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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1721)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>F I R S T C O R I N T H I A N S.</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XV.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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In this chapter the apostle treats of that great article of
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Christianity--the resurrection of the dead.
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I. He establishes the certainty of our Saviour's resurrection,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:1-11">ver. 1-11</A>.
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II. He, from this truth, sets himself to refute those who said, There
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is no resurrection of the dead,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:12-19">ver. 12-19</A>.
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III. From our Saviour's resurrection he establishes the resurrection of
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the dead and confirms the Corinthians in the belief of it by some other
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considerations,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:20-34">ver. 20-34</A>.
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IV. He answers an objection against this truth, and takes occasion
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thence to show what a vast change will be made in the bodies of
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believers at the resurrection,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:35-50">ver. 35-50</A>.
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V. He informs us what a change will be made in those who shall be
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living at the sound of the last trumpet, and the complete conquest the
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just shall then obtain over death and the grave,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:51-57">ver. 51-57</A>.
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And,
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VI. He sums up the argument with a very serious exhortation to
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Christians, to be resolved and diligent in their Lord's service,
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because they know they shall be so gloriously rewarded by him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:58">ver. 58</A>.</P>
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<A NAME="1Co15_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Co15_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Co15_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Co15_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Co15_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Resurrection of Christ.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM><FONT SIZE=-1>A. D.</FONT> 57.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I
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preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye
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stand;
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2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I
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preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
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3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also
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received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the
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scriptures;
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4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day
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according to the scriptures:
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5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:
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6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at
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once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some
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are fallen asleep.
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7 After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.
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8 And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of
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due time.
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9 For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be
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called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
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10 But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which
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<I>was bestowed</I> upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more
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abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which
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was with me.
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11 Therefore whether <I>it were</I> I or they, so we preach, and so
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ye believed.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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It is the apostle's business in this chapter to assert and establish
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the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, which some of the
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Corinthians flatly denied,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>.
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Whether they turned this doctrine into allegory, as did Hymeneus and
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Philetus, by saying it was already past
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ti+2:17">2 Tim. ii. 17, 18</A>),
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and several of the ancient heretics, by making it mean no more than a
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changing of their course of life; or whether they rejected it as
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absurd, upon principles of reason and science; it seems they denied it
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in the proper sense. And they disowned a future state of recompences,
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by denying the resurrection of the dead. Now that heathens and infidels
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should deny this truth does not seem so strange; but that Christians,
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who had their religion by revelation, should deny a truth so plainly
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discovered is surprising, especially when it is a truth of such
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importance. It was time for the apostle to confirm them in this truth,
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when the staggering of their faith in this point was likely to shake
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their Christianity; and they were yet in great danger of having their
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faith staggered. He begins with an epitome or summary of the gospel,
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what he had preached among them, namely, the death and resurrection of
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Christ. Upon this foundation the doctrine of the resurrection of the
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dead is built. Note, Divine truths appear with greatest evidence when
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they are looked upon in their mutual connection. The foundation may be
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strengthened, that the superstructure may be secured. Now concerning
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the gospel observe,</P>
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<P>
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I. What a stress he lays upon it
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:1,2"><I>v.</I> 1, 2</A>):
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<I>Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached
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to you.</I>
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1. It was what he constantly preached. His word was not yea and nay: he
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always preached the same gospel, and taught the same truth. He could
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appeal to his hearers for this. Truth is in its own nature invariable;
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and the infallible teachers of divine truth could never be at variance
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with themselves or one another. The doctrine which Paul had heretofore
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taught, he still taught.
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2. It was what they had received; they had been convinced of the faith,
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believed it in their hearts, or at least made profession of doing so
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with their mouths. It was no strange doctrine. It was that very gospel
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in which, or by which, they had hitherto stood, and must continue to
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stand. If they gave up this truth, they left themselves no ground to
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stand upon, no footing in religion. Note, The doctrine of Christ's
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death and resurrection is at the foundation of Christianity. Remove
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this foundation, and the whole fabric falls, all our hopes for eternity
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sink at once. And it is by holding this truth firmly that Christians
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are made to stand in a day of trial, and kept faithful to God.
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3. It was that alone by which they could hope for salvation
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>),
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for there is <I>no salvation in any other name; no name given under
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heaven by which we may be saved, but by the name of Christ.</I> And
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there is no salvation in his name, but upon supposition of his death
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and resurrection. These are the saving truths of our holy religion. The
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crucifixion of our Redeemer and his conquest over death are the very
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source of our spiritual life and hopes. Now concerning these saving
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truths observe,
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(1.) They must be retained in mind, they must be held fast (so the word
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is translated,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+10:23">Heb. x. 23</A>):
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<I>Let us hold fast the profession of our faith.</I> Note, The saving
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truths of the gospel must be fixed in our mind, revolved much in our
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thoughts, and maintained and held fast to the end, if we would be
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saved. They will not save us, if we do not attend to them, and yield to
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their power, and continue to do so to the end. <I>He only that endureth
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to the end shall be saved,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+10:22">Matt. x. 22</A>.
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(2.) We believe in vain, unless we continue and persevere in the faith
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of the gospel. We shall be never the better for a temporary faith; nay,
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we shall aggravate our guilt by relapsing into infidelity. And in vain
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is it to profess Christianity, or our faith in Christ, if we deny the
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resurrection; for this must imply and involve the denial of his
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resurrection; and, take away this, you make nothing of Christianity,
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you leave nothing for faith or hope to fix upon.</P>
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<P>
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II. Observe what this gospel is, on which the apostle lays such stress.
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It was that doctrine which he had received, and delivered to them,
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<B><I>en protois</I></B>--<I>among the first, the principal.</I> It was
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a doctrine of the first rank, a most necessary truth, That Christ died
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for our sins, and was buried, and rose again: or, in other words, that
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<I>he was delivered for our offences and rose again for our
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justification</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+4:25">Rom. iv. 25</A>),
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that he was offered in sacrifice for our sins, and rose again, to show
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that he had procured forgiveness for them, and was accepted of God in
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this offering. Note, Christ's death and resurrection are the very sum
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and substance of evangelical truth. Hence we derive our spiritual life
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now, and here we must found our hopes of everlasting life
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hereafter.</P>
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<P>
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III. Observe how this truth is confirmed,</P>
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<P>
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1. By Old-Testament predictions. He died for our sins, according to the
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scriptures; he was buried, and rose from the dead, according to the
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scriptures, according to the scripture-prophecies, and scripture-types.
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Such prophecies as
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+16:10,Isa+53:4-6,Da+9:26,27,Ho+6:2">Ps. xvi. 10;
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Isa. liii. 4-6; Dan. ix. 26, 27; Hos. vi. 2</A>.
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Such scripture-types as Jonah
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+12:4">Matt. xii. 4</A>),
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as Isaac, who is expressly said by the apostle to have been <I>received
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from the dead in a figure,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+11:9">Heb. xi. 19</A>.
