Chapter II
That the soul of a believer doth not sleep, or is not in a state of inactivity, till the resurrection.
Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth, and Mieveth in me, shall never die. Believest thou this ? JOHN XI. 25, 26.
There is no truth but hath in this age, amongst us, been either contro verted, contradicted, or questioned ; and among others, that great funda-
CHAP. II. J OF THE SAINTS IN GLOEY. 345
mental one, concerning the active life, and glorified state of a believing soul after death : some saying, it perisheth until the resurrection ; others, that it liveth not a life worthy of the name of a life, nor of so much activity as it hath now by faith, but tantum non, or in effect in a state akin to death ; it sleepeth all the time, until the day of the resurrection, when it is awakened with the body. And this they argue upon occasion of those
speeches in Scripture, of the saints sleeping. Now our Lord and Saviour
hath, upon occasion of Lazarus his death, and his then present state after
death, and also in relation to his resurrection, which Christ meant to
effect afore their eyes, uttered something home unto this point.
First, Christ himself had termed his death a sleep, verse 11, for verse 13
it is interpreted by John to be spoken of his death. Now, then, in Christ s
sense, to sleep and to die is manifestly all one : the one being a meta
phorical or similitudinary expression ; the other a literal, plain, real
expression, of one and the same thing, which is manifestly what is said, verse 14, Jesus said plainly to them, Lazarus is dead ; insomuch as death is, in plain terms, the same that sleeping was in the metaphor, which he was occasioned thus plainly to express, because they, his disciples, dreamed of no other sleeping as meant by our Lord, than of one who is
still alive, and takes bodily rest ; as appears by verses 12, 13, Then said
his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. Howbeit Jesus spake of
his death : but they thought that he had spoken of taking rest in sleep. Hence in Christ s intention, that part of Lazarus only, that is, his body, which plainly died, that only is said metaphorically to sleep. And so Lazarus is said to sleep, as in respect thereof only ; so as those that will
affirm the souls of just men to sleep, must affirm that, in plain terms, their
souls do also die. For Christ (who began that expression, which the
apostles after him used) intended both to be one and the same, and so Lazarus his sleep to be really a death ; and therefore both the one and the other were intended but of and in respect of the body, unless they will affirm that souls do die.
Now our Saviour Christ further, to vindicate his meaning for such a sense as I have assigned, doth at the 25th verse affirm two things of him
self, and correspondently two things of us believers, by virtue of our union with him, that are members of him. 1. Says he, I am the resurrection ; and, 2, the life; both which he speaks of what he will be effectively to us ; as elsewhere, John xiv. 19, he speaks, Because I live, ye shall
live also. And from these two, Christ draws two distinct assertions con
cerning us :
1. The first concerning the resurrection. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. So as if you should suppose both body and soul dead, yet I must not lose them, says Christ, but raise them up ; and so whatever of them any may suppose to die, as] the body doth, I will be sure to raise it up, for I am the resurrection.
2. But then, secondly, Christ assures you, and delivers it for a certain
truth, that the noble, chief part of every believer, and which is indeed him
* And whosoever
self, doth never die, after his believing. So it follows,
liveth, and believeth on me, shall never die. That life which he had by
believing, which is his proper life, he shall never lose ; nor shall that life ever cease, or sleep. Even as Christ s own life doth not, nor shall not ; for
* I am the life (says he), a continual principle and fountain of life ; that never ceaseth communicating life unto those that are mine. I am the life, as to mine own soul, so to his ; and therefore there is that in him shall
346 OF THE BLESSED STATE [CHAP. III.
never die, and therefore not sleep (for in Christ s sense sleeping is one and the same with death) ; and that is his soul. And again, at the latter
day, it is not his soul that is raised up, as it was not his soul that slept, or
died, but his body only, or the man in respect of the body. And further,
it is said of Christ, that he now lives a more glorious life then when on earth (as in Rom. vi. 10, it is said of Christ s life, after his death, In that he lives, he lives unto God ) ; and that likewise we are to reckon our
selves alive unto God, through Christ our Lord ;
J that is, to be for ever
alive unto God as he was ; for he is the life, and the pattern of the life ; and so there shall be no cessation of it, as there was not in his soul, in or upon his death.
And this, says Christ, as it is a certain truth in itself, so likewise so
necessary a truth for you that are believers, that I would have you put it
into your creed : Believest thou this ? says he to Mary ; and accordingly
it was put into the creed of all believers by the primitive saints. The resurrection of the body they limited only to the body ; and so death and
sleeping to the body only ; but as to express the state of the soul, they added life everlasting
: amen. So then, this is the result : that a believer, in respect of his soul, doth continue to live, after death, a life of activity and blessedness, and never
dies nor sleeps. Christ pronounced it in Lazarus his case, whilst as yet dead, as a distinct thing from his resurrection ; and speaks so not in
respect of any new life at the resurrection. And indeed seeing that by death faith is done away, 1 Cor. xiii., that which is perfect comes in the room of it ; and then for certain the soul is not in a worse case, enjoys not a lower life, to be sure, after death, but is made perfect with that which
is the perfection of faith, and therefore with a life that is far more perfect than that of faith ; for the spirits of just men are then made perfect ; and
this life of faith is styled but imperfect, and therefore done away.