2. To die comfortably. Christianity affordetli the proper comfort against death, as it is a natural and penal evil ; a natural evil it is, as it puts an end to present comforts ; it is a penal evil too, as it maketh way for the final judgment, Heb. ix. 27. Heathens could only teach them to submit to it out of necessity, or as a debt they owed to nature, or an end of the present miseries ; but Christianity, as the sting of it is gone, 1 Cor. xv. 56. As the property is altered : 1 Cor. iii. 22, ' Death is yours,' and that upon solid grounds ; as the life of grace is introduced and sin is forgiven, and the conclusions drawn from thence. First, The life of grace introduced. How bitter is the remembrance of death to the carnal man, much more the enduring of it. A dying body and a startling conscience maketh them afraid of everlasting death ; and so much sin as you bring to your death-bed, so much
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18 SEKMONS UPON ROMANS VIII. [SeR XIV.
bitterness you will have ; so much holiness so far yon have eternal life in you ; and the more it is acted in the fruits of holiness, the more comfort : Isa. xxxii. 17. A little without is grievous, when all is amiss within. Secondly, Sin is for^aven upon the account of the righteousness of Christ, for we shall then be soiled if found in no other righteousness than our own : Phil. iii. 8, 9, ' That I may be found in him, not having my own righteousness.' In short, the worst that can befal believers is, that it is the death but of a part, the worst and basest part, and that but for a season. The bodies of the saints shall not always lie in the grave : nor can it be imagined they shall perish as the beasts ; no, but be raised up from the grave, and their vile bodies be changed like unto the glorious body of their Redeemer.
SERMON XIV.
If (lie Spirit of Mm 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 tJiat dwelleth in you. — Rou. VIII. 11.
The Apostle is answering a doubt. How there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ, since death, which is the fruit of sin, yet remaineth on the godly ? Answer —
1. By concession, that sin is indeed the seed and original of mortality : ' the body is dead because of sin.' Not only the carnal undergo it, but the justified; though the guilt of sin be taken away by a pardon, and the dominion and power of it be broken by the Spirit of Christ, yet the being of it is not quite abolished ; and as long as sin remaineth in us in the least degree, it maketh us subject to the power of death.
2. By way of correction — he opposeth a double comfort against it. Destruction by sin is neither total nor final. First, not total ; it is but a half death : ver. 10. ' The Spirit is life because of righteousness.' Secondly, nor final ; it hath a limit of time set, which when it is expired, the botly shall have a happy resurrection, and that by virtue of the same Spirit by which the soul is now quickened. So that mark — both parts receive their happiness by the Spirit — the soul and the body ; the soul though it be immortal in itself, yet the blessed immortality it hath from the Spirit ; the ' Spirit is life because of righteousness ; ' and the dead body shall not finally perish, but be sure to be raised again by the same Spirit : ' If the Spirit of him.'
In the words we have —
1. The condition upon which the resurrection is promised, 'If the Spirit.'
2. The certainty of performance set forth. [1.] By the author or efficient cause, ' He that raised up Jesus from the dead.' [2.] ' By iiis Spirit that dwelleth in you,' the way and manner of working.
1. The condition. A resurrection is necessary, but a happy resurrec- tion is limited by a condition : Phil. iii. 11, ' If by any means.'
VeR. 11.] SERMONS UPON ROMANS VIII. 19
2. The certainty of performance.
[1.] From the author God, described by his eminent and powerful work, ' He that raised up Jesus from the dead.' This is mentioned, partly as an instance of his power, and partly as an assurance of his will. First, An instance of his power : Eph. i. 18, 19, 'According to the working of his mighty power, which lie wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead.' Our resurrection is a work of the same omnipotency with that which he first evidenced in raising Christ from the dead ; the same power is still employed to bring us to a glorious eternity. Secondly, It is an assurance of liis will, for Christ's resurrec- tion is a pattern of ours : 1 Cor. vi. 14, ' God hath both raised the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power ; ' 2 Cor. iv. 14, ' Knowing that he hath raised up Jesus, shall also raise us up by Jesus.'