First, I shall show the credibility of it; and that,
II. I shall now endeavour to evince both the credibility and certainty of the resurrection of the dead, notwithstanding it has been accounted by many absurd and incredible
First, I shall show the credibility of it; and that,
1. From its consistence with the nature and perfections of God. If God is omnipotent and omniscient, as he certainly is, or he would not be God, the resurrection of the dead is not incredible; it is what may be. God is omnipotent, he can do all things; what is impossible with men, is possible with him: he cannot do any thing, indeed, which argues imperfection and weakness, or implies a contradiction and falsehood: he cannot lie, or deny himself. But the resurrection of the dead is not an instance of either. It is no contradiction, that the dust, which was formed out of nothing, being reduced to dust, should again form the body which it once constituted; nor does this argue imperfection or weakness, but is a glorious instance of mighty power. A heathen once said, that it was not in the power of God to raise the dead; and to another, it seemed impossible for any to restore life to one that is dead: but if God could make all things out of nothing, as he did, and, from a dark and confused chaos, raise up such a beautiful structure as this World, and, out of the dust of the earth, form the body of man, and infuse into it, and unite it with a living and reasonable soul; then much more must he be able to raise up a dead body, the matter and substance of which now is, though in different forms and shapes, and reunite it to its soul, which still has a real existence: it is much easier to restore that which is, to its former condition; than to make to exist that which is not. God is also omniscient; he knows all things: he knows all the particles of matter, of which our bodies are composed; and, when they are dissolved into several parts, blown about by the several winds, crumbled into dust, reduced to ashes, evaporated into air, or digested into the bodies of other creatures, and have been transmuted into ten thousand forms and shapes; he knows where they are lodged, and what are the several receptacles and repositories of them, whether in the earth, air, or sea; and his all-discerning eye can distinguish those particles of matter which belong to one body, from those which belong to another; and his almighty hand can gather and unite them together in their own proper bodies, and range them in their due place and order. If God then is omnipotent and omniscient, the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead ought not to be accounted incredible.
As considering the omnipotence and omniscience of God, the resurrection of the dead may be, which also is no ways contrary to his goodness; so the justice of God makes it necessary that it should be: “God is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works:” he is the Judge of all the earth, who will do right: and it is but just with him that those bodies which Christ has purchased with his blood, and the Spirit has sanctified by his grace, and which have suffered for his name’s sake, should be raised again, that they, together with their souls, may enjoy that glory which is purchased for them, and which they are made meet to be partakers of; even as it is a righteous thing with God to render tribulation to them that trouble them; and so consequently it is no act of injustice in God to raise the bodies, both of the righteous and the wicked, that they may receive the things done in the body, whether they be good, or whether they be evil. These things being considered, it may be concluded, that the resurrection of the dead is not inconsistent with the perfections of God, and so not incredible. To these considerations I add,
2. The several instances of persons who have been raised from the dead, recorded in Scripture; such as the child of the widow of Zarephath, which came to life upon Elijah’s prayer; and the child of the Shunamite, upon Elisha’s; as also the man that was cast into Elisha’s sepulchre, who revived and stood upon his feet, upon touching the prophet’s bones, mentioned in the Old Testament: likewise Jairus’s daughter, the son of the widow of Nain, and Lazarus, who were raised by Christ; and not to forget to mention the saints, who came out of their graves, after our Lord’s resurrection: and also Dorcas, who was raised by Peter; as was Eutychus by the apostle Paul: which instances are recorded in the New Testament. My argument upon these instances is this; that what has been, may be; and if these instances of particular resurrections are to be credited, then the doctrine of the resurrection of all the dead is not to be accounted incredible. And,
3. It may not be improper if I should just mention some typical and figurative resurrections. The Scriptures give us an account of Jonah’s lying three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; and his deliverance from thence was a type of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. The saving of Isaac from being sacrificed, was like a resurrection from the dead; and, indeed, “from thence Abraham received him in a figure, ” Hebrews 11:19. The redemption of the people of Israel out of the Babylonish captivity, was a metaphorical resurrection, and signified by the reviving of dry bones; which was done by laying sinews, and bringing flesh upon them, covering them with skin, and putting breath into them. The budding and blossoming of Aaron’s dry rod, is thought, by some, to be a figure of the resurrection of the dead. However, be that as it will, this may be observed, that if God could deliver Jonah out of the whale’s belly, save Isaac from being sacrificed, when so near it, make dry bones to live and stand upon their feet, and cause a dry rod to bud, blossom, and bring forth almonds; then why should it be thought a thing incredible with any, that God should raise the dead? But,
Secondly, I now proceed to show, that the resurrection of the dead is not only credible, but certain; and this I shall do, partly from Scripture testimonies, and partly from other Scripture doctrines.