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Note, It is a great confirmation of our faith of the gospel to see how
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it corresponds with ancient types and prophecies.</P>
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<P>
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2. By the testimony of many eye-witnesses, who saw Christ after he had
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risen from the dead. He reckons up five several appearances, beside
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that to himself. He <I>was seen of Cephas, or Peter, then of the
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twelve,</I> called so, though Judas was no longer among them, because
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this was their usual number; then he was <I>seen of above five hundred
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brethren at once,</I> many of whom were living when the apostle wrote
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this epistle, though some had fallen asleep. This was in Galilee,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+28:10">Matt. xxviii. 10</A>.
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After that, he was seen of James singly, and then by all the apostles
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when he was taken up into heaven. This was on mount Olivet,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+24:50">Luke xxiv. 50</A>.
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Compare
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+1:2,5-7">Acts i. 2, 5-7</A>.
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Note, How uncontrollably evident was Christ's resurrection from the
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dead, when so many eyes saw him at so many different times alive, and
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when he indulged the weakness of one disciple so far as to let him
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handle him, to put his resurrection out of doubt! And what reason have
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we to believe those who were so steady in maintaining this truth,
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though they hazarded all that was dear to them in this world, by
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endeavouring to assert and propagate it! Even Paul himself was last of
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all favoured with the sight of him. It was one of the peculiar offices
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of an apostle to be a witness of our Saviour's resurrection
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+24:48">Luke xxiv. 48</A>);
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and, when Paul was called to the apostolical office, he was made an
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evidence of this sort; the Lord Jesus appeared to him by the way to
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Damascus,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+9:17">Acts ix. 17</A>.
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Having mentioned this favour, Paul takes occasion from it to make a
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humble digression concerning himself. He was highly favoured of God,
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but he always endeavoured to keep up a mean opinion of himself, and to
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express it. So he does here, by observing,
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(1.) That he was <I>one born out of due time</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>),
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an abortive, <B><I>ektroma,</I></B> a child dead born, and out of time.
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Paul resembled such a birth, in the suddenness of his new birth, in
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that he was not matured for the apostolic function, as the others were,
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who had personal converse with our Lord. He was called to the office
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when such conversation was not to be had, he was out of time for it. He
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had not known nor followed the Lord, nor been formed in his family, as
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the others were, for this high and honourable function. This was in
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Paul's account a very humbling circumstance.
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(2.) By owning himself inferior to the other apostles: <I>Not meet to
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be called an apostle.</I> The least, because the last of them; called
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latest to the office, and not worthy to be called an apostle, to have
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either the office or the title, because he had been <I>a persecutor of
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the church of God,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
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Indeed, he tells us elsewhere that he was <I>not a whit behind the very
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chief apostles</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Co+11:5">2 Cor. xi. 5</A>)--
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for gifts, graces, service, and
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sufferings, inferior to none of them. Yet some circumstances in his
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case made him think more meanly of himself than of any of them. Note, A
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humble spirit, in the midst of high attainments, is a great ornament to
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any man; it sets his good qualities off to much greater advantage. What
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kept Paul low in an especial manner was the remembrance of his former
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wickedness, his raging and destructive zeal against Christ and him
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members. Note, How easily God can bring a good out of the greatest
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evil! When sinners are by divine grace turned into saints, he makes the
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remembrance of their former sins very serviceable, to make them humble,
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and diligent, and faithful.
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(3.) By ascribing all that was valuable in him to divine grace: <I>But
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by the grace of God I am what I am,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
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It is God's prerogative to say, <I>I am that I am;</I> it is our
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privilege to be able to say, "By God's grace we are what we are." We
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are nothing but what God makes us, nothing in religion but what his
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grace makes us. All that is good in us is a stream from this fountain.
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Paul was sensible of this, and kept humble and thankful by this
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conviction; so should we. Nay, though he was conscious of his own
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diligence, and zeal, and service, so that he could say of himself,
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<I>the grace of God was not given him in vain, but he laboured more
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abundantly than they all:</I> he thought himself so much more the
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debtor to divine grace. <I>Yet not I, but the grace of God which was
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with me.</I> Note, Those who have the grace of God bestowed on them
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should take care that it be not in vain. They should cherish, and
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exercise, and exert, this heavenly principle. So did Paul, and
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therefore laboured with so much heart and so much success. And yet the
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more he laboured, and the more good he did, the more humble he was in
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his opinion of himself, and the more disposed to own and magnify the
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favour of God towards him, his free and unmerited favour. Note, A
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humble spirit will be very apt to own and magnify the grace of God. A
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humble spirit is commonly a gracious one. Where pride is subdued there
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it is reasonable to believe grace reigns.</P>
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<P>
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After this digression, the apostle returns to his argument, and tells
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them
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>)
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that he not only preached the same gospel himself at all times, and in
|
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all places, but that all the apostles preached the same: <I>Whether it
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were they or I, so we preached, and so you believed.</I> Whether Peter,
|
|
or Paul, or any other apostle, had converted them to Christianity, all
|
|
maintained the same truth, told the same story, preached the same
|
|
doctrine, and confirmed it by the same evidence. All agreed in this
|
|
that Jesus Christ, and him crucified and slain, and then rising from
|
|
the dead, was the very sum and substance of Christianity; and this all
|
|
true Christians believe. All the apostles agreed in this testimony; all
|
|
Christians agree in the belief of it. By this faith they live. In this
|
|
faith they die.</P>
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<A NAME="1Co15_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Co15_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Co15_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Co15_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Co15_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Co15_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Co15_18"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Co15_19"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Resurrection of Saints.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM><FONT SIZE=-1>A. D.</FONT> 57.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>12 Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how
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say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?
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13 But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ
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not risen:
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14 And if Christ be not risen, then <I>is</I> our preaching vain,
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and your faith <I>is</I> also vain.
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15 Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we
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have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised
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not up, if so be that the dead rise not.
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16 For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:
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17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith <I>is</I> vain; ye are
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yet in your sins.
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18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are
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perished.
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19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all
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men most miserable.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Having confirmed the truth of our Saviour's resurrection, the apostle
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goes on to refute those among the Corinthians who said there would be
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none: <I>If Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some
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among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>.
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It seems from this passage, and the course of the argument, there were
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some among the Corinthians who thought the resurrection an
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impossibility. This was a common sentiment among the heathens. But
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against this the apostle produces an incontestable fact, namely, the
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resurrection of Christ; and he goes on to argue against them from the
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absurdities that must follow from their principle. As,</P>
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<P>
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I. <I>If there be</I> (can be) <I>no resurrection of the dead, then
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Christ has not risen</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>);
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and again, "<I>If the dead rise not,</I> cannot be raised or recovered
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to life, <I>then is Christ not raised,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.
