It is so great an evidence of the truth of gi'ace, that the scri|> lures have made it the descriptive periphrasis of a Christian : so we find it in 2 Tim. iv. 8. the crown of life is there promised to all them that love the appearance of Christ, i, e. those that love to drink of it, that delight to steep their thoughts in subjects belonging to the other world, and cast many a yearning look that way : and S Pet. iii. 12. they are described to be such as are " looking for, '^ and hastening to the coming of the day of God." Their earnest expectations and longings do not only put them upon making all the haste they can to be with Christ, but it makes the interposing time seem so tedious and slow, that with their most vehement wishes and desires, they do what they can to accelerate and hasten it As Rev. xxii. " Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly."*' Lovers hours, saith the proverb, are full of eternity. ' O, said Mr. Ru- ' therford, that Christ would make long strides ! O that he would ^ fold up the heavens as a cloak, and shovel time and days out of the ' way !' Such desires as these can spring from none but gracious and renewed souls ; for nature is wholly disaffected to a removal hence, upon such motives and considerations as these : if others wish at any time for death, it is but in a pet, a present passion, pro- voked by some intolerable anguish, or great distress of nature : but to look and long, and hasten to the other world, out of a weari- ness of sin, and a hearty willingness to be with Christ, supposes necessarily a deep-rooted hatred of sin, abhorring it more than death itself, the greatest of natural evils, and a real sight of things
A •treatise of the soul of man. Ill
invisible by the eye of faith, without which it is impossible any man's heart should be thus framed and tempered.
And as it evidenceth the truth, so also the strength and maturity of grace; for alas, how many thousands of gracious souls that love the Lord Jesus in sincerity, are to be found quite below this temper of mind ! O it is but here and there one among the Lord's own people, that have reached this height and eminence of faith and love. It is with the fruits of the Spirit, just as it is with the fruits of the earth ; some are green and raw, others are ripe and mellow : the first stick fast on the branches, you may shake and shake again, and not one will drop ; or as those fruits that grow in hedges, with their coats and integuments enwrapping them, as nuts, &c. you may try your strength upon them, and sooner break your nails, than disclose and separate them : so fast and close do their husks stick to them : but when time and the influences of heaven hath ripened and brought them to perfection, the apples drop into your hands without the least touch, and the nut falls out of its case of its own accord. So much more doth the soul part from its body, when maturated, and come to its strength and vi- gour.
Arg. 3. It may greatly prevail u]X)n the will and resolution of a believer, to adventure boldly and cheerfully upon death, that our bodies, of which we are bereaved and deprived by death, shall be most certainly and advantageously restored to us by the resurrec- tion. The resurrection of the dead is the encouragement and con- solation of the dying ; the more our faitli is established in the doc- trine of the resurrection, the more we shall surmount the fears of dissolution. If Paul urged it as an argument to reconcile Phile- mon to his servant Onesimus, ver. 15. " That he therefore de- " parted for a season, that Philemon might receive him for ever ;" the same argument may reconcile every believer to death, and take off the prejudice of the soul against it. You shall surely receive your bodies again, and enjoy them for ever.
Now the doctrine of the resurrection is as sure in itself as it is comfortable to us ; the depth and strength of its foundation fully answers to the height and sweetness of its consolation. Be pleased to try the two pillars thereof, and see which of them may be doubted or shaken. Mat. xxii. 29- " You err (saith Christ to the Saddu- " cees, who denied this doctrine) not knowing the scriptures, and " the power of God.'' This is the ground and root of their error, not knowing the scriptures, and the power of God : q. d. did you know and believe the scriptures of God, and the power of God, you would never question this doctrine of the resurrection, Avhich is built upon them both. The power of God convinceth all men that know and believe it, that it may he so^ and the scriptures oF
112 A TEEATISE OF THE SOUL OF MAN.
God con\'ince all that know and believe them, that it must be so^ As for his power, who can doubt it ? At the command and fiat of God, the earth brought forth every living creature after his kind, Gen. i. 24, 25. at his command Lazarus came forth, John xi. 43. And was there not as much difficulty in either of these, as in our resurrection? By this power our souls were quickened, and raised from the death of sin and guilt to the spiritual life of Christ, Eph. i. 19. And is it not as easy to raise a dead body as a dead soul ? But what stand I arguing in so plain a case, when we are assured this mighty power is able to subdue all things to itself, Phil, iii. 21.
And then, for his promise that it shall be so, what can be plainer ? See 1 Thess. iv. 15, 16. " This we say unto you by the word of '' the Lord,"" &c. i. e. in the name or authority of the Lord, and by commission and warrant from him. He first opens his commission, shews his credentials, and then publishes the comfortable doctrine of his resurrection, and the saints pre-eminence to all others therein.
Weil then, what remains in death to fright and scar a believer? Is it our parting with these bodies? Why, is it not for ever that we part with them ; as sure as the power and promises of God are true, firm, and sufficient to accomplish it, we shall see and enjoy them again. This comforted Job, chap. xix. 25, 26. over all his diseases, when of all his enjoyments that once he had, he could not say, my friends, my children, my estate; yet then he could say, my Redeemer. When he looked upon a poor wasted, withered, loathsome body of his own, and saw nothing but a skeleton, an image of death, yet then could he see it a glorious body, by view- ing it belie\-ingly in this glass of the resurrection. So then all the damage we can receive by death, is but the absence of our bodies for a time ; during which time, the covenant-relation betwixt God and them, holds good and firm. Mat. xxii. 32. He therefore will take care of them, and in due time restore them with marvel- lous improvements and endowments, to us again, divested of all their infirmities, and clothed with heavenly quahties and perfec- tions, 1 Cor. XV. 43, 44. And in the mean time, the soul attains its rest, and happiness, and satisfaction in the blessed God.