1st, From Scripture testimonies, which shall be taken both out of the Old and New Testament. I shall begin with producing testimonies out of the former; and,
1. With the words of God to Moses: “I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, ” Exodus 3:6. I choose to mention this scripture, and to begin with it, because with this our Lord confronted the Sadducees, who denied the resurrection of the dead, and put them to silence; insomuch, that, after that, no man durst ask any question at all; the account of which you have in Matthew 22:23, and some following verses; and it stands thus: the Sadducees came to him with an instance of a woman, who had had seven husbands, who were brethren; and their question upon it is, whose wife she should be in the resurrection? To which Christ replies, having observed to them their ignorance of the Scriptures, and the power of God, that “in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels of God in heaven; ” and then adds, “But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” But now here lies a difficulty, how this appears to be a proof of the resurrection of the dead.
Some have thought, that our Lord’s design is to prove the immortality of the soul, which the Sadducees denied, as well as the resurrection of the dead; for they that deny the former, deny the latter; and some of the same arguments which prove the one, prove the other. Menasseh-ben-Israel, a learned Jew of the last century, produces this same passage of Scripture, to prove the immortality of the soul, and argues from it much in the same manner as Christ does. But it is certain, that our Lord produced this testimony as a proof of the resurrection. In one of the evangelists, it is said, “As touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God?” etc Matthew 22:31. And in another, “Now, that the dead are raised, even Moses showed at the bush, when he called the Lord the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, ” etc Luke 20:37. Let it be observed, then, that it is not said, I was, or I will be, but I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; which is expressive not only of a covenant which had been made, but of one that abides and continues, which must be either the covenant of grace made with them in Christ, of which they had some glorious discoveries and manifestations, or some particular covenant respecting them and their posterity. As for the covenant of grace, this respected not their souls only, but their bodies also, even their whole persons; therefore, as their souls now live with God in the enjoyment of the promised good, it is necessary that their bodies should be raised from the dead, that, with their souls, they may enjoy the everlasting blessing of glory and happiness; otherwise, how would God’s covenant be “an everlasting one, ordered in all things, and sure?” The learned Mr. Mede thinks, that Christ has respect to the covenant which God: made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in which he promised that he would give the land of Canaan to them, and to their posterity; not their posterity only, but to them also; therefore he observes, that it was necessary that they should be raised from the dead, that they, in their own persons, might enjoy the promised land. It must be acknowledged, that this is a way of arguing the Jews were used to, which may be the reason of the scribes being so well pleased with it; and therefore said, “Master, thou hast well said, ” Luke 20:39. Such kind of arguments as these, to prove the resurrection of the dead, are now extant in their Talmud: for instance; R. Simai said, “From whence is the resurrection of the dead to be proved out of the law? from Exodus 6:4, where it is said, And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan; it is not said to you, but to them.” But, not to insist any longer on this proof, I proceed,
2. To another passage of Scripture, for the confirmation of this doctrine, which is in 27, “For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth; and though, after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself; and mine eyes shall behold, and not another, though my reins be consumed within me.” I shall not trouble you with the different versions of these words, some favouring, and some not, the doctrine of the resurrection: and it must be owned, that none of the Jewish writers understand the words of a real, but of a figurative or metaphorical resurrection, and suppose Job’s meaning to be, that he should be delivered from the afflicted state, in which he then was, and be restored to his former health, honour, and happiness; in which sense of the words they have been followed by some learned Christian interpreters, at which the Socinians very greedily catch. Temporal afflictions are, indeed, sometimes signified by death, and a deliverance out of them must be as life from the dead; but that this cannot be Job’s sense and meaning here, may be concluded from the following hints. Job was so far from having any faith in, or assurance of his restoration to his former state of health, honour, and riches, that he had no hope, no expectation of it; nay, seems entirely to despair of it, though his friends endeavoured to support him with views of it, on condition of his repentance. He declares, Job 6:11, and 7:7, 8, 10:20, and 16:22, 17:1, 16, that he had no reason to hope for life, that he should quickly be gone, and therefore had made death familiar to him; that he did not expect to see any more temporal good; yea, in this very chapter, at the tenth verse, he says of God, “He hath destroyed me on every side, and I am gone; and mine hope hath he removed like a tree, ” and continues his doleful