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And yet it was foretold in ancient prophecies that he should rise; and
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it has been proved by multitudes of eye-witnesses that he had risen.
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And will you say, will any among you dare to say, that is not, cannot
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be, which God long ago said should be, and which is now undoubted
|
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matter of fact?"</P>
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<P>
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II. It would follow hereupon that the preaching and faith of the gospel
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would be vain: <I>If Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain,
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and your faith vain,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
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This supposition admitted, would destroy the principal evidence of
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|
Christianity; and so,
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1. Make preaching vain. "<I>We</I> apostles should <I>be found false
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|
witnesses of God;</I> we pretend to be God's witnesses for truth, and
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to work miracles by his power in confirmation of it, and are all the
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|
while deceivers, liars for God, if in his name, and by power received
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from him, we go forth, and publish and assert a thing false in fact,
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and impossible to be true. And does not this make us the vainest men in
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|
the world, and our office and ministry the vainest and most useless
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|
thing in the world? What end could we propose to ourselves in
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|
undertaking this hard and hazardous service, if we knew our religion
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|
stood on no better foundation, nay, if we were not well assured of the
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|
contrary? What should we preach for? Would not our labour be wholly in
|
|
vain? We can have no very favourable expectations in this life; and we
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|
could have none beyond it. If Christ be not raised, the gospel is a
|
|
jest; it is chaff and emptiness."
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|
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2. This supposition would make the faith of Christians vain, as well as
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|
the labours of ministers: <I>If Christ be not raised, your faith is
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|
vain; you are yet in your sins</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>),
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yet under the guilt and condemnation of sin, because it is through his
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death and sacrifice for sin alone that forgiveness is to be had. <I>We
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|
have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,</I>
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+1:7">Eph. i. 7</A>.
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No remission of sins is to be had but through the shedding of his
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blood. And had his blood been shed, and his life taken away, without
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|
ever being restored, what evidence could we have had that through him
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|
we should have justification and eternal life? Had he remained under
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|
the power of death, how could he have delivered us from its power? And
|
|
how vain a thing is faith in him, upon this supposition! He must rise
|
|
for our justification who was delivered for our sins, or in vain we
|
|
look for any such benefit by him. There had been no justification nor
|
|
salvation if Christ had not risen. And must not faith in Christ be
|
|
vain, and of no signification, if he be still among the dead?</P>
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|
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|
<P>
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|
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|
III. Another absurdity following from this supposition is that <I>those
|
|
who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.</I> if there be no
|
|
resurrection, they cannot rise, and therefore are lost, even those who
|
|
have died in the Christian faith, and for it. It is plain from this
|
|
that those among the Corinthians who denied the resurrection meant
|
|
thereby a state of future retribution, and not merely the revival of
|
|
the flesh; they took death to be the destruction and extinction of the
|
|
man, and not merely of the bodily life; for otherwise the apostle could
|
|
not infer the utter loss of those who slept in Jesus, from the
|
|
supposition that they would never rise more or that they had no hopes
|
|
in Christ after life; for they might have hope of happiness for their
|
|
minds if these survived their bodies, and this would prevent the
|
|
limiting of their hopes in Christ to this life only. "Upon supposition
|
|
there is no resurrection in your sense, no after-state and life, then
|
|
dead Christians are quite lost. How vain a thing were our faith and
|
|
religion upon this supposition!" And this,</P>
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|
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<P>
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|
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IV. Would infer that Christ's ministers and servants were <I>of all men
|
|
most miserable,</I> as having <I>hope in him in this life only</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>),
|
|
|
|
which is another absurdity that would follow from asserting no
|
|
resurrection. Their condition who hope in Christ would be worse than
|
|
that of other men. <I>Who hope in Christ.</I> Note, All who believe in
|
|
Christ have hope in him; all who believe in him as a Redeemer hope for
|
|
redemption and salvation by him; but if there be no resurrection, or
|
|
state of future recompence (which was intended by those who denied the
|
|
resurrection at Corinth), their hope in him must be limited to this
|
|
life: and, if all their hopes in Christ lie within the compass of this
|
|
life, they are in a much worse condition than the rest of mankind,
|
|
especially at that time, and under those circumstances, in which the
|
|
apostles wrote; for then they had no countenance nor protection from
|
|
the rulers of the world, but were hated and persecuted by all men.
|
|
Preachers and private Christians therefore had a hard lot if in this
|
|
life only they had hope in Christ. Better be any thing than a Christian
|
|
upon these terms; for in this world they are hated, and hunted, and
|
|
abused, stripped of all worldly comforts and exposed to all manner of
|
|
sufferings: they fare much harder than other men in this life, and yet
|
|
have no further nor better hopes. And is it not absurd for one who
|
|
believes in Christ to admit a principle that involves so absurd an
|
|
inference? Can that man have faith in Christ who can believe concerning
|
|
him that he will leave his faithful servants, whether ministers or
|
|
others, in a worse state than his enemies? Note, It were a gross
|
|
absurdity in a Christian to admit the supposition of no resurrection or
|
|
future state. It would leave no hope beyond this world, and would
|
|
frequently make his condition the worst in the world. Indeed, the
|
|
Christian is by his religion crucified to this world, and taught to
|
|
live upon the hope of another. Carnal pleasures are insipid to him in a
|
|
great degree; and spiritual and heavenly pleasures are those which he
|
|
affects and pants after. How sad is his case indeed, if he must be dead
|
|
to worldly pleasures and yet never hope for any better!</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="1Co15_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Co15_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Co15_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Co15_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Co15_24"> </A>
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|
<A NAME="1Co15_25"> </A>
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|
<A NAME="1Co15_26"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Co15_27"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Co15_28"> </A>
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|
<A NAME="1Co15_29"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Co15_30"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Co15_31"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Co15_32"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Co15_33"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Co15_34"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Resurrection of Christ; The Resurrection of Saints.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM><FONT SIZE=-1>A. D.</FONT> 57.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, <I>and</I> become the
|
|
firstfruits of them that slept.
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|
21 For since by man <I>came</I> death, by man <I>came</I> also the
|
|
resurrection of the dead.
|
|
22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made
|
|
alive.
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|
23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits;
|
|
afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.
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|
24 Then <I>cometh</I> the end, when he shall have delivered up the
|
|
kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all
|
|
rule and all authority and power.
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|
25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his
|
|
feet.
