The Fountain of Life Opened Up

...was in him, and one of the principal effects in which it was manifested was this design upon which he came, namely to reconcile the world to God, upon which ground Christ is called the propitiation for our sins, 1 John 2.2. Reconciliation, or atonement, is the making up of the ancient friendship between God and men which sin had dissolved, thus reducing these enemies into a state of concord and sweet agreement. And the means by which this blessed design was effectually compassed was the death of Christ, which made complete satisfaction to God for our sins. There was a breach made by sin between God and the fallen angels, but that breach is never to be repaired, since, as Christ took not on him their nature, he never intended to be a mediator of reconciliation between God and them. But that which Christ designed, as the end of his death, was to reconcile God and man, not the whole species, but those who were given to Christ and should believe in him. Inference number one. If Christ died to reconcile God and man, how horrid and evil is sin! And how terrible was that breach between God and the creature, which could be closed no other way but by the death of the Son of God. Number two. How sad is the state of all who are not at peace with God through the blood of his Son! To the impenitent unbeliever God is not reconciled, and if God be his enemy, how little avails it who is his friend! He has an almighty enemy, whose very frown is destruction. I lift up my hand to heaven and say, I live forever. If I wet my glittering sword and my hand take hold on judgment, I will render vengeance to my enemies and will reward them that hate me. I will make mine arrows drunk with blood and my sword shall devour flesh, and that with the blood of the slain and of the captives, from the beginning of revenge is upon the enemy. Deuteronomy 32, verses 40 through 42. Yea, God is an unavoidable enemy. Fly to the uttermost parts of the earth, there shall his hand hold thee. Psalm 139, verse 10. The wings of the morning cannot carry thee out of his reach. If God be your enemy, you have an immortal enemy, who lives forever to avenge himself upon his adversaries. What wilt thou do when he departs from thee, even in this world, as from Saul? 1 Samuel 28, verses 15 and 16. Alas, whither wilt thou turn? To whom wilt thou complain? And what wilt thou do when thou shalt stand at his bar and see that God, who is thine enemy, upon the throne? Sad is their case indeed, who are not comprehended in the articles of peace with God. Number three. If Christ died to reconcile us to God, give diligence to be assured of your interest in this reconciliation. If Christ thought it was his blood to purchase it, it is worth your care and pains to obtain it. And what better evidence can you have than a conscientious tenderness, lest you sin against him? Ah, if reconciled, you will say, as Ezra, And now, our God, seeing thou hast given us such a deliverance as this, should we again break thy commandments? Ezra 9, verses 13 and 14. If reconciled to God, his friends will be your friends, and his enemies, your enemies. If God be your friend, you will be diligent to please him. John 15, verses 10 and 14. He that makes not peace with God is an enemy to his own soul. And he that is at peace, but takes no pains to be assured of it, is an enemy to his own comfort. Roman numeral three. But I must pass from this to the third end of Christ's death, namely the sanctification of his people. Typical blood was shed to purify them that were unclean. And so was the blood of Christ to purge away the sins of his people. He gave himself for the church, that he might sanctify and cleanse it. Ephesians 5, verses 25 and 26. For their sakes I sanctify myself, that is, consecrate or devote myself to death, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. John 17, 19. This benefit received by the blood of Christ is the theme of that doxology, which in a lower strain, is now sounded in the churches, but will form the song of the Lamb in heaven. To him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, be glory and honor forever. Revelation 1, verses 5 and 6. The evil of sin consists not only in its punishment, but in its pollution. Justification properly removes the former, sanctification the latter. But both justification and sanctification flow unto sinners from the death of Christ. And though it is proper to say the Spirit sanctifies, yet it is certain it was the blood of Christ that procured for us the spirit of sanctification. Had not Christ died, the spirit had never come down from heaven upon any such design. The pouring forth of Christ's blood for us, obtained the pouring forth of the spirit of holiness upon us. Therefore the spirit is said to come in his name, and to take of his, and show it unto us. Hence it is said, he came both by blood and by water. 1 John 5, 6. By blood, washing away the guilt, by water, purifying from the filth of sin. Now this fruit of Christ's death, even our sanctification, is a most incomparable mercy. Do but consider a few particular excellencies of holiness. 