upon their bags of gold, and fields of corn, and shall not the heirs of heaven take more delight in conteinj)lating their glory in re- version ? Could we send forth faith as a sf)y, and every day view the glory of the Jerusalem above, how would it rejoice us, as it doth the heir to think of the inherit ance which is to come into his hand sjiortly ? J7.se 3//. Consolation. This is that which may comfort the saints in two cases. — 1. Under their wants; they abound only in wants, — the meal is almost spent in the b ir- rel, — hut be ])atient till death, and you shall have a supj)ly of all your wants, you shall have a kingdom, and be as rich as heaven can make you. lie who hath the promise of an estate, after the expiring of a few years, though at present he hath nothing to help himself, yet comforts himself with this, that shortly he shall have an estate come into his hand, 1 John iii. 2., " It doth not yet appear what we shall be." We shall be enamelled with glory, and be as rich as the angels. 2. A true saint is, (jis Luther) /iceres crucis ; but this may make us go cheerfully through our sufferings ; there are great things laid up in store, — there is glory coming, which eye hath not seen, — we shall drink of the fruit of the vine in the king- dom of heaven. Though now we drink iu a wormwood-cup, yet here is sugar to sweeten it : we shall taste of those joys of ])aradise which exceed our faith, and may be better felt than they can be expressed.
OF THE RESURRECTION.
John v. 28, 29. Marvel not at this : for the hour is coining, in the which all that are in thk graves shall hear his voice, and shall come furl h; then '^"''^ have done good, unto the lesur- rcction oflije; and they that have done evil, uutu tlie resurrection of damnation.
Quest. XXXVIIL IVH AT henefts shall beliivtrs receive from Christ at the rtsvrnc- tion ?
Axs. 1. Their bodies shall be raised up to glory.
A. 2. They shall be openly acquitted at the day of judgment ; and shall be made perfectly blessed in the full enjoyment of G(mI fur ever.
1. The bodies of believers shall be rai.sed
up to glory. Tlie doctrine of the resurrec- tion is a fundamental article of our faith ; the apostle puts it amving the princii)hs oi the doctrine of Christ, lleb. vi. 2. The body shall rise again : we are not so sure to rise out of our beds as we are to rise out of our graves. The ransomed body shall rise again. Some hold that the soul shall be clothed with a new body ; but then it were improper to call it a resurrection, it
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OF THE RESURRECTION.
would be rather a creation, Job xix. 2G., " Tliough worms destroy tliis body, yet in my flesh, shall I see God." Not in another flesh, but my flesh, 1 Cor. xv. 53., " This corruptible must put on incorruption."
Quest. By what arguments may the re- surreclicn he proved ?
Argument 1. By scripture, John vl. 44., *' I will raise him up at the last day." Isa. XXV. 8., " He will swallow up death in vic- tory." That is by delivering our bodies from the captivity of the grave wherein death for a time had power over them, I Thess. iv. 14., " Them which sleep in Je- sus, will God bring with him."
Arg. 2. Christ is risen : therefore the bo- dies of the saints nust rise. Christ did not rise from the dead as a private person, but as the public head of the church ; and the bead being raised, the rest of the body shall not always lie in the grave. Christ's rising is a pledge of our resurrection, 2 Cor. iv. 14., " Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus, shall raise us up also by Jesus." Christ is called the first-fruits of them that sleep, 1 Cor. xv. 20. As the first-fruits is a sure e^^dence that the harvest is coming on, so the resurrection of Christ is a sure evidence of the rising of our bodies out of the grave. Christ cannot be perfect as he is Christ mystical, unless his members be raised with him.
Arg. 3. In respect of God's justice. If God be a just God, then he will reward the bodies of the saints as well their souls. It cannot be imagined that the souls of be- lievers should be glorified, and not their bodies; they have served God with their bodies. — tlusir bodies have been members of holiness, — their eyes have dropped tears for gin, — their hands have relieved the poor, — their tongues have set forth God's praise : therefore justice and equity require that their bodies should be crowned as well as their souls : and how can that be, unless they are I'aised from the dead ?
Arg. 4. If the body did not rise again, then a believer should not be completely happy : for though the soul can subsist without the body, yet it hath appetium imi- onis, — a desire of re-union with the body, and it is not fully happy till it be clothed with the body : therefore undoubtedly the
body shall rise again. If the soul should go to heaven, and not the body, then a be- liever should be only half-saved.