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|
26 The last enemy <I>that</I> shall be destroyed <I>is</I> death.
|
|
27 For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith
|
|
all things are put under <I>him, it is</I> manifest that he is
|
|
excepted, which did put all things under him.
|
|
28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall
|
|
the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things
|
|
under him, that God may be all in all.
|
|
29 Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if
|
|
the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the
|
|
dead?
|
|
30 And why stand we in jeopardy every hour?
|
|
31 I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our
|
|
Lord, I die daily.
|
|
32 If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at
|
|
Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat
|
|
and drink; for to morrow we die.
|
|
33 Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.
|
|
34 Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the
|
|
knowledge of God: I speak <I>this</I> to your shame.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
In this passage the apostle establishes the truth of the resurrection
|
|
of the dead, the holy dead, the dead in Christ,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. On the resurrection of Christ.
|
|
|
|
1. Because he is indeed <I>the first-fruits of those that slept,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
He has truly risen himself, and he has risen in this very quality and
|
|
character, as the first-fruits of those who sleep in him. As he has
|
|
assuredly risen, so in his resurrection there is as much an earnest
|
|
given that the dead in him shall rise as there was that the Jewish
|
|
harvest in general should be accepted and blessed by the offering and
|
|
acceptance of the first-fruits. The whole lump was made holy by the
|
|
consecration of the first-fruits
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+11:16">Rom. xi. 16</A>),
|
|
|
|
and the whole body of Christ, all that are by faith united to him, are
|
|
by his resurrection assured of their own. As he has risen, they shall
|
|
rise; just as the lump is holy because the first fruits are so. He has
|
|
not risen merely for himself, but as head of the body, the church; and
|
|
<I>those that sleep in him God will bring with him,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Th+4:14">1 Thess. iv. 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, Christ's resurrection is a pledge and
|
|
earnest of ours, if we are true believers in him; because he has risen,
|
|
we shall rise. We are a part of the consecrated lump, and shall partake
|
|
of the acceptance and favour vouchsafed the first-fruits. This is the
|
|
first argument used by the apostle in confirmation of the truth; and it
|
|
is,
|
|
|
|
2. Illustrated by a parallel between the first and second Adam. For,
|
|
since by man came death, it was every way proper that by man should
|
|
come deliverance from it, or, which is all one, a resurrection,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
And so, <I>as in Adam all die, in Christ shall all be made alive;</I>
|
|
as through the sin of the first Adam all men became mortal, because all
|
|
derived from him the same sinful nature, so through the merit and
|
|
resurrection of Christ shall all who are made to partake of the Spirit,
|
|
and the spiritual nature, revive, and become immortal. All who die die
|
|
through the sin of Adam; all who are raised, in the sense of the
|
|
apostle, rise through the merit and power of Christ. But the meaning is
|
|
not that, as all men died in Adam, so all men, without exception, shall
|
|
be made alive in Christ; for the scope of the apostle's argument
|
|
restrains the general meaning. Christ rose as the first-fruits;
|
|
therefore <I>those that are Christ's</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>)
|
|
|
|
shall rise too. Hence it will not follow that all men without exception
|
|
shall rise too; but it will fitly follow that all who thus rise, rise
|
|
in virtue of Christ's resurrection, and so that their revival is owing
|
|
to the man Christ Jesus, as the mortality of all mankind was owing to
|
|
the first man; and so, as by man came death, by man came deliverance.
|
|
Thus it seemed fit to the divine wisdom that, as the first Adam ruined
|
|
his posterity by sin, the second Adam should raise his seed to a
|
|
glorious immortality.
|
|
|
|
3. Before he leaves the argument he states that there will be an order
|
|
observed in their resurrection. What that precisely will be we are
|
|
nowhere told, but in the general only here that there will be order
|
|
observed. Possibly those may rise first who have held the highest rank,
|
|
and done the most eminent service, or suffered the most grievous evils,
|
|
or cruel deaths, for Christ's sake. It is only here said that the
|
|
first-fruits are supposed to rise first, and afterwards all who are
|
|
Christ's, when he shall come again. Not that Christ's resurrection must
|
|
in fact go before the resurrection of any of his, but it must be laid
|
|
as the foundation: as it was not necessary that those who lived remote
|
|
from Jerusalem must go thither and offer the first-fruits before they
|
|
could account the lump holy, yet they must be set apart for this
|
|
purpose, till they could be offered, which might be done at any time
|
|
from pentecost till the feast of dedication. See Bishop Patrick on
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+24:2">Num. xxiv. 2</A>.
|
|
|
|
The offering of the first-fruits was what made the lump holy; and the
|
|
lump was made holy by this offering, though it was not made before the
|
|
harvest was gathered in, so it were set apart for that end, and duly
|
|
offered afterwards. So Christ's resurrection must, in order of nature,
|
|
precede that of his saints, though some of these might rise in order of
|
|
time before him. It is because he has risen that they rise. Note,
|
|
Those that are Christ's must rise, because of their relation to
|
|
him.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. He argues from the continuance of the mediatorial kingdom till all
|
|
Christ's enemies are destroyed, the last of which is death,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:24-26"><I>v.</I> 24-26</A>.
|
|
|
|
He has risen, and, upon his resurrection, was invested with sovereign
|
|
empire, <I>had all power in heaven and earth put into his hands</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+28:18">Matt. xxviii. 18</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>had a name given him above every name, that every knee might bow to
|
|
him, and every tongue confess him Lord.</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Php+2:9-11">Phil. ii. 9-11</A>.
|
|
|
|
And the administration of this kingdom must continue in his hands till
|
|
all opposing <I>power, and rule, and authority, be put down</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>till all enemies are put under his feet</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>),
|
|
|
|
and <I>till the last enemy is destroyed,</I> which is death,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. This argument implies in it all these particulars:--
|
|
|
|
(1.) That our Saviour rose from the dead to have all power put into his
|
|
hands, and have and administer a kingdom, as Mediator: <I>For this end
|
|
he died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead
|
|
and living,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+14:9">Rom. xiv. 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
(2.) That this mediatorial kingdom is to have an end, at least as far
|
|
as it is concerned in bringing his people safely to glory, and subduing
|
|
all his and their enemies: <I>Then cometh the end,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
(3.) That it is not to have an end till all opposing power be put down,
|
|
and all enemies brought to his feet,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:24,25"><I>v.</I> 24, 25</A>.
|
|
|
|
(4.) That, among other enemies, death must be destroyed
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>)
|
|
|
|
or abolished; its powers over its members must be disannulled. Thus far
|
|
the apostle is express; but he leaves us to make the inference that
|
|
therefore the saints must rise, else death and the grave would have
|
|
power over them, nor would our Saviour's kingly power prevail against
|
|
the last enemy of his people and annul its power. When saints shall
|
|
live again, and die no more, then, and not till then, will death be
|
|
abolished, which must be brought about before our Saviour's mediatorial
|
|
kingdom is delivered up, which yet must be in due time. The saints
|
|
therefore shall live again and die no more. This is the scope of the
|
|
argument; but,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. The apostle drops several hints in the course of it which it will be
|
|
proper to notice: as,
|
|
|
|
(1.) That our Saviour, as man and mediator between God and man, has a
|
|
delegated royalty, a kingdom given: <I>All things are put under him, he
|
|
excepted that did put all things under him,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>.