1. Holiness is the image and glory of God. His image, Colossians 3.10, and His glory, Exodus 15.11. Who is like unto thee, O Lord, glorious in holiness? Now when the guilt and filth of sin are washed away, and the soul clothed with the beauty of God by sanctification, O what a beautiful creature the soul is now! It is a beam of divine glory upon the creature. 2. And as it is the soul's highest beauty, so it is the soul's best evidence for heaven. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Matthew 5.8. Without holiness no man shall see the Lord. Hebrews 12.14. No gifts, no duties, no natural endowments can claim heaven, but the least measure of true holiness will secure it to the soul. 3. Again, as holiness is the soul's best evidence for heaven, so it is a continual spring of comfort on the way thither. The purest and sweetest pleasures in this world are the results of holiness. Till we live holy lives, we never live comfortably. Heaven is epitomized in holiness. 4. And to say no more, it is the peculiar mark by which God hath visibly distinguished His own from other men. The Lord hath set apart Him that is godly for Himself. Psalm 4.3. O holiness, how surpassingly glorious art thou! Inference 1. Did Christ die to sanctify His people? How deep is the pollution of sin that nothing but the blood of Christ can cleanse it. All the tears of a penitent sinner, should he shed as many as there have fallen drops of rain since the creation, cannot wash away one's sin. The everlasting burnings in hell cannot purify the flaming conscience from the least sin. 2. Did Christ die to sanctify His people? Behold the love of a Savior. He loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood. He did not shed the blood of beasts, as the priests of old did, but His own blood. Hebrews 9.12. And that not common, but precious blood. 1 Peter 1.19. The blood of God, one drop of which outvalues the blood that runs in all the veins of all Adam's posterity. And not some of that blood, but all, all to the last drop. And thus liberal was He of His blood to us, when we were His enemies. O what manner of love is this! Roman numeral 4. As Christ died to sanctify His people, so He died also to confirm the New Testament to all sanctified ones. So it was in the type, Exodus 24.8. And so it is in Christ, Matthew 26.28. This is the New Testament in my blood, that is ratified and confirmed by my blood. For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. Hebrews 9.16. So that now all the blessings and benefits bequeathed to believers in the last will and testament of Christ are abundantly confirmed and secured to them by His death. Yea, He died on purpose to make that testament of force to them. Men make their wills and testaments, and Christ made His. What they bequeath and give in their wills is a free and voluntary act. They cannot be compelled to do it. And what is bequeathed to us in this testament of Christ is altogether a free and voluntary donation. Other testators usually bequeath their estates to their wives and children and new relations. So doth this testator. All is settled upon his spouse, the church, upon believers, his children. A stranger intermittles not with these mercies. Men give all their goods and estate that can be conveyed to their friends that survive them. Christ giveth to His church in the New Testament three sorts of goods. Number 1. All temporal good things. 1 Timothy 6.6. Matthew 6.33. That is, the comfort and blessing of all, though not the possession of much. As having nothing and yet possessing all things. 2 Corinthians 6.10. Number 2. All spiritual good things, as remission of sin and acceptance with God, which are contained in their justification. Romans 3.24-26. Sanctification of their natures, both initial and progressive. 1 Corinthians 1.30. Adoption into the family of God. Galatians 3.26. The ministry of angels. Hebrews 1.14. And interest in all the promises. 2 Peter 1.4. Number 3. All eternal good things. Heaven, glory, and eternal life. Romans 8.16-17. No such bequests as these were ever found in the testaments of princes. All that kings and nobles settle by will upon their heirs are but trifles to what Christ hath conferred in the New Testament upon his people. All this is confirmed and ratified by the death of Christ. He died, not merely, as Sassanians say, to confirm the New Testament by way of testimony or witness bearing in his death. This is a fearful derogation from the efficacy of Christ's blood, bringing it down to equality with the blood of martyrs, as if there were no more in it than in their blood. But no reader, Christ died not only, or principally, to confirm the testament by his blood as witness to the truth of those things, but his death ratified it as the death of a testator, which makes the New Testament irrevocable. Just as when a man hath made his will and is dead, that will is presently in force and can never be recalled. Besides, the will of the dead is sacred with men, they dare not cross it. It is certain the last will and testament of Christ is most sacred, and God will never annul or make it void. Moreover, it is not with Christ as with other testators, who die and must trust the performance of their wills with their executors. But as he died to put it in force, so he lives again to be the executor of his own testament. And all power to fulfill his will is now in his hand. Revelation 1 verse 