moan to the very words under consideration; so that it must seem unlikely, that, on a sudden, he should have his expectations of outward prosperity raised. No; the words are rather expressive of what was his inward support and comfort under present afflictions, and in the views of approaching death and the grave. They are an answer to what Bildad had said, in the preceding chapter, 14, concerning the wicked man; where, though he may not directly mean Job, yet he had his eye upon him, when he says, “His strength shall be hunger-bitten, and destruction shall be ready at his side. It shall devour the strength of his skin, even the first-born of death shall devour his strength. His confidence shall be rooted out of his tabernacle, and it shall bring him to the king of terrors.” Well now, as if Job should say, supposing all this, yet this is my comfort, I know my interest in the living Redeemer, and am comfortably persuaded, that when he appears at the latter day, though this body of mine is now reduced to skin and bones, and will shortly be the repast of worms, yet it shall be raised again, and, in this very flesh of mine, shall I see God, and everlastingly enjoy him. The preface to the words shows, that it was something future, and at a great distance, which he had in view, even after the consumption of his own body, and at the appearance of his Redeemer in the latter day; and which was very considerable, and of moment; and therefore he says, “O! that my words were now written! O! that they were printed in a book! that they were graven with an iron pen and lead, in the rock for ever !” Besides, the vision of God with the eyes of his body, which he expected, is not suited to any state and condition in this life, but rather to the state of eternal glory and happiness, when saints shall see him in the Mediator, as he is; nor can Job’s words have reference to the vision he had of God, of which he speaks, chap. 42:6, “I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee.” Since that issued not barely in peace, joy, and comfort, but likewise, in conviction of his folly and weakness, in self-abhorrence, and deep humiliation. Add to all this, that Job, in the close of this chapter, put his friends in mind of the awful judgment: “Be ye afraid of the sword; for wrath bringeth the punishments of the sword, that ye may know there is a judgment; ” between which and death, there must be a resurrection from the dead, of which he had before spoken, that so every one may come forth to judgment, and receive the things done in his body, whether they be good or evil. From the whole, we may conclude, that Job here declares his faith, concerning the resurrection of the dead at the last day, and not his own restoration, from outward misery to outward happiness. An ancient writer once thought, that nothing could be a plainer proof of this doctrine: “for, ” says he, “no one, since Christ, speaks so plainly of the resurrection, as this man did before Christ.”
3. Another testimony I shall produce for the proof of this doctrine, shall be Isaiah 26:19. “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 forth her dead.” In verse 14, the prophet says, “They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise; ” the meaning of which words is either that those tyrants, who formerly had dominion over the people of Israel were dead, and should not live any more in this world, or rise again, to tyrannize over them; or that many of the people were dead, or should die by the sword, famine, etc and not live again; which the prophet mentions by way of complaint, and as the effect of unbelief, to which these words are an answer. The person speaking is the Messiah, to whom the characters given in verse 4, 12, 13, belong; who assures the prophet, that though his men or people were dead, yet they should live again; that they should be raised again, either at the time of his resurrection or by virtue of it. The words are literally true of Christ’s resurrection, and of ours by him, who, as he was to be born, and die, and rise again, in order to be the Saviour of his people, so many of them were to rise along with him; therefore he says, “With my dead body shall they arise; ” which was fulfilled at the time of Christ’s resurrection, (Matthew 27:52, 53) when the graves were opened, and many bodies of the saints, which slept, arose and came out of the graves after his resurrection. Though these words may be rendered either thus, As my dead body shall they arise, i. e in the same way and manner. Christ’s resurrection is the exemplar of ours, our vile bodies shall be fashioned like unto his; he is risen from the dead, (1 Corinthians 15:20) and become the first-fruits of them that slept; or, as sure as my dead body shall they arise. Christ’s resurrection is the pledge of ours; “because he lives, we shall live also.” (John 14:19; 1 Thessalonians 4:14) “If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.” The expressions here made use of confirm this sense of the words, “Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust; for thy dew is as the dew of herbs.” To dwell in the dust, is expressive of the state of the dead; and a resurrection from thence is aptly signified by an awaking, since death is so frequently, in the sacred writings, compared to sleep. (Job 7:21, and 17:16, 20:11, and 40:16; Daniel 3:2) The power of God, in raising the dead, is fitly expressed by the dew; for as through the virtue and influence of the dew, the grass and herbs of the field spring up and grow, so, through the wonderful power of God, “our bones, ” to use the prophet’s phrase, (Isaiah 66:14) “shall flourish like an herb, ” in the resurrection morn; and it is easy to observe a likeness between the last clause of this verse, “and the earth shall cast forth her dead, ; ” and those expressions by which the resurrection is described in Revelation 20:13, “And the sea gave up the dead which were in it: and death and hell, (or the grave, ) delivered up the dead which were in them.” The Jews refer this prophecy to the resurrection of the dead. But,