|
|
|
|
As man, all his authority must be delegated. And, though his mediation
|
|
supposes his divine nature, yet as Mediator he does not so explicitly
|
|
sustain the character of God, but a middle person between God and man,
|
|
partaking of both natures, human and divine, as he was to reconcile
|
|
both parties, God and man, and receiving commission and authority from
|
|
God the Father to act in this office. The Father appears, in this whole
|
|
dispensation, in the majesty and with the authority of God: the Son,
|
|
made man, appears as the minister of the Father, though he is God as
|
|
well as the Father. Nor is this passage to be understood of the eternal
|
|
dominion over all his creatures which belongs to him as God, but of a
|
|
kingdom committed to him as Mediator and God-man, and that chiefly
|
|
after his resurrection, when, having overcome, he sat down with his
|
|
Father on his throne,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+3:21">Rev. iii. 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
Then was the prediction verified, <I>I have set my king upon my holy
|
|
hill of Zion</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+2:6">Ps. ii. 6</A>),
|
|
|
|
placed him on his throne. This is meant by the phrase so frequent in
|
|
the writings of the New Testament, of <I>sitting at the right hand of
|
|
God</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mk+16:19,Ro+8:34,Col+3:1">Mark xvi. 19;
|
|
Rom. viii. 34; Col. iii. 1</A>,
|
|
|
|
&c.),
|
|
<I>on the right hand of power</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mk+14:62,Lu+22:69">Mark xiv. 62; Luke xxii. 69</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>on the right hand of the throne of God</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+12:2">Heb. xii. 2</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+8:1">Heb. viii. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
Sitting down in this seat is taking upon him the exercise of his
|
|
mediatorial power and royalty, which was done upon his ascension into
|
|
heaven,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mk+16:19">Mark xvi. 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
And it is spoken of in scripture as a recompence made him for his deep
|
|
humiliation and self-abasement, in becoming man, and dying for man the
|
|
accursed death of the cross,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Php+2:6-12">Phil. ii. 6-12</A>.
|
|
|
|
Upon his ascension, he was made head over all things to the church, had
|
|
power given him to govern and protect it against all its enemies, and
|
|
in the end destroy them and complete the salvation of all that believe
|
|
in him. This is not a power appertaining to Godhead as such; it is not
|
|
original and unlimited power, but power given and limited to special
|
|
purposes. And though he who has it is God, yet, inasmuch as he is
|
|
somewhat else besides God, and in this whole dispensation acts not as
|
|
God, but as Mediator, not as the offended Majesty, but as one
|
|
interposing in favour of his offending creatures, and this by virtue of
|
|
his consent and commission who acts and appears always in that
|
|
character, he may properly be said to have this power given him; he may
|
|
reign as God, with power unlimited, and yet may reign as Mediator, with
|
|
a power delegated, and limited to these particular purposes.
|
|
|
|
(2.) That this delegated royalty must at length <I>be delivered up to
|
|
the Father,</I> from whom it was received
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>);
|
|
|
|
for it is a power received for particular ends and purposes, a power to
|
|
govern and protect his church till all the members of it be gathered
|
|
in, and the enemies of it for ever subdued and destroyed
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:25,26"><I>v.</I> 25, 26</A>),
|
|
|
|
and when these ends shall be obtained the power and authority will not
|
|
need to be continued. The Redeemer must reign till his enemies be
|
|
destroyed, and the salvation of his church and people accomplished;
|
|
and, when this end is attained, then will he deliver up the power which
|
|
he had only for this purpose, though he may continue to reign over his
|
|
glorified church and body in heaven; and in this sense it may
|
|
notwithstanding be said that <I>he shall reign for ever and ever</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+11:15">Rev. xi. 15</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>that he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his
|
|
kingdom there shall be no end</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:33">Luke i. 33</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>that his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass
|
|
away,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+7:14">Dan. vii. 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
See also
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mic+4:7">Mich. iv. 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
(3.) The Redeemer shall certainly reign till the last enemy of his
|
|
people be destroyed, till death itself be abolished, till his saints
|
|
revive and recover perfect life, never to be in fear and danger of
|
|
dying any more. He shall have all power in heaven and earth till
|
|
then--<I>he who loved us, and gave himself for us, and washed us from
|
|
our sins in his own blood</I>--he who is so nearly related to us, and
|
|
so much concerned for us. What support should this be to his saints in
|
|
every hour of distress and temptation! <I>He is alive who was dead, and
|
|
liveth for ever,</I> and doth reign, and will continue to reign, till
|
|
the redemption of his people be completed, and the utter ruin of their
|
|
enemies effected.
|
|
|
|
(4.) When this is done, <I>and all things are put under his feet, then
|
|
shall the Son become subject to him that put all things under him, that
|
|
God may be all in all,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:28"><I>v.</I> 28</A>.
|
|
|
|
The meaning of this I take to be that then the man Christ Jesus, who
|
|
hath appeared in so much majesty during the whole administration of his
|
|
kingdom, shall appear upon giving it up to be a subject of the Father.
|
|
Things are in scripture many times said <I>to be</I> when they are
|
|
<I>manifested</I> and <I>made to appear;</I> and this delivering up of
|
|
the kingdom will make it manifest that he who appeared in the majesty
|
|
of the sovereign king was, during this administration, a subject of
|
|
God. The glorified humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ, with all the
|
|
dignity and power conferred on it, was no more than a glorious
|
|
creature. This will appear when the kingdom shall be delivered up; and
|
|
it will appear to the divine glory, that God may be all in all, that
|
|
the accomplishment of our salvation may appear altogether divine, and
|
|
God alone may have the honour of it. Note, Though the human nature must
|
|
be employed in the work of our redemption, yet God was all in all in
|
|
it. <I>It was the Lord's doing and should be marvellous in our
|
|
eyes.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. He argues for the resurrection, from the case of those who were
|
|
baptized for the dead
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:29"><I>v.</I> 29</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>What shall those do who are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise
|
|
not at all? Why are they baptized for the dead?</I> What shall they do
|
|
if the dead rise not? What have they done? How vain a thing hath their
|
|
baptism been! Must they stand by it, or renounce it? why are they
|
|
baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not? <B><I>hyper ton
|
|
nekron.</I></B> But what is this baptism for the dead? It is necessary
|
|
to be known, that the apostle's argument may be understood; whether it
|
|
be only <I>argumentum ad hominem,</I> or <I>ad rem;</I> that is,
|
|
whether it conclude for the thing in dispute universally, or only
|
|
against the particular persons who were baptized for the dead. But who
|
|
shall interpret this very obscure passage, which, though it consists of
|
|
no more than three words, besides the articles, has had more than three
|
|
times three senses put on it by interpreters? It is not agreed what is
|
|
meant by baptism, whether it is to be taken in a proper or figurative
|
|
sense, and, if in a proper sense, whether it is to be understood or
|
|
Christian baptism properly so called, or some other ablution. And as
|
|
little is it agreed who are the dead, or in what sense the preposition
|
|
<B><I>hyper</I></B> is to be taken. Some understand the dead of our
|
|
Saviour himself; <I>vide</I> Whitby <I>in loc.</I> Why are persons
|
|
baptized in the name of a dead Saviour, a Saviour who remains among the
|
|
dead, if the dead rise not? But it is, I believe, and instance
|
|
perfectly singular for <B><I>hoi nekroi</I></B> to mean no more than
|
|
one dead person; it is a signification which the words have nowhere
|
|
else. And the <B><I>hoi baptizomenoi</I></B> (<I>the baptized</I>) seem
|
|
plainly to mean some particular persons, not Christians in general,
|
|
which yet must be the signification if the <B><I>hoi nekroi</I></B>
|
|
(<I>the dead</I>) be understood of our Saviour. Some understand the
|
|
passage of the martyrs: Why do they suffer martyrdom for their
|
|
religion? This is sometimes called the baptism of blood by ancients,
|
|
and, by our Saviour himself, baptism indefinitely,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+20:22,Lu+12:50">Matt. xx. 22; Luke xii. 50</A>.