18. Inference number 1. Did Christ die to confirm the New Testament, in which such legacies are bequeathed to believers? How are all believers concerned to assure their title to the mercies contained in this blessed testament? Examine your relations to Christ. Are you his spouse? Have you forsaken all for him? Psalm 45 verses 10 and 11. Are you ready to take your lot with him in prosperity or adversity? Jeremiah 2.2. Are you loyal to Christ? Thou shalt be for me, and not for another. Hosea 3.3. Do you yield obedience to him as your head and husband? Ephesians 5.23. Then you may be confident you are interested in the blessings of Christ's last will and testament. For can you imagine Christ will make a testament and forget his spouse? It cannot be. If he so loved the church as to give himself for her, much more what he hath purchased is settled on her. Again. Are you his spiritual seed, his children by regeneration? Are you born of the Spirit? John 3. Do you resemble Christ in holiness? 1 Peter 1.15 and 16. Do you find a reverential fear of Christ impelling you to obey him in all things? Malachi 1.6. Are you led by the Spirit of Christ? As many as are so led, they are the sons of God. Romans 8.14. To conclude, have you the spirit of adoption enabling you to cry, Abba, Father? Galatians 4.6. That is, helping you in a gracious manner, with reverence mixed with filial confidence, to open your heart spiritually to your Father on all occasions. If so, you are children. And if children, doubt not, but you have a rich legacy in Christ's last will and testament. You may also discern your interest in the New Testament or covenant, for they are substantially the same thing, by the new covenant impressions made on your hearts, which are so many clear evidences of your right to the benefits it contains. Such are spiritual illuminations. Jeremiah 31.34. Gracious softness and tenderness of heart. Ezekiel 11.19. The awful dread and fear of God. Jeremiah 32.43. The copy or transcript of his laws on your hearts in gracious correspondent principles. Jeremiah 31.33. These things speak you to be children of the covenant, on whom all these great things are settled. Number 2. To conclude, it is the indispensable duty of all on whom Christ has settled such mercies, to admire and walk in His love. Admire the love of Christ. Oh, how intense and ardent was the love of Jesus, who designed for you such an inheritance, with such a settlement of it upon you. Before this love, let all the saints fall down astonished, humbly professing that they owe themselves and all they are, or shall be to eternity, to this love. And be sure you walk becoming persons for whom Christ hath done such great things. Comfort yourselves under present trials with your spiritual privileges. James 2.5. And let all your rejoicing be in Christ, while others are blessing themselves in vanity. Having finished what I designed to say of the work of redemption, as performed by Christ in His humbled state, we shall now view that blessed work as further advanced and perfected in His state of exultation. The whole of that work was not to be finished in a state of suffering and abasement on earth. The apostle makes his exultation so necessary a part of his priesthood, that without it he could not have been a priest. If he were on earth, he should not be a priest. Hebrews 8.4 That is, if he had continued here, and had not been raised again from the dead and taken up into glory, he could not have been a complete and perfect priest. For just as it was not enough for the sacrifice to be slain without, and his blood left there, but it must be carried within the veil, into the most holy place before the Lord. Hebrews 9.7 So it was not sufficient that Christ shed his own blood on earth, except he carry it before the Lord into heaven, and there perform his intercession work for us. Moreover, God the Father stood engaged in a solemn covenant to reward him for his deep humiliation, with a most glorious and illustrious advancement. Isaiah 49.5-7 And how God made this good to Christ, the apostle very clearly expresses. Philippians 2.9 Our surety could not be detained in the prison of the grave, when the debt for which he was imprisoned was fully discharged, so that the law of God must acknowledge itself to be fully satisfied in all its claims and demands. His resurrection from the dead was, therefore, his discharge or acquittance upon full payment, which could not in justice be denied him. And, indeed, there never was a more glorious manifestation of the name of God to the world than was made in that work, that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2.11 O how illustriously, yea, astonishingly, is the love of God to poor sinners displayed in Christ's exultation! When, to show his complacency and delight in our recovery, he hath openly declared to the world that his exalting Christ to all that glory, to which no mere creature ever was or can be raised, was bestowed upon him as a reward for that work, that most grateful work of our redemption. