To conclude. Had he not risen from the dead, how could he have been installed in that glory whereof he is now possessed in heaven, and which was promised him before the world was, upon the account of his death and sufferings ? " For to this end Christ " both died, and rose and revived, that he might be Lord both of " the dead and living," Rom. xiv. 9. And that, in this state of dominion and glorious advancement, he might powerfully apply the virtues and benefits of his blood to us, which else had been as a precious cordial spilt upon the ground.
So then, there remains no doubt at all of the certainty of Christ's resurrection ; it was so, and upon all accounts it must needs be so; for you see how great a weight the scriptures hang upon this nail. And blessed be God it is a nail fastened in a sure place. I need spend no more words to confirm it ; but rather choose to explain and open the nature and manner of his resurrection, which I shall do by shewing you four or five properties of it. And the first is this,
First, Christ rose from the dead with awful majesty. So you find it in Mat. xxviii. 2, 3, 4. " 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 v/as like lightning, and his raiment " white as snow. And for fear of him the keepers did shake, " and became as dead men." Human infirmity was not able to bear such heavenly majesty as attended the business of that morn- ing. Nature sank under it. This earthquake was, as one calls it, triumphale signum : a sign of triumph, or token of victory, given by Christ, not only to the keepers, and the neighbouring city, but to the whole world, that he had overcome death in its own domi- nions, and, like a conqueror, lifted up his head above all his ene- mies. So when the Lord fought from heaven for his people, and gave them a glorious, though but temporal deliverance ; see how the prophetess drives on the triumph in that rhetorical song, Judg. v. 4, 5. Alluding to the most awful appearance of God, at the giving of the law. " Lord, when thou wentest out of Seir, when " thou marchedst out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, " and the heavens dropped, the clouds also dropped water. The M mountains melted from before the Lord, even that Sinai from
490 THE FOUNTAIN OF LIFE. SERM. XXXIX.
" before the Lord God of Israel."" Our Lord Jesus went out of the grave, in like manner, and marched out of that bloody field with a pomp and majesty * becoming so great a conqueror.
Secondly ) And to increase the splendor of that day, and drive on the triumph, his resurrection was attended with the resurrection of many of the saints ; who had slept in their graves till then, and then were awakened and raised to attend the Lord at his rising. So you read, Mat. xxvii. 52, 53. " 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." 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 the 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, in- tended only to shew 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 enquire curiously, as some do, who they were, what discourse they had with those to whom they appeared, and what became of them afterwards, is a vain thing. God hath cast a vail of silence and secrecy upon these things, that we might content ourselves with the written word, and lie that " will not " believe Moses and the prophets, neither will he believe though " one rise from the dead," as these saints did.
Thirdly, As Christ rose from the dead with those satellites or at- tendants, who accompanied him at his resurrection ; so it was by the power of his own Godhead that he quickened and raised him- self; and by the virtue of his resurrection were they raised also, who accompanied him. It was not the Angel who rolled back the stone that revived him in the sepulchre, but he resumed his own life ; so he tells us, John x. 18. "I lay down my life that I may " take it again." Hence 1 Pet. hi. 18. He is said to be put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit, i. e. by the power of his Gcdhead, 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, Heb. ix. 14. i. e. 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.
And, therefore, the apostle well observes, Rom. i. 4. " That
* Ed incedere cum poznpa et ?)injestate, i. e. It is to march with pomp and ma- jesty.
SEEM. XXXIX. THE FOUNTAIN OF LIFE. 491
" he was declared to be the Son of God with power, by his re- " surrection from the dead." Now if he had been raised by the power of the Father, or 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 ? For others are raised by the power of God, if that were all. So that in this res- pect also it was a marvellous resurrection. Never any did, or shall rise as Christ rose by a self-quickening principle. For though many dead saints rose at that time also, yet it was by the virtue of Christ's resurrection that their graves were opened, and their bo- dies quickened. In which respect he saith, John xi. 25. when he raised dead Lazarus, " I am the resurrection and the life," i. e. the principle of life and quickening, by which the dead saints are raised.
Fourthly, And therefore it may be truly affirmed, that though some dead saints are raised to life before the resurrection of Christ, yet that Christ is " the first-born from the dead," as he is called, Col. i. 18. For though Lazarus and others were raised, yet 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. Death recovered them again, but Christ dieth no more. " Death hath no dominion over him." He was the first that open- ed the womb of the earth, the first-born from the dead, that in all things he might have the pre-eminence.