|
|
|
|
But in what sense can those who die martyrs for their religion be said
|
|
to be baptized (that is, die martyrs) for the dead? Some understand it
|
|
of a custom that was observed, as some of the ancients tell us, among
|
|
many who professed the Christian name in the first ages, of baptizing
|
|
some in the name and stead of catechumens dying without baptism. But
|
|
this savoured of such superstition that, if the custom had prevailed in
|
|
the church so soon, the apostle would hardly have mentioned it without
|
|
signifying a dislike of it. Some understand it of baptizing over the
|
|
dead, which was a custom, they tell us, that early obtained; and this
|
|
to testify their hope of the resurrection. This sense is pertinent to
|
|
the apostle's argument, but it appears not that any such practice was
|
|
in use in the apostle's time. Others understand it of those who have
|
|
been baptized for the sake, or on occasion, of the martyrs, that is,
|
|
the constancy with which they died for their religion. Some were
|
|
doubtless converted to Christianity by observing this: and it would
|
|
have been a vain thing for persons to have become Christians upon this
|
|
motive, if the martyrs, by losing their lives for religion, became
|
|
utterly extinct, and were to live no more. But the church at Corinth
|
|
had not, in all probability, suffered much persecution at this time, or
|
|
seem many instances of martyrdom among them, nor had many converts been
|
|
made by the constancy and firmness which the martyrs discovered. Not to
|
|
observe that <B><I>hoi nekroi</I></B> seems to be too general an
|
|
expression to mean only the martyred dead. It is as easy an explication
|
|
of the phrase as any I have met with, and as pertinent to the argument,
|
|
to suppose the <B><I>hoi nekroi</I></B> to mean some among the
|
|
Corinthians, who had been taken off by the hand of God. We read that
|
|
<I>many were sickly among them, and many slept</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+11:30"><I>ch.</I> xi. 30</A>),
|
|
|
|
because of their disorderly behaviour at the Lord's table. These
|
|
executions might terrify some into Christianity; as the miraculous
|
|
earthquake did the jailer,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+16:29,30">Acts xvi. 29, 30</A>,
|
|
|
|
&c. Persons baptized on such an occasion might be properly said to be
|
|
baptized for the dead, that is, on their account. And the <B><I>hoi
|
|
baptizomenoi</I></B> (<I>the baptized</I>) and the <B><I>hoi
|
|
nekroi</I></B> (<I>the dead</I>) answer to one another; and upon this
|
|
supposition the Corinthians could not mistake the apostle's meaning.
|
|
"Now," says he, "what shall they do, and why were they baptized, if the
|
|
dead rise not? You have a general persuasion that these men have done
|
|
right, and acted wisely, and as they ought, on this occasion; but why,
|
|
if the dead rise not, seeing they may perhaps hasten their death, by
|
|
provoking a jealous God, and have no hopes beyond it?" But whether this
|
|
be the meaning, or whatever else be, doubtless the apostle's argument
|
|
was good and intelligible to the Corinthians. And his next is as plain
|
|
to us.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. He argues from the absurdity of his own conduct and that of other
|
|
Christians upon this supposition,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. It would be a foolish thing for them to run so many hazards
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:30"><I>v.</I> 30</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Why stand we in jeopardy every hour?</I> Why do we expose ourselves
|
|
to continual peril--we Christians, especially we apostles?" Every one
|
|
knows that it was dangerous being a Christian, and much more a preacher
|
|
and an apostle, at that time. "Now," says the apostle, "what fools are
|
|
we to run these hazards, if we have no better hopes beyond death, if
|
|
when we die we die wholly, and revive no more!" Note, Christianity were
|
|
a foolish profession if it proposed no hopes beyond this life, at least
|
|
in such hazardous times as attended the first profession of it; it
|
|
required men to risk all the blessings and comforts of this life, and
|
|
to face and endure all the evils of it, without any future prospects.
|
|
And is this a character of his religion fit for a Christian to endure?
|
|
And must he not fix this character on it if he give up his future
|
|
hopes, and deny the resurrection of the dead? This argument the apostle
|
|
brings home to himself: "<I>I protest,</I>" says he, "<I>by your
|
|
rejoicing in Jesus Christ,</I> by all the comforts of Christianity, and
|
|
all the peculiar succours and supports of our holy faith, that <I>I die
|
|
daily,</I>"
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:31"><I>v.</I> 31</A>.
|
|
|
|
He was in continual danger of death, and carried his life, as we say,
|
|
in his hand. And why should he thus expose himself, if he had no hopes
|
|
after life? To live in daily view and expectation of death, and yet
|
|
have no prospect beyond it, must be very heartless and uncomfortable,
|
|
and his case, upon this account, a very melancholy one. He had need be
|
|
very well assured of the resurrection of the dead, or he was guilty of
|
|
extreme weakness, in hazarding all that was dear to him in this world,
|
|
and his life into the bargain. He had encountered very great
|
|
difficulties and fierce enemies; he had <I>fought with beasts at
|
|
Ephesus</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:32"><I>v.</I> 32</A>),
|
|
|
|
and was in danger of being pulled to pieces by an enraged multitude,
|
|
stirred up by Demetrius and the other craftsmen
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+19:24">Acts xix. 24</A>,
|
|
|
|
&c.), though some understand this literally of Paul's being exposed to
|
|
fight with wild beasts in the amphitheatre, at a Roman show in that
|
|
city. And Nicephorus tells a formal story to this purport, and of the
|
|
miraculous complaisance of the lions to him when they came near him.