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him. Philippians 2.9 There is an emphatical pleonasm in that word. It implies super-exaltation. A greater proof of the Father's high satisfaction in the recovery of poor sinners cannot be given. For this, therefore, God the Father shall have glory and honor ascribed to him in heaven to all eternity. Now this singular exaltation of Jesus Christ, as it properly respects his human nature, which alone is capable of advancement, for in his divine nature he never ceased to be the most high. So it was awarded to him as a common person, and as the head of all believers, their representative in this as well as in his other works. God therein showing what, in due time, he intends to do with the persons of his elect, after they, in conformity to Christ, have suffered a while. Whatever God the Father intendeth to do in us or for us, he hath first done it to the person of our representative, Jesus Christ. And this, if you observe, the Scriptures carry in very clear and plain expressions through all the degrees and steps of Christ's exaltation, namely his resurrection, ascension, session at the right hand of God, and returning to judge the world, of which I purpose to speak distinctly in the following discourses. He arose from the dead as a public person. If ye then be risen with Christ, saith the Apostle, Colossians 3.1, so that the saints have communion and fellowship with him in his resurrection. He ascended into heaven as a public person, for so it is said in Ephesians 2.6, He hath raised us up, or exalted us together with Christ, and hath made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. We sit there in our representative, and when he shall come again to judge the world, the saints shall come with him. So it is prophesied, The Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee, Zechariah 14.5 And as they come with Christ from heaven, so they shall sit on thrones with him. They shall be assessors with the judge. 1 Corinthians 6.2 This deserves a special remark, that all this honor is given to Christ as our head and representative, for thence results abundance of comfort to the people of God. Carry it therefore along with you in your thoughts throughout the whole of Christ's advancement. Think when you hear that Christ is risen from the dead, and is in all his glory and authority in heaven, how sure is the salvation of his redeemed. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. He is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession. Hebrews 7.25 Think how safe the people of God in this world are, whose head is in heaven. It was a comfortable expression of one of the fathers, encouraging himself and others with this truth in a dark day. Come, said he, why do we tremble thus? Do we not see our head above water? If he live, believers cannot die. Because I live, ye shall live also. John 14.19 And let no man's heart suggest a suspicion that this wonderful advancement of Christ may cause him to forget his poor people, groaning here below under sin and misery. For the temper and disposition of his faithful and tender heart is not changed with his condition. He bears the same respect to us as when he dwelt among us. Indeed, he there lives and acts upon our account. Hebrews 7.25 1 John 2 verses 1 and 2 How seasonable and comfortable will the meditations of Christ's exaltation be to thee, O believer, when sickness hath wasted thy body, withered its beauty, and God is bringing thee to the dust of death. Think then that that vile body shall be conformed to the glorious body of Christ. Philippians 3.21 As God hath glorified and highly exalted his Son, whose form was marred more than any man's, so will he exalt thee also. I do not say to an equality in glory with Christ, for in heaven he will be discerned and distinguished by his peculiar glory from all the saints and angels, as the sun is known by its excellent glory from the lesser stars. But we shall be conformed to this glorious head according to the proportion of members. O whither will love mount the believer in that day? Having thus spoken of Christ's exalted state, to cast some general light upon it and engage your attention to it, I shall now proceed briefly to consider this his wonderful exaltation, under the above mentioned heads, his resurrection, ascension, session at the right hand of the Father, and his return to judge the world. Chapter 39, page 480, The Resurrection of Christ He is not here, for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. Matthew 28, verse 6 We have contemplated Christ's humiliation, wherein the Son of Righteousness appeared as a setting sun, gone out of sight. But as the sun, when to us it is set, begins a new day in another part of the world, so Christ, having finished his course in this world, rises again, and that to perform another glorious part of his work in the world above. In his death he was in a sense totally eclipsed, but in his resurrection he begins to recover his light and glory. An angel descends from heaven to roll away the stone, and with it the reproach of his death, and to announce his resurrection to the two Marys, whose love to Christ had drawn them to visit the sepulcher where they lately left him. At this time, the Lord being newly risen, the keepers were trembling, and as dead men, so terrible was the majesty and awful solemnity attending Christ's resurrection. But to encourage these pious souls, the angel anticipates them with these good tidings. He is