Chapter X (continued, part 3)
nothing more glorious than it, yet it is a glory of another kind, of an
higher degree, it is indeed the glory of God that is upon them : that as
it is said of Christ in Mat. xvi. 27, that he shall come in the glory of his Father; therefore his glory will be an higher glory, a glory of another kind than that of the sun : so we shall have the glory of God upon us, and therefore a glory of an higher kind than what is in the sun, which we no more know now, than (as I have said afore) we know what the sixth sense would be, if God should say he would create one, or an object suitable to it. I have the larger insisted upon this second property, because I find that in Christ s transfiguration, the only excellency that he held forth before his disciples, when they saw his majesty, was the glory that did shine forth in his body ;
< his face, the text saith, did shine as the sun.
A third excellency in Adam s body, which I have mentioned, is the healthful constitution that was in that animal body of his, and his being free from all injuries of weather or whatever else ; and therefore though he was naked, yet he felt no hurt ; but yet this I told you withal, which
124 OF THE CREATURES, AND THE CONDITION [BOOK II.
might lone his condition, that he stood in need of creatures, he depended upon sleep and upon meats. But now the bodies that God will put upon us at latter day, they shall depend upon none of all these ; and not only not depend upon sleep, and meat, and drink, and the like, but they shall be free from any possibility of being injured by any thing. Adam, he
might have been injured (though, as I have said, God had promised to
keep him), if he had fallen off from an high place, his body would have been bruised as well as ours, for he was flesh and blood. But these spi ritual bodies we shall have hereafter, they shall be wholly impassible and
incorruptible. Adam s body, though it was healthful, and should not
finally have decayed, if he had stood in innocency, yet it was subject to
alterations ; the meat that he ate one day, it did evaporate in spirits ; he was subject to weariness, to expense of spirits, though he should not
die ; but the bodies that God shall give us at latter day, they shall be
bodies incorruptible, bodies raised up in strength. I will give you but
those two places for it : the one is 1 Cor. xv. 53, It is sown in weak
ness, and it is raised in power, or in strength ; and the other is ver. 53, This corruptible must put on incorruptible, and this mortal must put on
immortality ; and when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, &c. Here seems to be two
different things, between corruption and immortality. I shall express to
you the difference thus : that thing is said to be immortal which shall not
die ; but that thing is said to be corruptible, which, though it shall not die,
yet may be subject to alteration. As, for example, it is said that the body of Christ in the grave saw no corruption ; the meaning is, there was not the least alteration in it at all, nothing tending to putrefaction, not the
least dissolution of the humours in it. Now Adam s body, though it was
immortal, yet it was not incorruptible, it was subject to alteration, there was an expense in it, it was subject to a corruption ; my meaning is this,
it was not that to day it was yesterday, and the meat he ate went out in the draught, and the like. Hence, therefore, that he might live for ever, he had the tree of light to eat of, for to repair his spirits when they were worn. He was but flesh and blood, though he was immortal, and he was not able to have inherited the kingdom of heaven, for flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven, 1 Cor. xv. 20. And the apostle, by flesh and blood, doth not mean original corruption, but, take man s body as it is mere flesh and blood, such as Adam had, it would not have borne
it, to have the glory of heaven put upon it ; that glory would have sunk
him, it would have killed him. Now the saints at latter day shall not
only have bodies immortal, but incorruptible ; that is, they shall have bodies which shall be subject to no alteration, they shall have no expense of spirits, though they shall be employed about the highest objects. The
angels, they are not only immortal, but they are incorruptible, and they are able, unweariedly active, day and night, without any expense of spirits for to serve God ; so shall the saints likewise be in heaven. Moses was in the mount (and he was a type of Christ and of us therein) forty days, and
in all that time he neither did eat nor drink, he had no repair ; he had a
glory upon him, and he had for that time an incorruptibleness upon him, for his eye was not weary with seeing, nor his ear of hearing ; his eye waxed not dim, no, not when he was old, much less when upon the mount.
