From Death, Through Eternity
FROM DEATH, THROUGH ETERNITY
IT remains that we consider the promise of eternal life to the elect, as it is accomplished to, and hath its effect upon them, from their death, all along through eternity. And so the great lines of it are two; to wit, a promise of victory over death, and a promise of everlasting life in heaven. And these things I shall touch more briefly, having handled them at large elsewhere.
The promise of eternal life comprehends a promise of victory over death, to be conferred on all and every one of the spiritual seed, in the encounter with that last enemy: Isa. 25:8, "He will swallow up death in victory, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces." After the wearisome march, and the reiterated fights of faith they have in their passage through the wilderness of this world, they have to pass the Jordan of death, and to fight the last battle with that enemy. But the victory is secured on their side by promise; of which there are two chief branches, to wit, a promise of disarming death, and a promise of destroying it.
1. There is a promise of disarming death to the dying believer; so that it shall at no rate be able to reach him a ruining stroke: Hos. 13:14, "O death, I will be thy plagues;" namely, by taking the sting quite away, 1 Cor. 15:55. When sin entered the world, death followed; and sin furnished death with an envenomed sting, wherewith to kill the sinner, both soul and body at once; the holy law, with its curse, fixed this sting in death's hand; having first so pointed it, that it could not miss of doing execution. But Christ, the second Adam, having undertaken to bear the curse, and to die in the room and stead of his people; there was thereupon made a promise of disarming death to them: since the Surety suffering the pains of death armed with its sting, the principal beloved to be liberate from suffering the same thing over again. And thus the covenant secures believers from death's harm. Yea, it so alters the nature thereof, that it makes it a quite new thing to them from what it was originally. Hence death is found in the inventory of the saints' treasure, 1 Cor. 3:22, "Whether life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all is yours." Not only is life theirs by the covenant, but death is theirs too by the same tenor. And indeed as it is new-framed by the covenant, it is of excellent use to them, bringing them into a state of perfection, and everlasting rest, Heb. 12:23; Rev. 14:13.
This promise is grafted upon the promise of victory made to Christ, as appears from the forecited, Isa. 25:8. He encountered death, armed with its sting, on purpose to disarm it to his people: he received the sting thereof into his own soul and body, that they might be delivered from it. Wherefore the promise of victory over death made to him, secures the disarming of it to them. And as the promise makes them safe, in the encounter with that last enemy: so the lively faith of it may in this case deliver from fear.
2. There is a promise of destroying death to the dead believer, by a glorious resurrection at the last day; Hos. 13:14, "O grave, I will be thy destruction." When death entered into the world by sin, then came the grave, as death's attendant, to keep fast his prisoners for him, till the general judgment: and thus the grave serves death, in the case of all who die in a state of enmity with God. But Christ, the second Adam, having in the second covenant engaged to go, in the room and stead of his people, death's prisoner, into the grave, and there to lie till their debt should be fully paid; there was made thereupon a promise of a glorious resurrection to his members, whereby they shall be put out of the reach of death for good and all, at the last day: for "then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory," 1 Cor. 15:54; and then shall they triumphantly sing, "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" ver. 55. And thus the covenant secures the forming anew of their dissolved bodies, the return of their departed souls into them, and their coming forth of their graves glorious, immortal, and incorruptible. In the faith of which, the saints may with comfort consider the grave as but a retiring place, from whence after a while they shall come forth with unspeakable joy.
This promise is grafted upon the promise of a resurrection made to Christ, Isa. 26:19, "Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise." The promise of a resurrection being made to him as a public person, it must take place also on his mystical members, whose federal head he was. Hence the Psalmist says, his flesh should rest in hope, namely, in the grave, in hope of a glorious resurrection, because the holy one Jesus was not to see corruption, Psalm 16:2, 10, with Acts 13:35; thereby teaching, that Christ's resurrection would insure his glorious resurrection, as a member of the mystical body by faith. And indeed there is such a connection between Christ's resurrection and the happy resurrection of the saints, that they stand and fall together: 1 Cor. 15:16, "For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised."
