Sermon XVI (continued, part 2)
53, 54, why there must be a resurrection. For, saith he,
die must have something analogous to the resurrection ; they must all be
changed. Behold, saith he, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall be changed ; for this corruptible must put on incorruption ; and this mortal must put on immortality. We cannot possess heaven else. You have the same in 1 Thcss. iv. 14, where he tells you the story of the
other world from first to last ; and he saith that before such time as we go to meet the Lord, and to be for ever with him, we must either rise again, or
those that do not rise again must be changed ; which is the very same that he saith in that 1 Cor. xv. And, lastly, there is a greater degree of glory, infinitely greater, to what
the soul hath now in being with Christ ; so much greater, that the apostles
generally slip that by though there be some few places that hold forth that
glory in the meantime when they speak of the glory to come, and usually
tell us rather of the glory of the resurrection, and of the reward that shall be at the resurrection, because comparatively to that all that the soul re-
cciveth before is exceedingly small. You shall see the Scripture abundant
in it. 1 Peter i. 4, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that
* ready to be re
fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you ; it follows,
vealed in the last time. John vi. 40, when Christ promised life and happi ness upon believing,
* He that believeth shall have everlasting life, he adds,
* and I will raise him up at the last day. Luke xiv. 1 4, Thou shalt be
recompensed at the resurrection of the just. And in John v. 29, it is called
the resurrection of life, as if that life did but then begin. Nay, in John vi.
39, Christ speaks as if we were lost if we should not be raised again. Do but mark his words : This is the Father s will which hath sent me, that
of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up
again at the last day. So that although the soul be in happiness be and therefore styled the spirits of just men made perfect, yet notwith
standing that is reckoned as nothing in comparison, because of that excess
of glory which shall be when body and soul shall both meet together ; which
will infinitely transcend all that was before. For then Jesus Christ .shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all tin in that be
lieve, as if they had seen no glory before, 2 Thess. i. 10. And therefore be
cause the resurrection is that time wherein there shall be such an eminent
excess of glory, it is called, in Heb. xi., a better resurrection, a resurrect i<>n
in mdiorem statum, to a better condition.
EPIT. II. 6.] TO Tin: I-I-HKSIANS. 201
The third tiling I would have you observe is this, that we arc said to be now raised. He hath raised us, saith he, and he hath made us sit together in heavenly places. For as before God, and as in his view, we are so. There were those that did teach that the resurrection was past, as in 2 Tim. ii. 18, which Paul there makes a damnable heresy ; but although it is not past, yet to God it is as if it were ; and he vieweth us as now raised and as now sit
ting in heavenly places, though we are in the midst of our sins. In Matt,
xxii. 31, where Christ argues for the resurrection, Have ye not read, saith
he, that which was spoken by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob 1 God is not the God of the
dead, but of the living. He is the God of the living, saith he, and therefore
they are reckoned as alive; for so doth Luke interpret it, in chap. xx.
38, adding this, for all live unto him; the meaning whereof is this, that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob do all now live unto God. In Horn. viii. 10, it
is said that the body is dead by reason of sin, but the spirit is life by rea son of righteousness
: that is, in respect of what is in the view of God, unto whom all things to come are present. Fourthly, We are said to be raised in Christ. I must speak a word or two to that, for in Christ must refer to raised us up, as well as to made us sit in heavenly places. Now we are said to be raised in Christ, in
respect
First, that he is the cause of our resurrection. He is The efficient cause. The meritorious cause. The exemplary cause.
1. He is the efficient cause, for he putteth his Spirit into us. But I will not stand to open that now.
2. He is the meritorious cause, for by his death he merited our resurrec tion. By his death he did merit his own resurrection ; for though he had a
right to rise as he was the Son of God, yet he had a right likewise by virtue of his own blood and death. So you have it in Heb. xiii. 20, The God of
peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant. Do but mark ; it is an allusion to that in Zechnriah, By the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit, that is, out of the grave : and as God delivers prisoners, so he delivers Christ himself ; for that you shall find in Scripture, that what is said of Christ is applied to his church, and what is said of the church is applied unto Christ. As therefore his pri soners were brought back from the dead by the blood of the covenant, so here the Apostle alluding to that Christ s being brought back from the dead is said to be the purchase of his own blood. He was brought back, saith he, through the blood of the everlasting covenant. Now then, if Christ himself was brought back from the dead through the blood of the
covenant, certainly we much more are brought back again from the dead through the blood of the covenant. Therefore you shall find that our re surrection is ascribed as well to the death of Christ as to his resurrection. 1 Thess. iv. 14, If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him; or, as the word is in the original, He will bring them that sleep, through Jesus, with him : for so indeed it is in the Greek ; therefore Chrysostom refers it, as well to the words that follow, as to sleeping in Jesus.
3. He is likewise the exemplary cause of our resurrection. That, look -what state his body and soul were in when he rose again, what spiritual and
AN i
< [SKK.MOX X \
1 in liiin, the same likewise shall bein }\.
heavenly quali
therefore we are said to be raised up in ( ini-t. because v, ... endowments put upon us which Jesus Christ s body and soul had. \
this expressly in 1 Cor. xv. 47. Speaking of the resiinvrtion, saith he, The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is tin L.,rd in.m
heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy ; ami as is the
heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have born,
image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
1 ( )ur Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is uidsuxo;, he is a man indeed above the
heavens, that is, he hath a body fitted to that state; there is nothing in
him, not a member of his body, that is earthy. Now look, what qualifi cations he had to lit him for that place he is now gone to, he being advai
far above all principality and power ; the same, saith he, shall we have ;
and even as we received an earthy frame of body from Adam, which did tit
us for this earthly world and for all the comforts of it, so we shall have a
heavenly body, and a heavenly state put upon that body, like unto Jesus
Christ, conformable to his body, as you have it in the Philippians, which I
will not stand upon. Therefore some of our divines say that our Saviour
Christ did not simply merit the resurrection of the dead, for that however
they must have risen again, and be brought to judgment ; but these glorious
qualifications the saints have at the resurrection, which is the preparation to
the glory in heaven ; this indeed he merited. This some divines say. But then the chief and the last thing for which we are said to be raised
up in Christ is, because that in his resurrection he was a common person, (iml represented u$, and therefore when he rose, we are said to have risen. I
shall give you some scriptures pertinent to that of the resurrection. I will
not handle the point in general, as I thought to have done.
