OF JESUS, AND HIS APOSTLES.

189

capable of being explained in any merely metaphorical sense; and accordingly it may be observed, that the apostles of our Lord (who, either by verbal communication or by spiritual illumination, derived from him their whole doctrinal system) uphold the same expectation of the actual raising up of the dead, both of the good and of the wicked, in order to their being rewarded according to their works. When Paul was making his apology before Felix, he said, " But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers..... and have hope towards God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust: Acts xxiv, 14, 15. "And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it," says John in the Revelation, in evident allusion to the very same doctrine...." and I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God: and the books were opened and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged, out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it: and death and hell (or the grave) delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works:" Rev. xx, 11-13.

In these several passages no distinction is pointed out between the manner of the resurrection of the good, and the manner of the resurrection of the wicked. Both descriptions of men are simply represented as rising, and rising in order to be judged. But the resurrection of the righteous will nevertheless be unquestionably distinguished by glorious circumstances, altogether peculiar to themselves. Often is it de

190

GLORIOUS RESURRECTION

scribed as connected with a scene of unmixed joy and happiness-as the consummating event by which Christians are to be introduced to their crown of glory-as a privilege, which, when viewed in all its parts, is exclusively their own. "And this is the will of him that sent me," said the Lord Jesus, "that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day" John vi, 40. "Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day:" ver. 54. The Epistles of Paul, more especially, abound in declarations respecting the final resurrection of the righteous; and so deeply was this subject engraven on his mind; so present was the prospect in his view; so much was he accustomed to regard this future event as the means appointed for the completion of the Christian's hope and consolation—that when he speaks of the glorious expectations of the saints in the church militant, it is often their resurrection from the dead, rather than the immortality of their souls, upon which he dwells and expatiates. "God," he says, "hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power:" I Cor. vi, 14. "He which raised up the Lord Jesus, shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you :" II Cor. iv, 14. "But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.... for the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first.

OF THE RIGHTEOUS,

191

Then we which are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words :"+ I Thess. iv, 13–18.

The apostle Peter declares that God "hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ ;" and he assures us, that the eternal and undefiled inheritance which is enjoyed by the risen Saviour, is reserved for us also, "who are kept by the power of God, through faith, unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time:" I Pet. i, 3—5. This particular view of the subject is largely explained by Paul, in his Epistle to the Corinthians. Christ rose from the dead through the power of the Father, and his resurrection is not only the prototype or pattern, but the sure and certain pledge of ours. "But now," says the apostle, "is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead; for as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ, the first fruits: afterward they that are Christ's, at his coming:" I Cor. xv, 20-23. Jesus Christ, the Captain of our Salvation, is "the first-born from the dead;" and when that day shall arrive which is appointed for the termination of his mediatorial reign, and for the

4 Ημεῖς δὲ οι ζῶντες, λέγων, οὐ περὶ ἑαυτοῦ φησιν (οὐδὲ γὰρ ἄχρι τῆς ἀναςασέως ἔμελλε ζῆν) ἀλλὰ τοὺς πιςοὺς λέγει· διὸ προσέθηκεν, οι περιλειπόμενοι εἰς τὴν παρουσίαν τοῦ Κυρίου. Εν γὰρ τῷ ἑαυτοῦ προσώπῳ πάντας τοὺς τότε εὑρεθησομένους ζῶντας δηλοῖ.

When he says "" we which are alive," he does not speak of himself, for he was not to live (i. e. in the body) until the resurrection, but of the believers in general; as appears by his addition: "and remain unto the coming of the Lord." For, by the first person he expresses all (the believers) who shall at that time be found alive:" Theophylact after Chrysostom, in loc.

192

IN THE LIKENESS OF CHRIST.

consummation of the whole Christian economy, he will complete the gracious designs of the Father Almighty, by raising his followers from death, and by changing those amongst them who shall be still alive, that all may be thenceforth conformed to his image in glory. Now, if there be still introduced the question which the apostle, in his argument on the subject, supposes to be addressed to him by his opponent, "How are the dead raised up, and with what body do they come ?"-we may answer, in the first place, as the apostle answered, "Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption," (ver. 50;) and, in the second place, we may adduce the clear doctrine of Scripture, that the body which, in that glorious day, will be bestowed upon the saints is a spiritual body, resembling the body of Christ himself. "Beloved, now are we the sons of God," said the apostle John to the primitive Christians; "and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is:" I John iii, 2. "There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, The first man, Adam, was made a living soul: the last Adam, was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural, and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy; and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly:" I Cor. xv, 44-49; comp. Phil. iii, 20, 21. "For our con

VICTORY OF CHRIST OVER DEATH.

193

versation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself." Thus it is that the Redeemer of mankind will complete his career of victory over every opposing power, by destroying that last enemy-death. Behold," says the apostle, "I show you a mystery: we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.

In

a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality: then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY:" I Cor. xv, 51–54.

Such, then, are the princples on which the Scriptures teach us that the child of Adam, however vain and transitory in one point of view, is nevertheless born for eternity. He has within him a never-dying spirit; and even that part of him which is destined to moulder in the grave shall in the end, be found the seed of a spiritual body, and shall be clothed with incorruption and immortality. If he is wicked and disobedient-after his death, he is reserved, in pain and darkness, for the righteous judgment of God: after his resurrection, that judgment will be consummated. If he is righteous-when he dies, his disembodied soul ascends into regions of bliss: when he is raised from the dead, the whole man will be renovated, and will enter into the fulness of the glory of Christ.

SECTION IV. On the Moral agency of Man.-The view which has now been taken of that future state of