|
|
But so remarkable a trial and circumstance of his life, methinks, would
|
|
not have been passed over by Luke, and much less by himself, when he
|
|
gives us so large and particular a detail of his sufferings,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Co+11:24">2 Cor. xi. 24</A>,
|
|
|
|
<I>ad fin.</I> When he mentioned that he was five times scourged of the
|
|
Jews, thrice beaten with rods, once stoned, thrice shipwrecked, it is
|
|
strange that he should not have said that he was once exposed to fight
|
|
with the beasts. I take it, therefore, that this fighting with beasts
|
|
is a figurative expression, that the beasts intended were men of a
|
|
fierce and ferine disposition, and that this refers to the passage
|
|
above cited. "Now," says he, "what advantage have I from such contests,
|
|
if the dead rise not? Why should I die daily, expose myself daily to
|
|
the danger of dying by violent hands, if the dead rise not? And if
|
|
<I>post mortem nihil</I>--<I>if I am to perish by death,</I> and expect
|
|
nothing after it, could any thing be more weak?" Was Paul so senseless?
|
|
Had he given the Corinthians any ground to entertain such a thought of
|
|
him? If he had not been well assured that death would have been to his
|
|
advantage, would he, in this stupid manner, have thrown away his life?
|
|
Could any thing but the sure hopes of a better life after death have
|
|
extinguished the love of life in him to this degree? "<I>What
|
|
advantageth it me, if the dead rise not?</I> What can I propose to
|
|
myself?" Note, It is very lawful and fit for a Christian to propose
|
|
advantage to himself by his fidelity to God. Thus did Paul. Thus did
|
|
our blessed Lord himself,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+12:2">Heb. xii. 2</A>.
|
|
|
|
And thus we are bidden to do after his example, and have our fruit to
|
|
holiness, that our end may be everlasting life. This is the very end of
|
|
our faith, even the salvation of our souls
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Pe+1:9">1 Pet. i. 9</A>),
|
|
|
|
not only what it will issue in, but what we should aim at.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. It would be a much wiser thing to take the comforts of this life:
|
|
<I>Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:32"><I>v.</I> 32</A>);
|
|
|
|
let us turn epicures. Thus this sentence means in the prophet,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+22:13">Isa. xxii. 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
Let us even live like beasts, if we must die like them. This would be a
|
|
wiser course, if there were no resurrection, no after-life or state,
|
|
than to abandon all the pleasures of life, and offer and expose
|
|
ourselves to all the miseries of life, and live in continual peril of
|
|
perishing by savage rage and cruelty. This passage also plainly
|
|
implies, as I have hinted above, that those who denied the resurrection
|
|
among the Corinthians were perfect Sadducees, of whose principles we
|
|
have this account in the holy writings, that they say, <I>There is no
|
|
resurrection, neither angel nor spirit</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+23:8">Acts xxiii. 8</A>),
|
|
|
|
that is, "Man is all body, there is nothing in him to survive the body,
|
|
nor will that, when once he is dead, ever revive again." Such Sadducees
|
|
were the men against whom the apostle argued; otherwise his arguments
|
|
had no force in them; for, though the body should never revive, yet, as
|
|
long as the mind survived it, he might have much advantage from all the
|
|
hazards he ran for Christ's sake. Nay, it is certain that the mind is
|
|
to be the principal seat and subject of the heavenly glory and
|
|
happiness. But, if there were no hopes after death, would not every
|
|
wise man prefer an easy comfortable life before such a wretched one as
|
|
the apostle led; nay, and endeavour to enjoy the comforts of life as
|
|
fast as possible, because the continuance of it is short? Note, Nothing
|
|
but the hopes of better things hereafter can enable a man to forego all
|
|
the comforts and pleasures here, and embrace poverty, contempt, misery,
|
|
and death. Thus did the apostles and primitive Christians; but how
|
|
wretched was their case, and how foolish their conduct, if they
|
|
deceived themselves, and abused the world with vain and false
|
|
hopes!</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
V. The apostle closes his argument with a caution, exhortation, and
|
|
reproof.
|
|
|
|
1. A caution against the dangerous conversation of bad men, men of
|
|
loose lives and principles: <I>Be not deceived,</I> says he; <I>evil
|
|
communications corrupt good manners,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:33"><I>v.</I> 33</A>.
|
|
|
|
Possibly, some of those who said that there was no resurrection of the
|
|
dead were men of loose lives, and endeavoured to countenance their
|
|
vicious practices by so corrupt a principle; and had that speech often
|
|
in their mouths <I>Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die.</I> Now,
|
|
the apostle grants that their talk was to the purpose if there was no
|
|
future state. But, having confuted their principle, he now warns the
|
|
Corinthians how dangerous such men's conversation must prove. He tells
|
|
them that they would probably be corrupted by them, and fall in with
|
|
their course of life, if they gave into their evil principles. Note,
|
|
Bad company and conversation are likely to make bad men. Those who
|
|
would keep their innocence must keep good company. Error and vice are
|
|
infectious: and, if we would avoid the contagion, we must keep clear of
|
|
those who have taken it. <I>He that walketh with wise men shall be
|
|
wise; but a companion of fools shall be destroyed,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+13:20">Prov. xiii. 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. Here is an exhortation to break off their sins, and rouse
|
|
themselves, and lead a more holy and righteous life
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:34"><I>v.</I> 34</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Awake to righteousness,</I> or <I>awake righteously,</I>
|
|
<B><I>eknepsate dikaios,</I></B> <I>and sin not,</I> or sin no more.
|
|
"Rouse yourselves, break off your sins by repentance: renounce and
|
|
forsake every evil way, correct whatever is amiss, and do not, by sloth
|
|
and stupidity, be led away into such conversation and principles as
|
|
will sap your Christian hopes, and corrupt your practice." The
|
|
disbelief of a future state destroys all virtue and piety. But the best
|
|
improvement to be made of the truth is to cease from sin, and set
|
|
ourselves to the business of religion, and that in good earnest. If
|
|
there will be a resurrection and a future life, we should live and act
|
|
as those who believe it, and should not give into such senseless and
|
|
sottish notions as will debauch our morals, and render us loose and
|
|
sensual in our lives.