4. To add no more testimonies of this kind, I shall conclude the evidence of this doctrine out of the Old Testament, from the famous prophecy in Daniel 12:2, “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake; some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” These words are genera1ly understood of the resurrection of the dead, as well by Jewish as Christian interpreters. Porphyry, the acute Heathen, and sworn enemy of Christianity, would have these words design the return of some of the people of the Jews to their own cities and habitations after Antiochus’s generals were cut off, who before skulked about in holes and corners, and in which sense of the text he is followed by Grotius. But surely this deliverance, or the return of this people, was not in any of them to shame and contempt, especially to everlasting shame and contempt; nor was it to everlasting life in any of them, seeing they are all since dead. Nor is it true that the doctors of the Jewish church, from that time, shone as the brightness of the firmament, and as the stars of heaven; but, on the contrary, their knowledge decreased, their light grew dim, and they became vain in their imaginations. On the other hand, the whole agrees with the resurrection of the dead, when, as our Lord says, whose words are the best comment on this text, “All that are in their graves shall hear his voice, [ i.e. the voice of Christ, ] and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation, ” John 5:28, 29; and when the bodies of the saints shall be raised in incorruption, power and glory, and “shall shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” I might have produced several other scriptures out of the Old Testament for the confirmation of this truth, such as Hosea 6:2, and 13:14, etc But I forbear, and pass on,
To the New Testament. And here, were I to take the whole compass of proof which this will furnish out, I must transcribe a considerable part of it. I shall only observe, that this is the doctrine of Christ and his apostles; it is a doctrine which Christ himself taught; he declared himself to be “the resurrection and the life, ” or to be the author of the resurrection unto life; and that not only those whom the Father had given to him, should be raised by him, but that all that are in their graves; whether good or bad, should come forth from thence at his powerful all and all-commanding voice. The same doctrine was taught by his apostles, who all jointly agree, that there will be a resurrection both of the just and unjust. The arguments of the apostle Paul for the confirmation of this doctrine, are by him laid together, in the fifteenth chapter of his first epistle to the Corinthians. I do not take notice of particular passages in the New Testament, partly because they are plain and obvious proofs of this truth at first view, and partly because I shall have occasion to make particular use of them in some other parts of these discourses. I proceed,
2dly, To prove the certainty of the resurrection of the dead from other Scripture truths and doctrines, which I shall little more than name; and shall begin,
1. With the doctrine of election. That there is an eternal, personal election of some to everlasting life and salvation, the Scriptures do abundantly declare. Now, this act of election regards not their souls only, but their bodies also, even their whole persons: if then their persons, body and soul, are chosen in Christ to everlasting salvation, then their bodies must be raised from the dead, that they, united to their souls, may together “inherit the kingdom, prepared for them from the foundation of the world; ” otherwise the “purpose of God, according to election, ” will not stand; when, on the contrary, it is certain, that “his counsel shall stand, and he will do all his pleasure.”
2. It is the doctrine of the Scriptures, that the same persons who were chosen in Christ, before the foundation of the world, were given to him by the Father, were put into his hands, and made his care and charge. They were given to him not only to be his portion and inheritance, but to be kept, preserved, and saved by him, body and soul. This was the declared will of his Father, when he gave them to him, as he himself assures us: “And this is the Father’s will, which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I should lose nothing, (no, not even their dust, ) but should raise it up again at the last day; and this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day, ” John 6:39, 40. Now, if these bodies of the saints, which are given to Christ, should not be raised from the dead, the Father’s will would not be fulfilled, nor Christ discharge the trust reposed in him.
3. This truth may be concluded from the redemption of our bodies, as well as of our souls, by the blood of Christ. It is true, this is sometimes called the redemption of the soul, and the salvation of the soul, but not to the exclusion of the body; for that is bought with the same price the soul is. Hence the apostle says to the saints after this manner: “Ye are bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s, ” 1 Corinthians 6:20. Now, if these bodies, which Christ has bought, should not be raised from the dead; he would lose part of his purchase: nor could he perfectly “see the travail of his soul and be satisfied.”