Incorruptibleness therefore is this, a continual vigour, such as is subject to no alteration whatsoever. In Rev. vii. 15, he saith, that they shall
serve God day and night, as the angels do ; and they shall hunger no
CHAP. XI.J OF THEIE STATE BY CREATION. 125
more, neither thirst any more ; neither shall the sun light on them, nor
any heat. The meaning is, they shall suffer from nothing. There is,
1, no weariness, for they rest not day or night ; 2, there is no misery, for
all tears shall be wiped from their eyes, verse 17 ; there is, 3, no need
of repairing of spirits, for they shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more ; 4, there is no injury from anything without, for the sun shall not
< nor any heat. And although this place is meant (as our best interpreters have shewn), of the state of the world to
light on them to hurt them,
come, I mean of the kingdom of Christ, and so may fall short of the glory of heaven, yet it speaks in the language of heaven, and is an allusion to it, and heaven must needs be a higher and more glorious condition. My brethren, I take it there is this difference between the bodies of wicked men in hell, and the bodies of the saints in heaven. It is true, they are both immortal ; but yet the bodies of wicked men, they are corruptible, they do not put on incorruption ; that is, they are subject to all sorts of passions and
of miseries, and fire can burn them ; and therefore let us take heed of hell ;
they are as sensible of all sorts of miseries as now, only the power of God
upholds them that they are immortal. But now the saints, their bodies
shall not only put on immortality, but incorruption too. Adam s body, it was subject to corruption in this sense, it was subject to expense of spirits, to weariness, to sense from outward things, though he might be protected by the providence of God from such injuries as might any way hinder his
happiness, but our bodies shall wholly put on incorruption. And so now
that is a third thing, wherein I compare the state of Adam s body at best, with that state and condition the bodies of the saints shall have after the
resurrection.
I shall give you a fourth, which, I confess, might be implied in the
other, and that is, immortality. I shewed you, when I opened the perfec tions and state of Adam s body, that indeed his body was immortal, that
is clear ; for death came in only by sin, as appears in Rom. v. 12, and Rom. viii. 10, 11, Wherefore, as by one man sin entered the world, and death by sin ; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin ; but the Spirit
is life because of righteousness. 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 also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. But yet, let me tell you this, that though Adam s body was immortal, yet
it could have died, it had a principle in it that tended unto death. Now, in opposition to this, to shew you that his immortality is but a shadow of
that that the saints shall have at latter day, do but look Luke xx. 85,
1 They which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the
resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given hi marriage : neither can they die any more : for they are equal unto the angels ; and
are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection. Our Saviour Christ here, you see, speaks expressly, and in a way of clear dif
* neither can they die any more, in the original they are, for they cannot die any more, and so indeed they are to be read, and they are a reason of the former words, that therefore they neither marry, nor are given in marriage
ference from that state of Adam. The words which are translated,
* they cannot die any more. The meaning is this, they are put into an higher state of immortality than Adam had, for though he was immortal, that is, he should never have died, yet he did marry, and should have procreated children ; but, saith he, these are put into such an
/or, saith he,
120 OF THE CREATURES, AND THE CONDITION [BOOK II.
estate of immortality, as they shall not die, therefore (he bringeth it in as
a reason) they shall no more marry, neither be given in marriage ; they are not capable of such an estate, for they are immortal. And how im
mortal ? It is not only that they may live, or may die, and God will keep them for ever, but they cannot die, there is impotentia moriendi, plainly. And as their not marrying is brought in as a reason of the former assertion, so Christ giveth two reasons why they have such an estate of immortality as Adam (take him at best) had not, for he applies it to that. First, saith
he, they are equal to the angels ; and secondly, they are the sons of
God, being the sons of the resurrection. First, they are equal to the
angels. Now it is certain, my brethren, that the angels being created
immediately out of nothing, though indeed God may annihilate them, he may bring them into nothing again, yet they cannot die, they have not
principles to be dissolved, they have not a form and a matter, a soul and
a body that may be separated. All things created immediately out of
nothing, they cannot die ; as now, take the soul of a man, because it is
created of nothing, it is therefore immortal, as the angels are ; and there
fore our earthly parents are said to be the fathers of our bodies, and God
the Father of our spirits, Heb. xii. 9. Now, saith Christ, the bodies and
souls of those that shall be counted worthy to obtain that world, they shall
both of them be put into that state the angels are in ; and in the same
sense that the angels are said that they cannot die, in the same sense shall
it be true of them, they cannot die neither ; and, secondly, they are the
children of God, being the children of the resurrection ; that is, we have
bodies of flesh and blood, and these bodies we have them from our parents, we are the children of Adam. So the saints, as their souls are born again, so their bodies are, as it were, born again by the resurrection ; they have new kind of bodies, and therefore they are called the children of the resur
rection, and being children of the resurrection, having bodies now framed
immediately by the power of God, which subdueth all things to himself by as great a work as he created at first ; hence it comes to pass that they are sons of God in a more transcendent manner than Adam was. And as
the angels are said in a transcendent manner to be the sons of God, as
immediately made by him, so these children of the resurrection may be
said to be. Now then, being sons of God in this transcendent sense, in
opposition to Adam, and in opposition to all mankind that are sons of men,
being thus the children of the resurrection, their bodies being born again by a new creation at the resurrection, hence, saith he, as God liveth of
himself, and dieth no more, these are in this respect transformed into his
image, that as he is immutable and unchangeable, so shall they ; he puts
it as a reason why they cannot die ; for, saith he, they are the sons of God, and they bear the image of God in that very thing, that as he hath immor
tality, so they have immortality suitable thereunto. So that, I say, it is
clear from this text, which is an evident text, and I confess I have won
dered at many of our divines who have handled this argument of the immor
tality of our bodies at latter day, have not pitched upon this Scripture, for
there is nothing more clear. He saith plainly they shall not die.