THE promise of eternal life doth, in the last place, comprehend a promise of everlasting life in heaven, to be conferred on all and every one of the spiritual seed after death: Dan. 12:2, "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life." This was more sparingly revealed under the Old Testament, than under the New, 2 Tim. 1:10. Yet was it, even then, so clearly revealed, that all the holy patriarchs lived and died in the faith of it, Heb. 11:13–16. The fathers before Abraham saw it in the promise of the seed of the woman, which was to bruise the serpent's head: and from Abraham, they saw it in the promise of Canaan. But now by the gospel, this life and immortality are set in a full light. By the breach of the first covenant that life was forfeited, the heavenly paradise lost to Adam and all mankind; in token whereof, he was turned out of the earthly paradise. But the second Adam, having in the second covenant, undertaken the redemption of the forfeited inheritance, there was a new promise of it made in favour of his seed: and they are invested with an indefeasible right thereto, in the first moment of their union with Christ by faith; howbeit they are not instantly put in possession thereof. And when they do come to the possession, it is not given them all at once, but at two different periods, in different measures; according to the two chief branches of the promise thereof, namely, a promise of transporting their souls into heaven at death, and a promise of transporting them soul and body thither at the last day.
1. There is a promise of transporting their souls separate from their bodies, into heaven, there to behold and enjoy the face of God. And it is accomplished to them immediately after their death. It was most plainly declared and applied by our Saviour to the penitent thief on the cross, Luke 23:43, "To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise." But it was in the faith of it, that the covenant was to David, even in the face of death, all his salvation, and all his desire, 2 Sam. 23:5; and that Paul had a desire to depart, knowing that he was to be with Christ upon his departure, Philip. 1:23. And it is in the faith of the same, that the whole church militant doth groan earnestly, desiring to be clothed upon with the house which is from heaven, that is, the heavenly glory, 2 Cor. 5:2. Indeed the curse of the first covenant did, upon the breaking of that covenant, fall to their lot, as well as to the rest of mankind; and that curse would natively have issued in cutting them asunder, as covenant-breakers, and appointing them their portion with the hypocrites; but that being executed to the full on Christ their head, to the parting asunder of his holy soul and body, it can operate no more on them. Wherefore, howbeit others die in virtue of the curse, separating their souls and bodies, the one to the place of torment, the other to the grave, till the last day; yet they do not so die. Being redeemed from the curse, Gal. 3:13, they shall never see such death, John 8:51. But they die in conformity to Christ their head, being predestinate to be conformed to his image, (Rom. 8:29), who is the first-born from the dead, Col. 1:18. and the first fruits of them that sleep, which every man is to follow in his own order, 1 Cor. 15:20, 23. That, as in the case of the head, so in the case of the members, as death came on by sin, sin may go off by death. In virtue of their communion with Christ in his death, the union betwixt their souls and mortal bodies is dissolved; their souls dismissed in peace into the heavenly glory, there to remain till such time as their bodies, laid down in the grave, come, in virtue of their communion with Christ in his resurrection, to put on incorruption and immortality.
This promise is grafted upon the promise of acceptance made to Christ, when be should make his soul an offering for sin. In confidence of which acceptance, dying on the cross he commended his spirit, or soul, into the hands of his Father, Luke 22:46; and told the penitent thief, he was to be that very day in paradise, though then it was towards the evening of it, ver. 43. The words in which he commended his soul to his Father, were David's, Psalm 31:5, "Into thine hand I commit my spirit;" thereby intimating, that the reception of the souls of his dying people into the hands of the Father, depends on the reception of his soul into them. For his soul was, in virtue of the covenant, so received, as a public soul, representing the souls of the whole seed; whence David speaking of Christ, saith, "Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell," Psalm. 16:10, with Acts 2:31. Wherefore in the promise of receiving Christ's soul, was comprehended a promise of receiving the souls of all his mystical members.
2. There is a promise of transporting them, soul and body, into heaven, there to be ever with the Lord; which is to be accomplished unto them at the last day: Dan. 12:2, "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." Ver. 3, "And they that be wise, shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness," (or rather, they that do righteously, of the many), "as the stars for ever and ever." Whereas the many mentioned, ver. 2, and comprehending all, are there divided into two sorts, in respect of their future state, in the event of the resurrection: the happy part, being the first sort of them, is designed ver. 3, from their present state in this life, the wise, and they that do righteously; that is, in New Testament language, the righteous, Matt. 13:43, and they that have done good, John 5:29, in opposition to the foolish, and they that have done evil. Those having come forth, unto the resurrection of life, John 5:29, shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and as the stars for ever and ever: yea, they shall shine forth as the sun, in the kingdom of their Father, Matt. 13:43. This is the highest pinnacle of the saints' hopes; wherein they, in their whole man, shall have the whole of eternal life in its perfection. Man had a conditional promise hereof, in the covenant of works; but the condition being broken, the benefit promised was lost; heaven's gates were shut against Adam, and all his natural seed. Howbeit Christ the second Adam, having undertaken to fulfil the condition of the second covenant, which was stated from an exact consideration of the demands that the broken first covenant had on his spiritual seed; there was a new promise of it made in their favour; and it absolute. And to his fulfilling of that condition, both the making and performing of this promise are owing allenarly. None other's works but his could ever have availed to reduce the forfeiture, and purchase a new right: and his works do it so effectually, that they secure the putting all his seed in actual possession of the purchased inheritance; so that they shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ, Rom. 5:17.