4. This doctrine may be inferred from the union of the saints to Christ, body and soul. Their whole persons are united to him; “Know ye not, ” says the apostle, “that your bodies are the members of Christ?” verse 15. They are part of his mystical body, they are united to him, as well as their souls, and remain in union with him after death; for, as the union of the two natures in Christ was not dissolved, when his soul and body were at death disunited, so neither is the union between Christ and his people dissolved at death: and, by virtue of this union, their bodies shall be raised from the dead; otherwise Christ must lose a constituent part of those who are his mystical body, and so the church not be “the fullness of him that filleth all in all, ” as she is said to be, Ephesians 1:23.
5. All those who are chosen in Christ, who are given to him, who are redeemed by him, and are in union with him, are sanctified by the Spirit of God, and that not in their souls only, but in their bodies also; for as the body, as well as the soul, is defiled by sin, it also stands in need of the sanctifying influences of divine grace. Accordingly the Spirit takes up his dwelling in the bodies, as well as in the souls of men; “What! know ye not, ” says the apostle, “that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you?” 1 Corinthians 6:19. He begins and carries on the work of sanctification in the one, as well as in the other, as is needful; and will, at last, completely finish it; for which the apostle prays, saying, “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit, soul and body, be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, ” 1 Thessalonians 5:23. Now, if the bodies of these sanctified ones are not raised, the Spirit of God will not only lose that which he has taken possession of, as his dwelling-place, but also a considerable part of his glory, as a Sanctifier.
6. It will not be improper to take notice of the translations of Enoch and Elias to heaven, who were taken up thither, soul and body; nor of the saints, who came out of their graves, after our Lord’s resurrection, and went with him to glory, as is very probable; nor of those who shall be alive at Christ’s second coming, who shall not die, but be changed, and be caught up with the rest of the saints in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. Now, whereas it is certain, that there are some saints already in heaven with their bodies, and others that will be, it is very improbable that the rest should be without, or that there should be this difference among the spirits of just men made perfect, that some should have their bodies united to them, and others not.
7. Nothing is more certain than that there will be a general judgment. “God has appointed the day in which, ” and ordained the Person by whom, “he will judge the world in righteousness, ” when all, both great and small, shall stand before God, and the dead shall be judged according to their works. Now, in order to this, the resurrection of them is absolutely necessary, that they may “receive the things done in their body, whether good or bad.”
8. Neither the happiness of the righteous will be complete, nor the misery of the wicked be proportionate to their crimes, until the resurrection. The happiness of the saints will not be complete: hence they are “waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of their body, ” Romans 8:23, when that being redeemed from the grave, and united to the soul, shall, with it, enter into the joy of the Lord. Nor will the misery of the wicked be proportionate to their crimes till then, when they shall be cast, body and soul, into hell; and as the one deserves it, as well as the other, it is proper that so it should be.
9. There will be need of, and uses for bodily organs, or for some of the members of the body in heaven; as particularly the eye, the ear, and tongue. There will be the glorified body of Christ, or the glorious Mediator in human nature, for the saints to look upon with unutterable pleasure: it will be a considerable part of their happiness to “see him as he is.” This is one reason why Christ would have his people with him where he is, namely, that “they may behold his glory, ” even this, as well as other branches of it; and it was Job’s support under his afflictions, that in his “flesh he should see God; ” that is, the God-man and Mediator, or “God manifest in the flesh.” There will be songs of everlasting joy and praise sung in such melodious strains, as will delight the ear, and employ the tongue throughout the endless ages of eternity.
10. And lastly, and which is the apostle Paul’s grand and principal argument for the resurrection of the dead, and which he uses with so much strength, and improves to so good a purpose, is the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, which you have at large in 58, where he thus argues: “If there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen; and if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain; yea, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God, that he raised up Christ, whom he raised not up, if the dead rise not: for if the dead rise not, then is Christ not raised; and if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain, ye, are yet in your sins; then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.” The saints may comfortably conclude their resurrection from Christ’s; for if the head be raised, the members shall: “Every man in his own order, Christ the first fruits; afterward, they that are Christ’s, at his coming.” Job was satisfied that he should rise again, because his Redeemer lived, and would appear at the latter day upon the earth; and the saints may be assured, that because “Christ lives, they shall live also.” Other arguments might have been made use of; but as they will also prove that the same body shall be raised again, I shall therefore reserve them for their proper place.