Col. i. 18, he is called the beginning, the first-born from the dead. He
is called the beginning, to shew that he is the cause, the meritorious cause, and the efficient cause, of all the glory the saints have, and of all the glory
they shall have. But then, besides being the cause, and the beginning, and
the foundation, he is also called the first-born from the dead. Now, the
first-born and all the children that followed were alike. It argues therefore
that Jesus Christ was the exemplary cause ; that look, what state he had
after his resurrection, the same shall we have. But that is not all The
first-bom of the males that opened the womb were consecrated and dedicated
unto God, and they were to pay a ransom, which was for all the children
that followed, and then they were all freed by virtue of that ransom that was paid for the first-born; so that the first-born, according to the old law, did represent all the children that followed. So now doth Jesus Christ ; he
is called the first-born from the dead, for when he opened the womb CM
grave and came forth, we were all freed too, by virtue of the ra: which he paid, and then the bars of the grave were broken open too, i
in him.
And to give you another similitude, which is an elegant one. In 1 Oar.
xv. 23, the Apostle giving us there an account why we rise, saith he, Kvery man in his own order : Christ the first-fruits, afterwards they tl list s
* Now is Christ risen from the dead, and be
at his coming. And, ver. 20,
"lit by an
come the first-fruits of them that sleep. This the Apo
elegant similitude, which I shall a little open to you. to .-hew you that it
hath this scope that I now mention. For you shall find, at the 37th \
that he compares our dying and our rising again to a grain of corn th.>
* Thou fool,
sown in the earth, which cometh up out of the ground again.
EPH. II. 6.] TO THE EPHESIANS. 253
* that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die. And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain. And our Saviour Christ himself, in John xii. 24, speaking of his own death and rising again, useth the same similitude : Except i corn of wheat fall
saith he,
into the ground and die, it abideth alone ; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. Therefore, saith he, the Son of man must die and rise again, that he may bring forth fruit. Now mark it ; if you have recourse to the old law, you shall find that the first-fruits of the grain that was sown and came up again were consecrated unto the Lord, and by virtue of that conse
cration all the corn that stood upon the ground unreaped was consecrated
too, and dedicated to a holy use, and therefore men might then enter upon the use of it.
Now, of all the grains that shall be sown of the bodies of men, there is
fruit to come up at the resurrection ; but of them all Jesus Christ was the
first-fruits : as he was the first-born from the dead, so he was the first-fruits of the rising of all these grains that fall into the earth. And he is the first-
fruits in this respect, that whilst he riseth, they all that are sown in the
ground, or shall be sown, for a common person may represent those to
come, are also said to rise ; they are all consecrated to that state, even as
waving and offering the first-fruits to the Lord, all the corn that stood upon the ground unreaped was also consecrated. You shall find this metaphor used also in Isa. xxvi. 19, Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust ; for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. I bring the place but for this, to shew that the Scripture useth the metaphor of the
fruits rising out of the ground to express the resurrection ; and the elegancy of it, that the Apostle calleth Christ the first-fruits, because he representeth all the rest, and they all rise in him. And therefore, in 1 Cor. xv., towards the latter end, when he had spoken of Christ s and of our resurrection, he endeth all with a thanks unto God : death, where is thy sting 1 O grave, where is thy victory? &c. Thanks be to God, which giveth
us"the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. The victory is given already, and we can by faith, saith he, triumph over the grave and hell and death already; which
giveth us victory, saith he. And, my brethren, because that Christ and we are one, he as a common
person representing us, it is a notion that will help you to understand the
quotations of Scripture out of the Old Testament and the New, therefore you shall find that what is applied to the church is likewise in the New Testament applied unto Christ. As, for example, in Isa. 1. 8, It is God that justifieth, who shall condemn? This is the speech of Christ there. Look now into Rom. viii. 32, and the Apostle applies the very speech to all the elect. Why? Because Christ and the church are one, and he repre sented them. On the other side, promises made to the church, because they were first true of Christ as the first-fruits, therefore in the New Testa ment, they are applied unto him ; as in Hos. xi. 1, Out of Egypt have I called my son. It was spoken there of the church, but because the deliver ance out of Egypt was by virtue of Christ being delivered out of Egypt himself, therefore in Matt. ii. 15 it is applied unto Christ. So in Heb. xiii., the place I quoted even now, He brought again from the dead our Lord
Jesus, through the blood of the everlasting covenant ; this in Zech. ix. 11 is applied to the church : By the blood of the covenant, I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit. And yet you see this is applied to the resurrec tion of Christ; because that Christ in his resurrection was one with his
\N ixfoanov or na SKKMON \\"ii.
>f hope in Zechariuh were delivered l.y that blood by which Jesus Christ himself was l>ru_ht auaiu tn-i-i the >1 ad also. So also that place, in Hos. vi 2, 3, After two days lie will revive us; in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his -i-lit/ This, though it is spoken of the church, yet still it hath an allusion unto, bee a conjunction with, the resurrection of Christ; and because that Christ and th. y are as one, and he is a common person representing them, therefore that which
church, and the prisoners
is applied to Christ is applied to the church too. So that, in Isa. xxvi. ! .,
1 Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they rise. All
these, I say, are mutually applicable to Christ and to the church both. And
this is a great key for you to understand many of those places which the
Apostles quote out of the Old Testament, which otherwise, if you take them
in their context, you will hardly make them out that they are directly spoken of Christ ; but when it is spoken of the church, who is one with Christ, and
to whom Christ was the first-fruits, therefore what is said of the church is more eminently fulfilled in Christ, because it is said of the church by virtue of being first done in Christ. So much concerning this, that they are raised
together in Christ
I might also urge it out of 1 Thcss. iv. 14. The Apostle there doth take
it for granted that all Christians believe that Jesus Christ died and rose again ;
if you believe that, saith he, then he infers this connexion from it infallibly
: God shall bring those that sleep, through Jesus, with him; or, through Jesus, God shall bring those that sleep, with him. For indeed they all died with him and rose with him ; therefore when he shall come again in glory, they shall be brought with him : for he is made the Captain of their salvation
in bringing many sons to glory, and the common person representing them all. There lies therefore the inference of it; Jesus Christ is our head, and he died and rose again ; therefore we are said to be raised in him.