This is the promise of the covenant, which is the last of all in performing; as being the consummation of all the rest, not to be accomplished until the mystery of God be finished. The Old Testament saints died in the faith of it; and it is not as yet performed to them: nay, the New Testament saints have died, and still must die, in the faith of it; not having it performed to them neither, till it be at once accomplished to the whole seed together, at the end of the world. Thus this promise remains to be an unseen object of faith to the church militant; and to the church triumphant too, whose flesh must rest in hope till that day, Psalm 16:9. But because the term prefixed for performing thereof, is, in the depth of sovereign wisdom, for reasons becoming the divine perfections, set at such a distance; there have been some signal pledges given of it, to confirm the church's faith in the case. Such was the translating of Enoch, soul and body, into heaven, in the patriarchal period; Elias, in the time of the law; and our blessed Saviour, in the time of the gospel.
This promise is grafted upon the promise of a glorious exaltation made to Christ; by which was secured to him his ascension, in soul and body, into heaven, and entering into his glory: Luke 24:26, "Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?" Both these were necessary in respect of the covenant: his suffering was necessary, in respect of the condition thereof, which behoved to be fulfilled by him; and his entering into his glory was necessary, in respect of the promise thereof, which behoved to be fulfilled unto him. Now, Christ ascended and entered into glory, as a public person, as a forerunner entering for us, Heb. 6:20. And therefore the promise, in virtue of which he ascended and entered into it, comprehends the ascension and glory of all his mystical members, who are therefore said to sit together in heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, Eph. 2:6. And then, and not till then, will the promise be perfectly fulfilled to him, when all the mystical members are personally there, together with their head; when the whole seed, perfectly recovered from death, shall reign there, together with him, in life, for evermore.
And this shall suffice to have been said here of the promise of eternal life, in the last period thereof.
Thus we have opened the promise of eternal life to the elect, with the effects thereof on them, in its several periods; to wit, before their union with Christ; and then, from their union with Christ until death; and finally, from their death, through eternity: the whole springing out of the promises peculiar to Christ himself. For as these last were fulfilled, in preserving the root of Jesse, notwithstanding of the various changes that family did undergo, in which it was often in hazard of extinction, until such time as Christ sprang out of it, as a root out of a dry ground, Isa. 11:1, 10; and 53:2; and then, in carrying him up, and carrying him through in his work notwithstanding of the load of imputed sin that lay upon him, and the opposition he met with in the world, and the powers of hell, engaged against him, Isa. 49:8; and 1, 7, 8, 9; and finally, in raising him from the dead, taking him up into heaven, and glorifying him there for ever and ever, 1 Tim. 3:16. Even so the promise of eternal life to the elect, included therein, is fulfilled, in preserving them in their unconverted state, till such time as they are united to Christ by faith: and then, in carrying them up, and carrying them through, in favour and communion with God, during the whole time of their continuance in this world, notwithstanding of all the opposition from the devil the world and the flesh: and lastly, in raising them up at the last day, and receiving them soul and body, into heaven, there to be ever with the Lord.
And now, from the whole of what hath been said on that point, we deduce the following inference, that all the benefits of the covenant of grace bestowed, or to be bestowed on sinners, are the sure mercies of David, Isa. 55:3. This may be taken up in these three things following:—
1. They are all of them mercies, pure mercies, without respect to any worthiness in the receivers. They all are free grace gifts; for the covenant is to us a covenant of grace, from the first to the last: Eph. 2:7, "That in the ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches of his grace, in his kindness towards us, through Christ Jesus." Ver. 8, "For by grace are ye saved, through faith: and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God." The receiving of believers into glory, is, after all their working, as much of free grace, as is the quickening of them, when being dead in sin, they could do no good work at all. They have their faith and their works, their grace and their glory, their temporal and their eternal good things, all of them equally of free grace: for they are all secured to them in, and flow from the promise of the covenant made before the world began; and are founded on a ground which they had no manner of hand in the laying of.