I might add other properties which are usually mentioned in comparing the state of Adam s body and ours, but then I should be too tedious. I
will only conclude with this. Our Lord and Saviour Christ in his human
nature, the Godhead personally united thereto, quickened it ; he is there
fore said to be a quickening Spirit. What is it shall quicken our mortal
bodies at latter day ? It shall not be the Godhead personally united to us ;
CHAP. XI.J OF THEIK STATE BY CEEATION. 127
but it shall be the Spirit of Christ, making our bodies his temple in a more
peculiar manner : 1 Cor. vi. 19, Your bodies, saith he, are the temples of the Holy Ghost who is now in you. But then when he hath raised you up again, your bodies are to be his temple in a more immediate manner, ver. 14. In Rom. viii. 11, For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus Christ from the dead do dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall
also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. He saith of Jesus Christ, that he is a quickening Spirit ; the Godhead being personally united to him, quickened his human nature ; but so it shall not be with us. That is his prerogative alone ; but he hath put his Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, into us, who doth dwell in us ; and that blessed
Spirit he shall quicken our mortal bodies, and shall not only raise them up again at latter day, but look what Adam s soul was to his body, that shall the Holy Ghost be to our bodies in a transcendent manner, though not by a personal union, yet by such an union as is between the human nature of Christ and the Holy Ghost. For, my brethren, though the Godhead of the second person doth dwell in a personal manner in the human nature of
Christ, yet the Holy Ghost doth not dwell personally in him ; he is united unto the human nature but as he is unto us, and that Spirit thus dwelling in us he shall quicken, and advance, and raise up our bodies to that state and height as becometh the Holy Ghost (if he will take a temple up unto
himself) to raise our bodies up unto. He saith, the Holy Ghost shall
quicken your mortal bodies ; he doth not only speak of the first act of
raising them, but in respect of spiritualising and glorifying their bodies, the Holy Ghost shall dwell in them, and shall make that God shall be all in all unto them. And so now I have finished this text, which only holds forth a comparison between the animal, the natural state of Adam s body, and the state our bodies shall have at latter day.
I will but name an use or two, being loath to dismiss you without one. All this that hath been said hath been but to this purpose, to compare Adam s body, that had a world made for it, for the animal state of it, with the state our bodies shall have hereafter, which shall be made spiritual, and have objects suited to them in the world to come. You have seen what a state God will raise up our bodies to ; let us therefore abstain from fleshly lusts, let us get our souls to spiritualise our bodies all we can while we are
here, for it is that life we shall certainly live hereafter. My brethren, our bodies can never be made spiritual here ; we are here in an animal state, we are in Adam s world, and we have Adam s image upon us, and we need meat, and drink, and sleep, &c., and must live upon those things which are
necessary to this life ; but yet we may look upon ourselves as pilgrims and
strangers, and we may go and spiritualise all these, because all these shall one day be spiritualised ; let us live the life of heaven here as much as we
can, even in the use of all these outward things, because our bodies are ordained to such a spiritual condition one day.
Secondly, Let those that do groan under weak bodies be comforted with the assurance of their being restored to a full vigour, health, and strength. The truth is, our bodies here, they do hinder us from a great deal of that
very holiness we might have ; for holiness cannot be had without taking pains, and there is no pains doth spend the spirits and lick them up more than intention upon God and spiritual things. And besides all hindrances we have here, the very hindrances of these poor animal carcases of ours, which we have from Adam, hinder us as much or more than anything else.
128 OF THE CREATURES, AND THEIR STATE BY CREATION.
And there is flesh and corruption that dwells in them, that inordinately carries them out to earthly things. Therefore let us groan, as the
apostle saith, for the redemption of our bodies, whenas there will be no
weariness, whenas all the suitableness that is now between earthly things and us will be done away ; we shall have new objects fitted for these bodies when made spiritual, that will no way hinder us from the vision of God, but rather further us in it. Weakness and imperfections of our bodies now hinder us very much from holiness, and to build holiness upon our weak and frail bodies, it is as the building of an house upon a quagmire. Let us therefore groan after that time ; and in the mean season, let us sanctify God in our hearts to the uttermost endeavour, waiting for that redemption, when we shall have bodies that shall need neither meat, nor drink, nor
sleep, nor refreshing of spirits, all which are now temptations and inter
ruptions to us.
OF GOSPEL HOLINESS IN THE HEART
AND LIFE.
VOL. VII.
OF GOSPEL HOLINESS;
IMPLANTED IN THE HEART, AND CONTINUED IN THE WHOLE
CONVERSATION OF LIFE.