I will add but one thing more for the full opening of this clause, and that
is this : that of the elect only, and of those that are quickened and are
Itdiewn, it can be said that they are raised up together in Christ. For you see here that the great mercy and love of God is shewn in quickening and in
raising us up together in Christ. Wicked men are not raised up upon those terms or grounds that the saints shall be raised up by. They are not raised
up in Christ. Wicked men rise indeed, but they do not rise by virtue, first, of the merit of Christ s death ; it is not by the blood of the everlasting cove
nant. And the reason is clearly this, because the purchase of Christ s merits must needs be mercy, but to raise wicked men up at the latter day, it is to
* They that have done good, saith he, in John v. 29, shall rise
punishment
to the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil to the resurrection
of damnation. And it is certain, that whatever mercy God shews to wick" I men here through Christ, as indeed he doth, for all mercy must be through him, for his sake, for he bought the world of God, they shall be sure to have none at latter day. Therefore their resurrection is not by virtue
<>f his
death. And the similitude of the first-fruits, and of the first-born, evidently
argues that as they do not rise by virtue of Christ s merits, so they do n--
rise in him as a common person representing them. For the first-fruits did
not consecrate the chaff, but the grain, that is of its own kind. Now Christ, as I shewed, is made the first-fruits of them that sleep. The place is clear
in 1 Cor. xv. 20, Christ is risen from the dead, and become the first-
fruits of them that sleep. What, of all? Keadver. ! :; : they shall all
but every one in his order; Christ the first-fruits, afterward they that are
Em. II. G.] TO THE EHIESIAXS. 2<3-j
Christ s. So that lie rose as the first-fruits only to them that are his and are one with him.
And by the way, this will open another scripture too. It will be objected, that as in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive; and you know it is often objected that Christ and Adam are both universal; the one to all men in respect of conveying sin, and the other dies for all. So that some would have it that in Jesus Christ all men rise, because the Apostle useth the expression as large of the one as of the other. But what all! All that are his, so ver. 23 hath it. As all that are Adam s die in Adam, so all that are Christ s rise in Christ. And this also will help you to understand that place in Rom. v. which is objected for the universality of Christ s death.
It is much for the consolation of the faithful that they are raised upon other
terms, that they are raised with Christ, and in Christ. The other indeed, they are raised by the power of Christ, that I must acknowledge ; for that
place in John v. is express for it : The hour is coming, saith he, ver. 28, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth :
they that have done good, to the resurrection of life ; and they that have done evil, to the resurrection of damnation. So that you see that both good and bad are raised up by the power of Christ; but yet, mark it, not by the power of Christ as Mediator, but by the power of Christ as Judge ; for he had said, ver. 22, that the Father hath committed all judgment unto the Son. And hence now, in Acts xvii. 31, Paul tells us that God hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the world, by that man whom he hath ordained, whereof, saith he, he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. My brethren, if you could sup pose that Christ had not been, it was necessary that men should be raised
again to come to judgment; for the threatening was given out, that man should die, body and soul ; and if he must have a death of the body first, it
necessarily argues that there must be a resurrection, if a judgment. Now
Christ, he is appointed the man to judge, and all judgment is committed unto him ; and hence, by virtue of this judicial power that is committed unto him, he raiseth them ; he brings them out of prison indeed, but it is as you bring malefactors out of prison, to be condemned, and then executed ; and they are not raised in Christ : he hath raised us up together in Christ, saith he.
So much now for that first part of the text. I come to the second : And hath made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. That you may understand both the phrase and the thing, I will open first the word sit.
The Apostle had used it of Christ, chap. i. 20 : he hath set him at his own right hand in heavenly places. It noted out there the advancement of Jesus Christ to that glory and happiness which he hath in heaven at God s right hand ; and it must needs imply as much done for us, only here he leaves out at God s right hand, and the reason you shall see anon. It is as much as to make us partakers of the same kingly state, of all the same pleasures and honours and power and glory of this kingdom, which Jesus Christ himself possesseth. The raising up is but the fitting of the body with those heavenly properties such as Jesus Christ had, that he might be
fit for the glory and pleasure of heaven, as I shewed you out of 1 Cor. xv. Now when he hath put such endowments upon the body at the resurrection, then he placeth them in the midst of that glory and those pleasures which Christ is in ; and look, what seats of glory he runs through they shall run
AX 1 X POSITION 0! TLE "NXY
through too, and be partakers of. In a -word it i
; t Christ i> t!i
the other world, and you all shall be nobles of that world, of that
loin, and sit together with him ; even as it is
. hua tin-
priest in Zech. iii 8, Thou, and thy fellows that sit lx i indeed in the great Sanhedrim, in the meetings of the 1 and tinother priests, they sat in a ring, and so they sat all before him, luit yet they at all with him. This is a type, and was a type of Jesus Christ an l
fellows, as they are called in Ps. xlv., and that in respect of glory, tin -y being partakers of the same kingdom with him. And in that place
<>f /< rha-
riah he saith that these men that sat before Joshua the high priest v men of wonder, or men of signs, as I shall shew you by and by. The word is taken for being types and signs, as for being men wondered at,
though our translation seems rather to incline that way; but, I say, it h
forth as well the other, for Joshua and all those priests that sat before him were all but types of our great High Priest that sits in heaven, and of all
that sit there with him.