2. They all are the mercies of David, that is, of Jesus Christ the Son of David. His obedience and death are the alone channel wherein the free grace of the covenant runs, bringing along with it all those mercies, Eph. 2:7. It is to the holiness of his nature, the righteousness of his life, and the satisfaction made by his death, they are all owing: for upon these alone, and upon nothing in us, whether before or after conversion, is the promise of eternal life founded. Our believing through grace, while others continue in unbelief; our seeing God in glory, while others are cast into outer darnness; the bread we eat, and the water we drink, in this life, together with the hidden manna we shall eat of, and the rivers of pleasures we shall drink of, in heaven; are all equally the purchase of our Redeemer's blood.
3. Lastly, They are all of them sure mercies. What of them the saints have already got, they could not have missed of; and what of them they have not as yet received, is as sure as if they had it in hand, 2 Sam. 23:5, "David perceived that the Lord had confirmed him king over Israel;" and that upon this ground, "for his kingdom was lift up on high," 1 Chron. 15:2. Now, Saul's kingdom was lift up on high too; and yet he lost it. But David had his kingdom by the covenant; Saul, not so: hence the former seeing the promise begin to be accomplished, rightly concluded, that it would hold on till it was fully performed; notwithstanding that the latter fell from his excellency. Uncovenanted mercies are tottering mercies; but the covenant-mercies are sure. The former may flow plentifully for a while, and yet at length be quite dried up for ever; but the spring of the latter being once opened, will flow for evermore without interruption. The promise is infallibly sure, and cannot miscarry: it is sure from the nature of God who made it; even from his infallible truth, and from his justice too in respect of Christ, 2 Thess. 1:6, 7.
Thus far of the second part of the covenant, namely, the promissory part.
A penalty is no essential part of a proper covenant. It is but accidental only, arising not from the nature of a covenant, but from the nature of the covenanters, who being fallible, may break either the condition, or the promise: in which case a penalty is annexed, to secure the performance of the condition on the one side, and of the promise on the other. Wherefore, since the party contracting on man's side, on whom it lay to perform the condition of this covenant, was infallible; as was the party contracting on heaven's side, on whom it lay to perform the promise of it: there was no place at all for a penalty thereof, properly so called; as there was none in the first covenant, but upon one side. In the second covenant, the Father and the Son absolutely trusted each the other. Upon the credit of the Son, the Father received all the Old Testament saints into heaven, before the price of their redemption was paid; and upon the credit of the Father, the Son, nearly seventeen hundred years ago, paid the full price of the redemption of the elect, while vast multitudes of them were not as yet born into the world, and many of them are not even to this day.
It is true, the parties contracted for are fallible: but then the performing of the condition of this covenant, as such, doth in no case lie upon them; Christ having taken it entirely on himself, and accordingly performed it already. While they continue in their natural state, without Christ, they are personally in the covenant of works, not in the covenant of grace. And being once become believers in Christ, the promise of the covenant of grace stands always entire to them, notwithstanding of all their failures; and must needs stand so, in virtue of the condition of the covenant already performed, and judicially sustained, as performed by Jesus Christ for them. And though they are fallible in respect of their actions, as long as they are in this world; yet from the moment of their union with Christ by faith, they are not fallible in respect of their state: they can no more fall from their state of grace, than the saints in heaven can. Hence, even in their case, there is no place for the curse, or eternal wrath, the only penalty by which they should lose their right to the promise of the covenant. They are indeed liable to God's fatherly anger and chastisements for their sins: but forasmuch as by these there is no intercision of their right to the promise; and that they are not vindictive, but medicinal; they cannot be accounted a proper penalty of the covenant of grace, however they may be improperly so called; but do really belong to the promissory part, and administration of the covenant, Psalm 89:30, 31, 32, 33, 34; Isa. 27:9; Heb. 12:5, 6, 7. Where the condition of a covenant is fully performed, and legally sustained as such, in favour of the party who is to receive the benefit promised, it is evident there can be no more place for a proper penalty of the covenant on that side: and so it is here in the case of believers.
And thus we have dispatched the third head, namely, the parts of the covenant.