection of all the dead, or of all mankind.

Now this resurrection, as an object of our faith, is yet to come; and we are obliged to believe the futurition of it. There were heretics in the apostles' days, who acknowledged a resurrection, but yet destroyed this Article, by denying the relation of it to the time, as "Hymeneus and Philetus, who erred concerning the truth, saying, that the resurrection is past already, and so overthrow the faith of some," 2 Tim. ii. 17. To believe it already past, is to deny it; because it cannot be believed past, but by such an interpretation as must destroy it. As they who interpret this resurrection of the likeness of Christ's resurrection; that as he died and rose again, so we should die unto sin and live again unto righteousness, attributing all to the renovation of the mind, must deny the resurrection of the body.

Now as we know the doctrine of the resurrection was first delivered to be believed as to come; so we are assured that it is not yet come since the doctrine of it was first delivered, and is to be believed as to come to the end of the world; because as Martha called it, it is the resurrection of the last day. Job, who knew that his Redeemer lived, did not expect that he should stand upon the earth till the latter day; Christ hath no otherwise declared his Fathers will, than that" of all which he hath given him, he should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day," John vi, 39. The corn is sown and laid in the ground, and "the harvest is the end of the world." We must not expect to rise from the dead till the last trump. "The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God," before "all that are in the graves shall hear his voice." God shall judge the world, and therefore shall raise the world; but he will not raise them to that judgment till the end of the world.

Thus having demonstrated that the will of God hath been revealed that there should be a resurrection; that the resurrection which was revealed is the resurrection of the body; that the bodies which are to be raised are the same which are already dead, or shall hereafter die; that this resurrection is not past, but that we which live shall hereafter attain unto it; I conceive I have declared all which is necessary by way of explication and confirmation of the truth of this Article.

The value of this truth, the necessity of this doctrine, will appear, first, in the illustration of the glory of God, by the most lively demonstration of his wisdom, power, justice, and mercy. God first created all things for him

self, and the resurrection is as it were a new creation. The wisdom and power of God are manifested in this acknowledgment, inasmuch as without infinite knowledge he could not have an exact and distinct comprehension of all the particles and individual dusts of all the bodies of all men; and without an infinite power he could not conjoin, cement, conglutinate, and incorporate them again into the same flesh. The mercy and justice of God are declared by the same profession; the mercy, in pro

mising life after that death which we had so justly deserved; the justice, in performing that promise unto all true believers, and in punishing the disobedient with everlasting flames. "When ye see this," saith the prophet, "your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall florish like an herb; and the hand of the Lord shall be known towards his servants, and his indignation towards his enemies," Isa. lxvi. 14.

Secondly; it is necessary to profess the belief of the resurrection of the body, that we may thereby acknowledge the great and powerful work of our redemption, confessing that death could not be conquered but by death, and that we could never have obtained another life, had not the Saviour of the world "abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." If Christ were not the life, the dead could never live; if he were not the resurrection, they could never rise. Were it not for him "that liveth and was dead, and is alive for evermore,” had not he "the keys of hell and of death," we could never break through the bars of death, or pass the gates of hell. But he hath undertaken to vanquish our enemies, and our "last enemy to be destroyed is death;" that the prophecy may be fulfilled, "death is swallowed up in victory," and we may cry out with the apostle, "Thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ," I Cor.

xv. 57.

Thirdly; the belief of this Article is necessary to strengthen us against the fear of our own death, and immoderate sorrow for the death of others. The sentence of death, passed upon us for our sins, cannot but affright and amaze us, except we look upon the suspension, relaxation, or revocation of it in the resurrection; but when we are assured of a life after death, and such a life as no death shall follow it, we may lay down our fears arising from corrupted nature, upon the comforts proceeding from our faith. The departure of our friends might overwhelm us with grief, if they were lost for ever; but the apostle will "not have us ignorant concerning those which are asleep, that we sorrow not even as others which have no hope," 1 Thess. iv. 13. No. XV.

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Fourthly; the belief of the resurrection hath a necessary reflection upon this life, by way of preparation for the next, as deterring from sin, as encouraging to holiness, as comforting in afflictions. How can any man commit a deliberate sin while he thinks that he must rise and stand before the judgment-seat, and give an account, and suffer for ever the punishnent due unto it? What pleasure can entice him, what inclination can betray him, for a momentary satisfaction to incur an eternal rejection? How can we defile that body which shall never be raised to glory hereafter, except it here become the temple of the Holy Ghost? St. Paul, who hath delivered the doctrine, hath taught us by his own example what work is expected to be wrought upon our souls by it. "I have hope," saith he, "towards God, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust. And herein do I exercise myself to have always a conscience void of offence toward God and toward men," Acts xxiv. 15. This is the proper work of a true belief, and a full persuasion of a resurrection; and he who is really possessed with this hope, cannot choose but purify himself: "always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as he knoweth that his labor is not in vain in the Lord," 1 Cor. xv. 58. This encourageth all drooping spirits, this sustaineth all fainting hearts, this sweeteneth all present miseries, this lighteneth all heavy burdens, this encourageth in all dangers, this supporteth in all calamities.

Having thus discovered the truth of this Article, we may easily perceive what every man is obliged to believe, and understood to profess, when he confesseth a belief of the resurrection of the body; for thereby he is conceived to declare thus much-I am fully persuaded of this as of a most necessary and infallible truth, that as it is appointed for all men once to die, so it is also determined that all men shall rise from death; that the souls separated from our bodies are in the hand of God and live; that the bodies dissolved into dust, or scattered into ashes, shall be recollected in themselves, and reunited to their souls; that the same flesh which lived before shall be revived; that the same numerical bodies which did fall shall rise; that this resuscitation

shall be universal, no man excepted, no flesh left in the grave; that all the just shall be raised to a resurrection of life, and all the unjust to a resurrection of damnation; that this shall be performed at the last day when the trump shall sound and thus I believe the resurrection of the body.

ARTICLE XII.

And the Life everlasting..

THIS last Article, though not to be found in all, yet was expressed in many ancient creeds; in some by way of addition, and the life everlasting; in others by way of conjunction with the former, the resurrection of the body unto everlasting life. Upon this connection with the former will follow the true interpretation of this concluding Article; for thereby we are persuaded to look upon it as containing the state of man after the resurrection in the world to come.

As therefore St. Paul hath taught us to express our belief of " a resurrection both of the just and the unjust," so after the resurrection we are to consider the condition of them both; of the one as risen to everlasting life, of the other as risen to everlasting punishment and contempt; and so those who first acknowledged this Article did interpret it. Although therefore life everlasting, as it is used in the scriptures, belongeth to the just alone, and is never mentioned otherwise than as a reward promised and given to them who fear and serve the Lord; yet the same words may be used to express the duration of any persons who live never to die again, whatsoever their state and condition in itself shall be. For as the resurrection of the dead is taken in the scriptures for the happy and eternal condition which followeth after it, as when the apostle saith, "If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead;" which he must needs be most certain to attain unto, who believed the resurrection of the just and unjust, and

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