As it was thus typified out in the Old Testament, so yon shall find in the Evangelists that when the kingdom of heaven is spoken of, still this ex
pression of sitting is mentioned. So that
* sittihg in heavenly places is to be partakers, as nobles, together with Christ, of all the honour, glory, and
pleasure that that kingdom affords. In Matt xx. 21, you have the expres
sion, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left, in thy kingdom. Christ doth not deny there but that there are such sittings and such advancement in his kingdom, but
only it belonged to somebody else than to these two. I quote the place only to shew you that the phrase of sitting is there. You have it likewise
in Matt xviii. 11,* Many shall come from the east and west, from all quar ters of the world, and shall sit down with Abraham, and with Isaac, and with Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. So that it is a sitting, as kings and
nobles, together with Christ in the kingdom of heaven. So in Luke xxii.
29, 1 appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me; and what follows? You shall sit on thrones, judging the twelve
tribes of Israel. And to give you one place more for it that suiteth this
phrase, for that is it I am to open, Rev. iii. 21, To him that overcometh
will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am
set down with my Father in his throne. So as indeed, my brethren, it is
all one to be partakers of that kingdom Jesus Christ is advanced unto, to be
heirs, and to be co-heirs with him.
Now if you would know more particularly what this phrase sitting doth
imply; you see it implies a kingdom, and in that kingdom it implies t;
things
First, It implies the pleasures of that kingdom. My brethren, heavenly
things are usually expressed to us by earthly, as you see this phrase of
ting is from what is used upon earth. Now it is familiar in the Old T
ment, and in the New, that follows the language of the Old, to express tin-
pleasures of heaven by sitting at a table, to banquet it with the great king that maketh that feast So in that Luke xxii. 29, That you may eat and
drink at my table, in my kingdom. And in Matt, viil 11, when Christ would express the pleasures of heaven in the language of the Old Testament^ he saith, They shall sit down with Abraham, and with Uiac, and with
Jacob;* as being the chief guests that were known in tin old Testament
Therefore heaven is called Abraham s bosom. For as when Christ sai
meat, John, who was the chief guest, Kaiud upon his breast, or lay in
EPH. II. 6.] TO THE EPHESIANS. 257
bosom; so the pleasures of heaven are set forth by an allusion to that custom which was then amongst the Jews. For the fashion was, when Christ was upon the earth, to sit at meat in a leaning way, and the custom of the Romans made it more general among the Jews ; although, indeed, the more ancient custom was sitting, as appears in Gen. xliii. 33, where it is said that
Joseph s brethren sat before him at meat. And you shall see the manner of their sitting at the king s table in 1 Sam. xx. 25, where it is said that Saul
sat upon a seat by the wall, and there was room for all the nobles ; there was Jonathan and Abner sat by tHe king s side, and David s place was
empty, it was reserved for him ; and, saith the 24th verse, they sat down to eat meat. And some have interpreted that in Cant. i. 12, while the king sitteth at his table ; the word in the original is, while he sitteth at his round table/ because he doth not sit alone, as Saul did not, but he hath seats for all his nobles round about him, as the manner of the ancient kings was, that those whom they would honour sat at table with them; so David offered Barzillai that honour and pleasure to sit at the king s table. The meaning of all is this, that they shall enjoy all the pleasures that heaven
affords; for by sitting at a feast, because it is that which men usually place happiness in, is that meant. Therefore in Isa. xxv. 6, the pleasures after the resurrection are expressed by a feast of fat things, and of wine on the
lees. And it is clear he speaks of the state after the resurrection, for the
Apostle in 1 Cor. xv. 55 quoteth the words in Isa. xxv. of death being swallowed up in victory. Hence the poets set forth the pleasures of heaven by nectar and ambrosia, which was but an imitation of the Jewish and
Scripture language.
The same our Saviour Christ useth in the New Testament, in Matt. xxvi.
29, upon occasion of the sacrament, where they all sat, and he had given them his flesh to eat and his blood to drink, and given it them under the blood of the grape; saith he, I will not henceforth drink of this fruit of the
vine, till I drink it new with you in my Father s kingdom. Christ being now to part with his fellows and companions, which had now eaten and drunk with him, he speaks, after the manner of men, of the next happy and
joyful meeting they should have. I must part with you now, saith he, and must drink no more of this blood of the grape ; but we will feast it in another manner when we meet next, we will drink new wine in my Father s kingdom (just the language of the Old Testament); and he calls it new wine, not that there is any such thing in heaven, for the phrase implies that it was another thing he meant, it was fulness of pleasures at God s right hand, rivers of pleasures, of which they were to drink for evermore. He calls it new wine, because it was wine of another kind. The Jews always called what was most excellent, new ; and therefore when they would express the heavenly and spiritual Jerusalem as different from the material upon earth, they called it the new Jerusalem. So saith he, new wine, implying it was another kind of wine. And therefore we need not have recourse for the
interpreting of that place to his drinking with his disciples after his resur
rection, for it is clearly meant of his drinking with them in heaven, after he hath delivered up the kingdom to God the Father; for we shall sit in heaven then and enjoy this new wine, which is the Holy Ghost filling us with the Godhead, that is, filling us with pleasures and blessedness that are in God himself.
Here then is one thing that sitting in heavenly places doth imply; it is
enjoying the same pleasure and happiness that our Lord and Saviour Christ himself doth. My brethren, you know that God doth sometimes make his VOL. ii. R
AN --NOF THE EPISTLE [SKUM<.\ X \ 1 1.
j<>y unspeakable rnd
chiMren partake of hea\vn hero, filU-th tlum v/ith
us. vvhieli incited is but a taste of that glory which is to come; it is a
having us into the wine-cellar, and uivin^ us somewhat of what we shall have
hereafter; it is called in the Revelati :uing to us to sup with us.
Now, alas! what is all the joy you have here? It is but a crumb from the
king s table, a bit from off a dish, in comparison of what we shall have in
heaven. I allege all this to open the phrase sitting, as implying the plea
sures of that kingdom; he hath made us sit together in heavenly places.
