Chapter 13. The eighth Royal Privilege—The bodies of the saints shall be enameled with glory!
of, Psalm 75:8, "In the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is red"; this is the wine of God's wrath. It is enough for those bodies to be defiled, which shall be joined to the devil! But you who are believers, that expect your bodies shall be joined with Christ's body, oh cleanse these vessels! Take heed of putting your bodies to any impure services. Present your bodies a living sacrifice, Romans 12:1.
Have a care to guard all the passages which sin might come in at.
Sometimes the devil comes in at the eye; therefore Job made a covenant with his eyes. Sometimes sin goes out at the tongue; therefore David set a watch before his lips. Surely those who have their hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, that is, the guilt of known sin, will have a care to have their bodies washed with clean water.
Chapter 13.
The Eighth Royal Privilege—The Bodies of the Saints shall be Enameled with Glory!
"So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body! For our perishable earthly bodies must be transformed into heavenly bodies that will never die!" 1
Corinthians 15:42-44, 53. In this life the body is infirm, physicians have much work to repair it and keep it going! It is like a house out of repair—every storm of sickness it rains through. How does a holy soul often lodge in a sickly or deformed body! The body is like a piece of rotten wood, diseases like worms, breed there. Fevers, aches, etc. But this body shall be made glorious at the resurrection; it shall
neither have diseases nor defects! Leah shall no more complain of her bleary eyes, nor Barzillai of his lameness. There are five properties of our glorified bodies.
1. They shall be AGILE and nimble. The bodies of the saints on earth are heavy and weary in their motion—but in heaven there shall be no gravity hindering; but our bodies being refined, shall be swift and facile in their motion, and made fit to ascend, as the body of Elijah. This is the apostle's meaning when he calls it a spiritual body; that is not only a body made fit to serve God without weariness—but a body that can move swiftly from one place to another. In this life the body is a great hindrance to the soul in its operation: "The spirit is willing—but the flesh is weak." When the soul would fly up to Christ, the body as a leaden lump keeps it down. Here on earth, the body is a clog; in heaven it shall be a wing. The bodies of the saints shall be agile and lively, they shall be made fully subject to the soul, and will in no way, impede or hinder the soul in its progress.
2. The bodies of the saints shall be transparent, full of clarity and BRIGHTNESS. They shall be as Christ's body when it was transfigured, Matt. 17:2. Our bodies shall have a divine luster put upon them! Here on earth, they are as iron when it is rusty; there they shall be as iron when it is filed and made bright, as the sun in its splendor; nay, "seven times brighter!" says Chrysostom. Here on earth, our bodies are as the gold in the ore—drossy and impure. In heaven they shall be as gold when it spangles and glitters! So clear shall they be, that the soul may venture out at every part, and sparkle through the body as the wine through the glass.
3. They shall be BEAUTIFUL. Beauty consists in two things.
1. Symmetry and proportion, when all the parts are drawn out in their perfect lineaments.
2. Complexion, when there is a mixture and variety in the colors.
Thus the bodies of the saints shall have a transcendency of beauty
upon them. Here on earth, the body is called a vile body. It is vile in its origin—it is made of the dust of the earth. The earth is the most ignoble element. The body is also vile in the use that it is put to; the soul often uses the body as a weapon to fight against God. But this vile body shall be ennobled and beautified with glory; it shall be made like Christ's body!
How beautiful was Christ's body upon earth! In it there was the rose and the lily; it was a mirror of beauty! For all deformities of body issue immediately from sin—but Christ being conceived by the Holy Spirit, and so without sin, he must needs have a beautiful body, and in this sense he was fairer than the children of men, Psalm 45:2.
There was graceful majesty in his looks. Christ's body, as some writers aver, was so fair by reason of the beauty and grace which shined in it, that no artist could ever draw it exactly. And if it was so glorious a body on earth, how great is the luster of it now in heaven! That light which shone upon Paul, "surpassing the glory of the sun," was no other than the beauty of Christ's body in heaven.