not here, for he is risen as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. As if he had said, Be not troubled, though you have not the end you came for, one sight more of your dear though dead Jesus. Yet you have not lost your labor, for to your eternal comfort I tell you he is risen as he said. And to put it out of doubt, come hither and satisfy yourselves. See the place where the Lord lay. In which words we have both a declaration and confirmation of the resurrection of Christ from the dead. 1. He is not here. Here indeed you laid him, here you left him, and here you thought to find him as you left him, but you are happily mistaken. He is not here, he is risen. The word imports the active power or self-quickening principle by which Christ raised himself from the state of the dead. It was the divine nature or Godhead of Christ which revived and raised the manhood. 2. Here is also a plain confirmation of Christ's resurrection, and that first from Christ's own prediction. He is risen as he said. He foretold that which I declare to be now fulfilled. Let it not therefore seem incredible to you. Secondly, by their own sight. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. The grave hath lost its guest, and it is now empty. Death hath lost its prey. It received, but could not retain him. Come see the place where the Lord lay. Hence, our Lord Jesus Christ, by the almighty power of his own Godhood, revived and rose from the dead, to the terror and consternation of his enemies, and the unspeakable consolation of believers. That our Lord Jesus Christ, though laid, was not lost in the grave, but the third day revived and rose again, is a truth confirmed to us by many infallible proofs, as Luke witnesses. Acts 1 verse 3. We have testimonies of it both from heaven and earth. From heaven we have the testimony of angels, who cannot deceive us. The angel tells the two Marys in the text, he is risen. We have also testimonies of it from men, holy men who were eyewitnesses of this truth, to whom he showed himself alive by the space of forty days after his resurrection, on no less than nine occasions. At one time five hundred brethren saw him at once. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 6. These were holy persons, who durst not deceive, and who confirmed their testimony with their blood. So that no point of religion is rendered more infallibly certain than this before us. And blessed be God that it is so, for if it were not, then were the gospel in vain. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 14. Seeing it hangs the whole weight of our faith, hope and salvation upon Christ as risen from the dead. If this were not so, then would the holy and divinely inspired apostles be found false witnesses. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 15. For they all with one mouth constantly and to the death affirmed it. If Christ be not risen, then are believers yet in their sins. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 17. He was raised again for our justification. Romans 4 verse 25. While Christ was dying and continued in the state of the dead, the price of our redemption was paying. The payment was not completed, till he revived and rose again. Hence, the whole force and weight of our justification depends upon his resurrection. Nay, had not Christ risen, the dead in Christ had perished. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 18. Even the dead who died in the face of Christ, and of whose salvation there now remains no ground to doubt. Moreover, had he not revived and risen from the dead, how could all the types that prefigured this have been satisfied, and all the predictions of his resurrection, by which it was so plainly foretold, have been fulfilled. See Matthew 12.40, Luke 24.46, Psalm 16 verse 10, 1 Corinthians 15 verse 4. Had he not risen from the dead, how could he have been installed in the glory he now has in heaven, and which was promised him before the world was, on account of his death and sufferings. For to this end Christ both died and rose and revived, that he might be the Lord both of the dead and living. Romans 14 verse 9. And that in this state of dominion and glorious advancement, he might powerfully apply the virtue and benefits of his blood to us. So then there remains no doubt of the fact of Christ's resurrection. Instead, therefore, of attempting further to confirm it, I will proceed to explain the nature and manner of his resurrection. Number 1. Christ rose from the dead with awful majesty. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow, and for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men. Matthew 28 verses 2 through 4. Human infirmity was not able to bear such heavenly majesty as attended the scenes of that morning. Nature sunk under it. This earthquake was, as one calls it, a sign of triumph, or token of victory, given by Christ, not only to the keepers and the neighboring city, but to the whole world, showing that he had overcome death in its own dominions, and like a conqueror, lifted up his head above his enemies. Number 2. And to increase the splendor and the triumph of that day, his resurrection was attended with the resurrection of many of the saints, who slept in their graves till then, and were awakened and raised to attend the Lord at his rising. And the graves were opened, and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. Matthew 27 verses 52 and 53. This wonder was designed both to adorn the resurrection of Christ, and to give a specimen or pledge of our resurrection, which also is to be in virtue of his. This indeed was the resurrection of saints, and none but saints, the resurrection of many saints. Yet it was but a special resurrection, intended only to show what God will one day do for all his saints, and for the present, to give testimony of Christ's resurrection from the dead. They were seen, and known of many in the city, who doubtless never thought to have seen them any more in this world. To inquire curiously, as some do, who they were, what discourse they had with those to whom they appeared, and what became of them afterwards, is vain. God hath cast a veil upon these things, that we might content ourselves with the written word. And he that will not believe Moses and the prophets, neither will he believe, though one rose from the dead. As Christ rose from the dead with those attendants, who accompanied him at his resurrection, so it was by the power of his own Godhead, that he quickened and raised himself, and by virtue of his resurrection, were they also raised who accompanied him. It was not the angel who rolled back the stone that revived him in the sepulcher, but he resumed his own life. So he tells us, I lay down my life, that I may take it again. John 10, 17 Hence 1 Peter 3, 18 He is said to be put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit, that is, by the power of his Godhead, or divine nature, which is opposed there to flesh, or his human nature. By the eternal Spirit he offered himself up to God. When he died, Hebrews 9, 14 that is, by his own Godhead, not the third person in the Trinity, for then it could not have been ascribed to him as his own act, that he offered up himself. And by the same Spirit he was quickened again. Therefore the apostle well observes, that he was declared to be the Son of God with power, by his resurrection from the dead. Romans 1, verse 4 Now if he had been raised by the power of the Father, or of the Holy Spirit only, and not by his own, how could he be declared by his resurrection to be the Son of God? What more had appeared in him than in others? Others are raised by the power of God. So that in this respect also it was a marvelous resurrection. Never any dead or shall rise as Christ rose, by a self-quickening principle. For though many dead saints rose at that time, it was by virtue of Christ's resurrection that their graves were opened and their bodies quickened. As he said when he raised Lazarus, I am the resurrection and the life. John 11, 25 Number 4 It may therefore be truly affirmed, that though some dead saints were raised to life before the resurrection of Christ, yet Christ is the firstborn from the dead, as he is called, Colossians 1, 18. For though Lazarus and others were raised, yet it was not by themselves, but by Christ. It was by his virtue and power, not their own. And though they were raised to life, yet they died again, but Christ dieth no more. Death hath no more dominion over him. He was the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence. Number 5 Christ rose as a public person, as the first fruit of them that slept. 1 Corinthians 15, 20 I desire that this may be well understood, for upon this account it is that our resurrection is secured to us by the resurrection of Christ, and not a resurrection only, but a blessed and happy one, for the first fruits both assured and sanctified the whole harvest. Now that Christ did rise as a public person, representing and comprehending all the elect, who were called the children of the resurrection, is plain from Ephesians 2, verse 6, where we are said to be risen with him, or in him. So that as we are said to die in Adam, as the branches die in the death of the root, so we are said to be raised from death in Christ, who is the head, root, and representative of all his spiritual seed. And why is he called the firstborn and first begotten from the dead, but with respect to the whole of those that are also to be born from the dead in their time and order? As sure as the whole harvest follows the first fruits, so shall the general resurrection of the saints to life eternal follow this birth of the firstborn from the dead. It shall surely follow it, and that not only as a consequent follows an antecedent, but as an effect follows its proper cause. There is a threefold influence of Christ's resurrection upon the resurrection of the saints, as at once its meritorious, efficient, and exemplary cause. The resurrection of Christ is a meritorious cause of the saints' resurrection, as it completed his satisfaction, and so our justification is properly assigned to it. Romans 4 verse 25 It is also the efficient cause of it, for when the saints shall rise, they shall be raised by Christ as their head, in whom is the effective principle of their life. Your life is hid with Christ in God. Colossians 3 verse 3 So Romans 8 verse 10 And if Christ be in you, the body indeed is dead because of sin. But the Spirit is life because of righteousness. That is, though you