Secondly, It implies not sitting only, as at a table, but it imports also the
honour and the power of that kingdom; that we are all fellow-nobles with
Jesus Christ, and sit also as judges upon thrones. This you have in Luke
* sit upon thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
xxii. 30, You shall
* I will grant them to sit upon my throne. And therefore,
And, Rev. iii,
you know, the mother of Zebcdee s children, knowing that Christ s kingdom would be the highest kingdom that ever was, asked that one of her sons
might sit at the right hand, and the other on the left, in his kingdom, to be
partakers of that honour and power that Jesus Christ himself hath, for she
bn-w it to be the highest honour.
is impossible that I should ever be moved. I allege it to open the phrase. My brethren, man in innocency did but stand, and he got a fall, he did not
.sit sure. Man that standcth in honour abideth not. But in heaven you
sit, and you sit in Christ ; so sure you sit, you have the surest seat, the seat
must fall if you fall. You sit in Christ now for surcness ; when you come
thither, you .shall sit with Christ, in God indeed, as the phrase is in Col. iii.
2, 3. Sitting, I say, implies the firmness of all this, and the stability of
those pleasures and "of that honour and power you shall have.
Fourthly, It imports rest offer labour and wariness. In John iv. G, when
Jesus Christ was wearied with his journey, the text saith he sat on the well.
And, Rev. xiv. 13, Blessed are the dead, for from henceforth they rest from
their labours. And, 2 Thess. i. 7, To recompense to you who are troubled,
rest with us. AVe do not read of the sitting of the angels in heaven : we
read of their principalities and powers in heavenly places ; but they are sti]
presented as standing, and as ministering spirits ; it may be for this reason,
because sitting implies rest after weariness, but I rather think because there
is an advancement of the saints in Christ above them. It implies, I say,
rest after weariness ; for as sitting imports reigning with Christ, as before,
so it is reigning after suffering. If we suffer with him, we shall also reign
with him ; that is, we shall sit with him. To him that overcometh, I will
grant to sit, Rev. iii. 21.
Lastly, It will import also, at leastwise it is not against, degrees of glory
in heaven. Even as here, in a higher house of state, though all sit as
together with the king, yet there are degrees and ranks of nobler The
apostles shall have twelve thrones ; it is made their privilege more eminently,
>f / bedees
though all sit in his throne, as Rev. iiL hath it. The mother
1 an
children came and asked that one might sit on Christ s riulit
other on his left ; for in old Israel the next seat to the prince was for the
" the rig
riders of the tribe of Judah and of the tribe of .1-
hand, and the other on the left, and those were the more honourable placet
Now, Christ doth not deny but there shall be a ri-ht hand and a left, but
not reserved for those two sons; it may be for lYKr and Paul, iou ask,
. II. C.] TO THE EPHESIANS. 259
saith he, you know not what. It is not that they asked that which was not to be in heaven, but that which follows shews the meaning of it : saith he Lf ye knew what sufferings they must have that are to sit there, you would not have asked it.
< Can you drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and be baptized with the baptism that I shall be baptized with V For as there are degrees of glory, so it shall be proportioned in most likelihood to the de grees of suffering for Christ here. Thus again, that other speech, They shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, imports these degrees Why with Abraham, &c. ? They were the chief guests of all the saints in the Old Testament ; but when all the elect shall meet together, who shall be the chief guests, next to Jesus Christ, we know not. And that all are said to t in Christ, it hinders not but that there may be these degrees for they sit there now in Christ, as represented by him, namely, in that proportion of glory they shall have. As when Christ hung upon the cross, look what portion of wrath any particular elect child of his deserved from God for their sins, Christ bore it for them ; but it must not be said that he bore alike for every one, but according to that proportion that he in his sufferings re presented them for.
The next thing to be explained is this, in heavenly places, or, inheavenlies for places is not in the Greek, but it is inserted by our translators It im ports these things
First The place of tins kingdom, it is heaven ; for you know that heaven is called the throne of the great king, Matt. v. 34, and chap, xxiii. 22 And there Christ s throne is, and earth is but his footstool. Therefore now to shew you the place of this kingdom, he saith,
< in heavenlies. In Eph. iii. 10, angels are called principalities and powers in heavenly places, because that heaven is the place which they belong to, whereof they are peers
: and there are degrees amongst the angels, there are principalities and powers so there are also in these heavenlies; I only cast that in to confirm the forIne place, I say, is heaven ; there is his throne, and the footstool of this great king is the earth, and all the glory of the earth is trampled under Ins feet. What is heaven then ? I think it is the meaning of that in Heb xi. 16 where speaking of Abraham and the rest of those worthies, when it is said they desired a better country, he adds, that is, a heavenly, and that therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for lie had pre pared for them a city. Had they had no other happiness and blessedness than here below, God being so great a God would have been ashamed that his children should have no better condition; but he had provided a city for m j therefore he is not ashamed to be called their God, because he had prepared so great a happiness for them, a happiness like to that himself enjoys, and such as was fit for the children of so great a king. My brethren, tor Gods honour to make infinite happiness there ; and for him that is o great to profess and promise so great entertainment there, and when we come not to have it, would cause shame. In my Father s house, saith Christ are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you; for 1 would not shame myself when you come thither Secondly, As the word sitting implies power and pleasure, so this word heavenly argues the kind of power and pleasure which we shall enjoy. As
is a sitting as at a feast, to note the pleasure, and upon thrones, to import the power ;
^ so saith he, understand it rightly, it is all heavenly. Therefore Inn iv 18, it is called his heavenly kingdom; heavenly, that is a better, infinitely better, than what is here below, ts Heb. xi. 1C
.but you will ask me, Why is it heavenlies, in the plural number?
L.V AN EXPOSITION 01 -TLE [SERMON XVII.