O then what beauty and resplendency will be put upon the bodies of the saints! they shall be made "like Christ's glorious body."
4. The bodies of the saints shall be IMPECCABLE. Not but that the body when it is glorified, shall have such a passion as is delightful, (for the body is capable of joy) but it will have no passion which is hurtful; it shall not be capable of any noxious impression; in particular, 1. The bodies of the saints shall be free from the NECESSITIES of nature, such as hunger and thirst. Here on earth, we are pinched with hunger: "David waxed faint," 2 Sam.
21:15. Here on earth, we need continual supplies for nature. Christ "took compassion on the multitude," and wrought a miracle, lest they should "faint by the way," Matt. 15:32. Nature must have its supplies; these are as necessary to maintain life, as the oil is to maintain the lamp. But in heaven we shall hunger no more, Rev. 7:16. Hunger
implies a need and lack, which cannot be in heaven; there we need not pray, "Give us our daily bread."
Question. But does not Christ say, "I will not drink this day of the fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my
Father's kingdom"; which implies there will be eating and drinking in heaven, and by consequence hunger?
Answer. We must not understand the words literally; our Savior only alludes to the metaphor of the vine. It is as if Christ had said, as drinking the fruit of the vine now with you, is an action of familiarity and pleasantness; so when you shall be with me in the kingdom of heaven, you shall be filled with such joy and delight, as if all the time were a time of feasting and banqueting.
2. Glorified bodies shall be free from the INFIRMITIES of nature, such as cold and heat. Heaven is a temperate zone: there is no nipping frost or scorching heat, nothing will be there in extremity
—but joy.
3. The bodies of the saints shall be free from the BURDENS of nature, such as labor and sweating. There will be no more ploughing or sowing—what is the need of that—when the saints shall receive the full crop of joy! When the farmer works in the field, he needs his rake, his spade, etc. But let this same farmer be advanced to the throne, and now he has no more use for the spade—he is freed from all those labors! So though now we must "eat our bread with the sweat of our brows," yet when we are in heaven, and shall be advanced to the throne—there will be no more need of our working tools! Labor shall cease! Our sweat as well as our tears shall be dried up!
4. The bodies of the saints shall be free from the INJURIES of nature, such as sufferings. We run the race of our life on the track of misery! We go from one suffering to another. We never finish our troubles—but merely change them! "Man is born to
trouble," he is the natural heir to it. Where the body is, there will afflictions like vultures be gathered together. Job was smitten with boils, and Paul did bear in his body the marks of the Lord Jesus.
Afflictions, like hard frosts, nip the tender buds of our comfort; but before long the saints shall be impeccable, they shall have a protection from injuries granted them.
5. The bodies of the saints shall be IMMORTAL. Here on earth, our bodies are always dying. It is improper to ask, "When shall we die?" We should rather ask, "When shall we be finished dying?"
First, the infancy dies, then the childhood, then the youth, then the old age—and then we are finished dying! It is not only the running out of the last sand in the glass which spends it—but all the sands which run out before. Death is a worm that is ever feeding at the root of our gourds! But in heaven "our mortal shall put on immortality." As it was with Adam in innocency, if he had not sinned, such was the excellent temperature and harmony in all the qualities of his body, that it is probable he would have never died— but had been translated from paradise to heaven! Indeed, Belarmine says that Adam would have died, though he had not sinned. But I know no ground for that assertion, for sin is made the formal cause of death!
However there is no such thing disputable in heaven, as the bodies there are immortal. Luke 20:36, "Neither can they die any more": heaven is a healthful place, there is no sickness or dying; we shall never more hear a death-bell ring! As our souls shall be eternal, so our bodies immortal. If God made manna (which is in itself corruptible) to last many years in the golden pot, much more is he able by a divine power, so to fashion the bodies of the saints, that they shall be preserved to eternity. God "will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain." Revelation 21:4.