are really united to Christ by the Spirit, yet your bodies must die as well as other men's. But your souls shall be immediately, upon your dissolution, swallowed up in life. And then it follows, verse 11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. That is, though your bodies must die, yet they shall live again in the resurrection, and that by virtue of the Spirit of Christ which dwelleth in you, and is the bond of your mystical union with him, your head. You shall not be raised as others are by a mere word of power, but by the Spirit of life dwelling in Christ your head, which is a choice prerogative indeed. Christ's resurrection is also the exemplary cause or pattern of our resurrection. He being the first and best is therefore the pattern and measure of all the rest. Who shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body? Philippians 3, verse 21 Now the conformity of our resurrection to Christ may be noticed in the following particulars. Christ's body was raised substantially the same that it was before, and so will ours be. Not another, but the same body. This corruptible must put on incorruption, this mortal, immortality. 1 Corinthians 15, 53 It will be the same body, not another body in its stead. Should God prepare another body to be raised instead of this, it would not be a resurrection, but a creation. His body was raised not by a word of power from the Father, but by his own Spirit. So the resurrection of the saints is to be effected, as already said, by his Spirit which now dwelleth in them. That very Spirit of Christ which effected their spiritual resurrection from sin shall also effect their bodily resurrection from the grave. His body was raised first. He had in this, as well as in other things, the preeminence. So shall the saints, in respect to the wicked, have the preeminence in the resurrection. The dead in Christ shall rise first. 1 Thessalonians 4, 16 So they are to attend the Lord at his coming, and will be brought forth sooner than the rest of the world to attend on that service. Christ's body was marvelously improved by the resurrection, and so will ours be. It fell in weakness, but was raised in power, no more capable of sorrow, pain, and dishonor. In like manner our bodies are sown in weakness, but raised in strength, sown in dishonor, raised in glory, sown natural bodies, raised spiritual bodies. 1 Corinthians 15, verses 43 and 44 No infirmities attend glorified bodies, nor are they henceforth subject to any of those natural necessities by which they are now bound. There are no defects or deformities in the children of the resurrection. What members are now defective or deformed will then be restored to their perfect being and beauty. For as Tertullian says, If the universal death of all parts be rescinded by the resurrection, how much more the partial death of any single member. From thenceforth they are free from the law of mortality. They can die no more. Luke 20, verses 35 and 36 Thus shall they be improved by the resurrection. Again Christ's body was raised from the dead to be glorified and crowned with honor. Oh, it was a joyful day to Him, and so will the resurrection of the saints be to them the day of the gladness of their hearts. It will be said to them in that morning, Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust. Isaiah 26, verses 19 Oh, how comfortable will be the meeting between the glorified soul and its new raised body! Three things will make it so. The gratification of the soul's natural desire of union with its own body. at great discounts is on the web at www.swrb.com We can also be reached by email at swrb at swrb.com by phone at 780-450-3730 by fax at 780-468-1096 or by mail at 4710-37A Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6L 3T5 You may also request a free printed catalog. And remember that John Calvin, in defending the Reformation's regulative principle of worship, or what is sometimes called the scriptural law of worship, commenting on the words of God, which I commanded them not, neither came into my heart. From his commentary on Jeremiah 731, writes, God here cuts off from men every occasion for making evasions, since he condemns by this one phrase, I have not commanded them, whatever the Jews devised. There is then no other argument needed to condemn superstitions than that they are not commanded by God. For when men allow themselves to worship God according to their own fancies, and attend not to his commands, they pervert true religion. And if this principle was adopted by the papists, all those fictitious modes of worship in which they absurdly exercise themselves would fall to the ground. It is indeed a horrible thing for the papists to seek to discharge their duties towards God by performing their own superstitions. There is an immense number of them, as it is well known, and as it manifestly appears. Were they to admit this principle, that we cannot rightly worship God except by obeying his word, they would be delivered from their deep abyss of error. The prophet's words, then, are very important, when he says that God had commanded no such thing, and that it never came to his mind. As though he had said that men assume too much wisdom when they devise what he never required, nay, what he never knew.