I observe this, in the New u, when the heaven of heavens ia
spoken of, it is seldom called heaven in the singular number in the Gr
but heavens, as here. And that
1. In regard of the eminent excellency thereof. The Jews were wont, as
Grotius observes, when they spoke of the heaven of heavens, to silence the
first, and to nse the latter expression only, heavens, or heavenlies, as here, as not else knowing how to express the excellency thereof. And so still, as that place, namely, the heaven of heavens, is spoken of, the first is
silenced, and it is called heavens. I could give you a multitude of places for it But
2. After the resurrection there is a sitting in two sorts of heavenlies. For,
first, when Jesus Christ comes to judgment, he will bring heaven down with him. Even as at the Earl of Stafford s trial, the Parliament was removed
from the usual place unto Westminster Hall, and the nobles and House of Commons all met in that made parliament-house, and it was the parliament-
house, and in all the state of it. You shall sit, saith he, that is, during the day of judgment, upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes.
There is no judging after the day of judgment ; therefore the glory that ac-
companieth presently after the resurrection, before we go to the heaven of
heavens, is heavenly. Jesus Christ cometh in the glory of the Father, and,
as I said, brings heaven down with him. And then there are heavenlic*
afterwards ; we shall sit in the third heavens, whither Paul was rapt.
And sure there are varieties of these glories that is another reason too and of good things there. Wicked men, for their great sins, deserve a
thousand hells ; so the saints, if we may so express it, shall have a thousand
heavens ; they sit in the midst of heavenlies. Therefore whatever things are useful and delightful, heaven is set out to us by them. Here the allu
sion, you see, is to sitting ; it is likewise compared to walking, to walking
in shades, and woods, and pleasant places. Zech. iii. 7, If thou wilt keep my charge, saith he to Joshua and his fellows, I will give thee walks ; it is
to shew the variety. It is likewise compared to a house, and when so, he
speaks in the plural, You shall have houses enough ; saith Christ, In my Father s house are many mansions ; still in the plural, as noting the copi ousness and abundance to each saint. Some allege that place to prove
several degrees in glory ; but that was not pertinent to Christ s scope, which
was to assure them all universally, and every one of them, of the greatness of that glory to come ; all shall have so much as that none shall envy an
other. Non noted disparitatem hazreditati*, sed magnitudinem et amplitu-
dinejn, qua tanta est ut sit ap&ooia. Greed eleyanter copiam, dbundantiam
vocarunt apQogiav, cum unicuique tantum suppetity quantum si possideat, nemini invideat* All in a man, body and soul, and everything in him, there
.shall not be a toe or a finger that is not heavenly, and there shall be none
of these but shall have heavenly objects for them. Therefore he placeth
us, I say, in the midst of heavenlies, as he hath done Christ himself ; for
* He hath set him at his own r
the phrase is used of him, chap. i. 20,
hand in heavenlies ; it is in the plural there too. But then, you see, our translators have put in the word places, but it is
not in the Greek, it is there only heavenlies ; but this was taken in to
answer the phrase of sitting; because we are said to sit. t lure-fore they have made up the sense, and added places. But, my brethren, it is not to
be understood only of places, or dignities, or thrones, but that we are set in
the midst of heavenly things; in heaven! h he. Even as earth is
Catner, torn, ii., p. 826, in locum.
EPH. II. 6.] TO THE EPHESIANS. 261
one thing, and earthly things another ; so heaven is one thing, and heavenly things another. You shall find the phrase used of all the things in heaven, be they what they will, in Heb. viii. 5 ; who serve, saith he, unto the example and shadow of heavenly things. All the things of the gospel are called t-rou- /, heavenly things ; and, chap. ix. 23, you have the same :
* It was neces
sary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these ; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices. Heavenly things themselves, not places only. So that to sit in heavenlies is as much as to say that you shall sit there as a man sits in his house of which he hath
possession ; sits in the midst of all that is there, having all at command. All there, I say, is heavenly, all the objects, all the company; yet notwith
standing I do not deny but that to sit in heavenlies refers also, and the metaphor will carry it necessarily, unto the place itself and the dignities there.
The observations which I shall make from hence are these : Obs. 1. That all your places, and what happiness you shall have in hea ven, are ready for you. That is clear and plain out of the text, for you are said to sit now in heavenly places in Christ. It may be these observations would have come in better afterwards, but being mentioned, I will go on with them now. In 2 Cor. v. 1, We know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, eternal in the heavens. He speaks in the present tense : It is ready for me, saith he, if my soul were out of my body. I told you before, out of 1 Sam. xx., that it was the man ner when the king sat at meat, every nobleman had his seat ; and if he came not, no man took up his place, his seat was empty; for it is said that David s seat was empty
: the place, according to every man s rank, was left empty. We do now sit in heavenly places in Christ, all our places are made ready, and they do but wait till the souls of men come thither, and till the latter day. Therefore, in 1 Peter i., he saith, We are begotten to an inheritance immortal, &c.,
< reserved in heaven for us, ready to be revealed. It is kept for you, your places shall never be taken over your heads, and are ready ; there you sit, and Jesus Christ possesseth them till you come thither; you sit in Christ now, and when you come thither, you shall sit with Christ.
Obs. 2. You see that we are all here upon earth but strangers. He saith, we now sit in heaven in Christ, our places are there. They confessed them selves strangers, Heb. XL 13, although they had a land promised them here. There is a house of peers, a kingdom there, and the places are made ready for them ; and thou that art a believer and art quickened together with Christ, all the while thou livest here thou art out of thy place ; even as if a star should be fixed here in the earth, it is out of its place. As it is said of Judas that when he died he went to his own place ; hell was his place ; though he lived and walked here, he was a stranger upon earth. Wicked men are so, they shall not live here in this world ; though they carry the world before them, their place is hell. So our place is heaven, and there our places are all prepared for us. Saith the Apostle in 2 Cor. v. 6,
< Whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord, ivdwwvrss sv s-w e^art, sxfoifMVf*** <**& rov Kug/ou. It is a great elegancy in the Greek ; the body he calls our home, and yet we are strangers. It is true indeed, the body, saith he, is your natural home, according to the language of nature and of the first creation ; but yet you are not at home, for you are absent from the Lord, and strangers from him who hath enfranchised, and preferred, and made you denizens of another country. We are absent, we are out of home from the Lord ; where he is, that is our home. Now though, I say, he calls the
262 AN ! on OF Tin: KHSTLE -.JON XVII.
* the natural condition fr tinsoul and body \\.-is to be united together; yet, notwithstanding, in that our estate by Christ, the Lord is our home. Therefore our body is called but the taK-made-, in i
<
v. 1. The soul is at home in the body, but it is at home but as in a tabn-- naclc ; it is heaven that is called the house, and we stay here but, as the
Apostle sneaks, ver. 5, till we are wrought for the self-same thiiu:, till -v\e are made meet for that place which is made fit for us. Obs. 3. And then, thirdly, that we are said to be set in heavenlies nov,
Christ, it argues the number of the elect is set ; they are all before God, he hath appointed all the places that arc there. As he knows the number of the
stars that are in the heavens, so he knows the number of all those stars that
shall fill up that heaven above. I will not stand to enlarge upon these things. There are yet two other phrases to be opened ; that is, in Christ Jesus, and together. I shall speak something to each of these, and so end. In Christ Jesus. When the Old Testament did express heaven to us, or the New in the language of the Old, when the Old was in force, it doth ex
press it thus, to sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob;* or else you shall have walks with them that stand by, you shall have the happi ness that the angels have. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, these were the chief guests. But now, when the New Testament comes to be opened, then
it is, sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Why ? Because God made the clearest promise unto Abraham that ever he made afterwards to any man in the Old Testament.
* I will be thy great reward, saith he ; that is, I will be thy heaven : and you know that God is all in all, that is the highest expression. And, Gen. xv. 15, thou shalt go in (or, into) peace, and be gathered to thy fathers; ex
pressing the state of soul and body after this life till the resurrection. And Christ used the phrase of sitting down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, be cause the Jews would not so much as eat with the Gentiles. Why, saith he, the Gentiles shall come from the east and west, and sit down with your fathers, seeing you will not come in to me.
Now we are said to sit in Christ ; they in the Old Testament were never said to sit down with Abraham, for Abraham did not represent them in heaven ; but now we, till we shall enjoy heaven personally, and sit down there with Christ, we are in the meantime set down in Christ.
In Christ, I may run over all that I said before, as i\\Q efficient cause of our coming thither. It is the law of nations that foreigners cannot inherit
till they are naturalised ; no more could we, till he that was of our kindred and nature was naturalised to heaven, as indeed he is, for it is his natural
place, he is the Lord from heaven. He is the cause, I say, of our coming tliither ; mankind, I think, had never come there else. In Christ, secondly, as the exemplary cause. We shall have the same
* As is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly/ 1 Cor. xv. 48. My brethren, what can you desire more, than to have the same glory that Christ hath ? John xvii. 22, The glory which thou g.v me, I have given them. And, Rev. iil 21, They shall sit with me in my throne. It is not only, where I am, there they shall be also, but they shall have the same glory I have ; they shall sit like nobles, sit about me, even as I am set with my Father in his throne. Only with tl; the Apostle had spoken of Christ s sitting in heavenly pIan->. in chap. i. he expresseth it thus, He hath set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places ; there he is at his own right hand. But when he comes to u, the rendition in this chapter, of .ristand through C1-.
glory that he hath.
Em. II. 6.] TO THE EPHESIAXS. 2G3
he leaves out, his own right hand. No ; To which of all the angels said
he, Sit thou at God s right hand ? Or to which of all the saints ? Yet
notwithstanding, he as a king, and we as nobles and fellows with him, and
co-heirs of the same kingdom with him, shall have the same glory and the same pleasures. As God will be all in all to the human nature of Christ, so he will be to us ; we shall have the same glory that Christ hath, for the kind of it, though not for the degree. 1 John iii. 2, When he shall appear, wo shall be like him ; for we shall see him as he is. This is it that makes heaven heaven, that you sit together with Christ, that you have his company, that he is the cause and the example of all your happiness. Therefore the
Apostle, in 1 Thess. iv. 17, 18, when he would have them comfort one an other with these words/ what were they ? And so, saith he, we shall ever be with the Lord ; for it is he that makes heaven. We sit in Christ now, and we shall sit with Christ then, or else sitting in heavenlies alone would not make us happy.
Lastly, We sit in him, as a person representing us; he is gone thither and entered as a forerunner to prepare the place for us. I could give you many places for it, that Jesus Christ being a high priest is entered into heaven, not only bearing our sins, for so he did upon the cross, but bearing our names and persons ; for so the high priest did in a peculiar manner when he went into the holy of holiest. He bore our sins in his own body on the tree, and it is true he bore our persons too ; but more eminently, the Scripture speaks of bearing our persons in heaven. And as he is said to prolong his days upon earth, while saints are upon earth, so the saints are said to sit in heaven Avhile he is there.
It is in Christ Jesus; let me say something to that, for here is not an idle word. I take it, we have in him a double right to heaven : in Christ, as he
is a common person ; and in Jesus, as he is a common person too.
First, .-Is he is Christ; take him simply as he is the Son of God, that is a head to a church as his members. The Apostle argues the glory that we shall have after the resurrection from this, in 1 Cor. xv. 4G, 47 : Because, saith he, he is the Lord from heaven, and as is the heavenly such are they also that are heavenly; that is, to whom God hath appointed him as a head of union to, as he is considered as a heavenly man, as he is Son of God, hav
ing taken up our nature, and so is become a head to all that are members of him. So we come to heaven by virtue of him, and not only by virtue of his death. And then
Secondly, There is not one drop of glory but he did purchase it as he ix Jesus. The high priest entered into the holy of holiest with blood, so did Jesus Christ ; he went to heaven, and he sprinkled it with his blood, because blood purchased all the degrees of glory the saints shall have in heaven. And though after the day of judgment God shall be all in all, yet still the ground and right of our union with God, and God s communicating himself to us, is in Christ.
In a word, I say, our sitting in heavenly places in and with Christ for ever is by virtue of his being Christ ; that is, he as being head to so many members was chosen to that happiness with those members which they shall have in heaven. And they having fallen into sin, this Christ is become
Jesus, a Saviour, to save them out of sin, and by being Jesus purchased heaven anew. This is plainly the meaning of it according to my sense. I somewhat opened it when I handled the third verse of the first chapter.
I will add but this one notion about it. We have two sacraments, Baptism and the Lord s Supper. In both there is a representation of Christ
AN . a-X XVIi.
h to us, as a p i& But t!
these two things betwixt tlu-m. lla, th more eminently bold forth his darth and resurrection, and Jesus Christ as a coiimi<
baptized with that baptism, and in token of it we are. You ha\ i
pressed in Roin. vi We are baptized into Christ, and so into the liki i. of his death and resurrection : yea, and because he died and livetli reckoneth yourselves to be dead and to live unto God, scaled up to you in
baptism. And then you have the Lord s Supper; and truly, to me, CI seeiueth to hold forth therein our sitting with him in heavenly places. When he had sat at table and eaten and served them, he takes occasion from
hence to tell them that one day they shall sit at Ms table, and eat and drink
v, ith him in the kingdom of his Father, and should sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. But their sitting at the table of the
Lord, at the Lord s Supper, and eating and drinking of that body and blood, did hold forth to them their state in glory. And therefore in all the Evan
gelists, you shall find that the disciples understood some such thing about a
kingdom, though they misapplied it ; they fell out amongst themselves who should be greatest in that kingdom. This sitting and eating in that king dom was imported to them in that great supper.
There is now only one phrase remaining; and that is, toydJier : raised
together, and sit together. There may be some question about it, whether
it refers to the persons of believers, or whether it refers to Christ ? whether that we believers shall all sit, or do all sit together, with Christ ; or whether we sit together with Christ I
It is evident that when he saith, he hath quickened us together with
Christ, that there it refers to Christ, the particle with, and toget/ier, doth ; and so our translators have rightly rendered it, quickened us together with
Christ. But when he comes to speak of the resurrection and of sitting in
heaven, which yet are to come, he doth not put in any particle, as to say, together with Christ ; neither doth he content himself to say,
t we sit to
gether; but lie addeth, in Christ. And indeed, together with Christ, and
in Christ, as I shewed in the last discourse, import two distinct things
: one, when we personally come to enjoy the same things that Jesus Christ did for us ; when we come to heaven, then we sit together with Christ ; but in him, in the meantime. So that, in a word, that which together here refers to,
is to the persons ; we all together, we that were dead in sins and trespasses, we Jews and Gentiles, apostles and all, we all together are raised in Christ, and sit in heavenly places in him, as a common person representing us alL If
it should refer to Christ, as the other, their being quickened together with him,
doth, it would have been redundant here, for in Christ is enough to relate
to his being a common person ; therefore it must here have a special eye, and
relate to the persons that sit and are raised. Now what persons are tl:
First, We Jews and Gentiles : that is evident, for he had carried that
along through the whole first chapter, and this second also, speaking of thfir
misery and of their redemption and the like. The Gentiles shall sit down
in heavenly places as well as the Jews, for so Christ tells us, they shall come from the east and from the west, and sit down in the kingdom of my Father. Because the desire of all nations is now come, in Jesus Christ, all
shall sit down together. And therefore, as God promised to Abraham and
the patriarchs a city, so the Apostle saith, We are fellow-citizens with the
saints, and of the household of God. But I sliall have occasion to speak more of it when we come to the latter
<-f the chapter, which shews the union between Jew and VV t... ties and all saints
i>art
EPH. II. 6.] TO THE EPHESIANS. 265
else ; for though the apostles are said to have twelve thrones to sit upon more eminently, because there are degrees of glory, yet read Rev. iii. 21, and there it is said that
* to every one that overcomes, to him will I grant to sit
in my throne. Therefore I say, all the saints, apostles and all. What saith the Apostle for this, in 2 Cor. iv. 14 ? it is an excellent place to this purpose
: Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus, shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you. He had spoken of the labours and
sufferings that he and the rest of his fellow-apostles had; but that which comforts me is this, I shall be raised up together with you, and presented together with you to God. God will present you and me and all of us to himself in and by Jesus Christ. It is a good observation that one makes upon it : he doth not say he will present you with us, but us, us apostles, with you ; for the saints have the same right to heaven that the apostles have, and they sit together in heavenly places, therefore it follows, All things are
for your sakes.
Lastly, It relateth to the general assembly. For there is a special rea son why together here, when lie speaks of raising and sitting in heaven, should refer to the persons of all the elect; for at the resurrection all shall come together, and be raised together, and in heaven all shall sit together; that is the glory of it, and that is the state of it, that is it which makes heaven heaven, the company of Christ and of the saints when they are all
together. And, my brethren, God, though we are poor sinners here upon earth, yet in his eternal decree, and likewise in Christ, he considers us all
raised, and all sitting there in him. All live unto God, as Luke saith, speaking of the resurrection of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
There is this difference between Adam s being a common person and Christ s, because they were decreed who should come of Adam if he had
stood, yet in a manner it needed not to have been, though God decrees and purposeth everything. But it is otherwise now; it is by a special decree of predestination that all are in Christ, therefore God hath them all before him; he hath them all in his eye, and he will bring them all together with him there will be the general assembly of all the saints ; therefore it is called the gathering of the elect from all the four corners of the world. You have an excellent place for this in John vi. 39, and if you mark it, there is an emphasis upon it : This is the Father s will which hath sent me, that of
all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. He will not have a corn wanting whereof he is the
first-fruits. Heaven is the general collection of all the saints, therefore in the meantime till we come thither, Christ being a common person for us, we are all together, all the saints are at once raised up in him. We are not all quickened together in him, one is quickened in one age, and another in
another, but we are raised together in him, and the resurrection shall find us all together, and the judgment shall find us all together; therefore the state of these two days are represented by Christ s being a common person, and we are raised up together, and made to sit together in heavenly places in him,*
2GG AN EXPOSITION OF TUE EPISTLE [SERMON XVIII.