|
|
|
|
3. Here is a reproof, and a sharp one, to some at least among them:
|
|
<I>Some of you have not the knowledge of God; I speak this to your
|
|
shame.</I> Note, It is a shame in Christians not to have the knowledge
|
|
of God. The Christian religion gives the best information that can be
|
|
had about God, his nature, and grace, and government. Those who profess
|
|
this religion reproach themselves, by remaining without the knowledge
|
|
of God; for it must be owing to their own sloth, and slight of God,
|
|
that they are ignorant of him. And is it not a horrid shame for a
|
|
Christian to slight God, and be so wretchedly ignorant in matters that
|
|
so nearly and highly concern him? Note, also, It must be ignorance of
|
|
God that leads men into the disbelief of a resurrection and future
|
|
life. Those who know God know that he will not abandon his faithful
|
|
servants, nor leave them exposed to such hardships and sufferings
|
|
without any recompence or reward. They know he is not unfaithful nor
|
|
unkind, to forget their labour and patience, their faithful services
|
|
and cheerful sufferings, or let their <I>labour be in vain.</I> But I
|
|
am apt to think that the expression has a much stronger meaning; that
|
|
there were atheistical people among them who hardly owned a God, or one
|
|
who had any concern with or took cognizance of human affairs. These
|
|
were indeed a scandal and shame to any Christian church. Note, Real
|
|
atheism lies at the bottom of men's disbelief of a future state. Those
|
|
who own a God and a providence, and observe how unequal the
|
|
distributions of the present life are, and how frequently the best men
|
|
fare worst, can hardly doubt an after state, where every thing will be
|
|
set to rights.</P>
|
|
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|
<A NAME="1Co15_35"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Co15_36"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Co15_37"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Co15_38"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Co15_39"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Co15_40"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Co15_41"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Co15_42"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Co15_43"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Co15_44"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Co15_45"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Co15_46"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Co15_47"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Co15_48"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Co15_49"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Co15_50"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec4"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Resurrection of Saints.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM><FONT SIZE=-1>A. D.</FONT> 57.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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|
<FONT SIZE=+1>35 But some <I>man</I> will say, How are the dead raised up? and
|
|
with what body do they come?
|
|
36 <I>Thou</I> fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except
|
|
it die:
|
|
37 And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that
|
|
shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some
|
|
other <I>grain:</I>
|
|
38 But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to
|
|
every seed his own body.
|
|
39 All flesh <I>is</I> not the same flesh: but <I>there is</I> one <I>kind
|
|
of</I> flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes,
|
|
<I>and</I> another of birds.
|
|
40 <I>There are</I> also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial:
|
|
but the glory of the celestial <I>is</I> one, and the <I>glory</I> of the
|
|
terrestrial <I>is</I> another.
|
|
41 <I>There is</I> one glory of the sun, and another glory of the
|
|
moon, and another glory of the stars: for <I>one</I> star differeth
|
|
from <I>another</I> star in glory.
|
|
42 So also <I>is</I> the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in
|
|
corruption; it is raised in incorruption:
|
|
43 It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown
|
|
in weakness; it is raised in power:
|
|
44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.
|
|
There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
|
|
45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living
|
|
soul; the last Adam <I>was made</I> a quickening spirit.
|
|
46 Howbeit that <I>was</I> not first which is spiritual, but that
|
|
which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
|
|
47 The first man <I>is</I> of the earth, earthy: the second man <I>is</I>
|
|
the Lord from heaven.
|
|
48 As <I>is</I> the earthy, such <I>are</I> they also that are earthy:
|
|
and as <I>is</I> the heavenly, such <I>are</I> they also that are heavenly.
|
|
49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also
|
|
bear the image of the heavenly.
|
|
50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot
|
|
inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit
|
|
incorruption.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
The apostle comes now to answer a plausible and principal objection
|
|
against the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, concerning which
|
|
observe the proposal of the objection: <I>Some man will say, How are
|
|
the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:35"><I>v.</I> 35</A>.
|
|
|
|
The objection is plainly two-fold. <I>How are they raised up?</I> that
|
|
is, "By what means? How can they be raised? What power is equal to this
|
|
effect?" It was an opinion that prevailed much among the heathens, and
|
|
the Sadducees seem to have been in the same sentiment, that it was not
|
|
within the compass of divine power, <I>mortales æternitate
|
|
donare, aut revocare defunctos--to make mortal men immortal, or revive
|
|
and restore the dead.</I> Such sort of men those seem to have been who
|
|
among the Corinthians denied the resurrection of the dead, and object
|
|
here, "How are they raised? How should they be raised? Is it not
|
|
utterly impossible?" The other part of the objection is about the
|
|
quality of their bodies, who shall rise: "<I>With what body will they
|
|
come?</I> Will it be with the same body, with like shape, and form, and
|
|
stature, and members, and qualities, or various?" The former objection
|
|
is that of those who opposed the doctrine, the latter the enquiry of
|
|
curious doubters.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. To the former the apostle replies by telling them this was to be
|
|
brought about by divine power, that very power which they had all
|
|
observed to do something very like it, year after year, in the death
|
|
and revival of the corn; and therefore it was an argument of great
|
|
weakness and stupidity to doubt whether the resurrection of the dead
|
|
might not be effected by the same power: <I>Thou fool! that which thou
|
|
sowest is not quickened unless it die,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:36"><I>v.</I> 36</A>.
|
|
|
|
It must first corrupt, before it will quicken and spring up. It not
|
|
only sprouts after it is dead, but it must die that it may live. And
|
|
why should any be so foolish as to imagine that the man once dead
|
|
cannot be made to live again, by the same power which every year brings
|
|
the dead grain to life? This is the substance of the apostle's answer
|
|
to the first question. Note, It is a foolish thing to question the
|
|
divine power to raise the dead, when we see it every day quickening and
|
|
reviving things that are dead.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. But he is longer in replying to the second enquiry.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. He begins by observing that there is a change made in the grain that
|
|
is sown: It is <I>not that body which shall be</I> that is sown, but
|
|
<I>bare grain,</I> of wheat or barley, &c.; but God gives it such a
|
|
body as he will, and in such way as he will, only so as to distinguish
|
|
the kinds from each other. Every seed sown has its <I>proper body,</I>
|
|
is constituted of such materials, and figured in such a manner, as are
|
|
proper to it, proper to that kind. This is plainly in the divine power,
|
|
though we no more know how it is done than we know how a dead man is
|
|
raised to life again. It is certain the grain undergoes a great change,
|
|
and it is intimated in this passage that so will the dead, when they
|
|
rise again, and live again, in their bodies, after death.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. He proceeds hence to observe that there is a great deal of variety
|
|
among others bodies, as there is among plants: as,
|
|
|
|
(1.) In bodies of flesh: <I>All flesh is not the same;</I> that of men
|
|
is of one kind, that of beasts another, another that of fishes, and
|
|
that of birds another,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:39"><I>v.</I> 39</A>.
|
|
|
|
There is a variety in all the kinds, and somewhat peculiar in every
|
|
kind, to distinguish it from the other.
|
|
|
|
(2.) In bodies celestial and terrestrial there is also a difference;
|
|
and what is for the glory of one is not for the other; for the true
|
|
glory of every being consists in its fitness for its rank and state.
|
|
Earthly bodies are not adapted to the heavenly regions, nor heavenly
|
|
bodies fitted to the condition of earthly beings. Nay,
|
|
|
|
(3.) There is a variety of glory among heavenly bodies themselves:
|
|
<I>There is one glory of the sun, and another of the moon, and another
|
|
of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:41"><I>v.</I> 41</A>.
|
|
|
|
All this is to intimate to us that the bodies of the dead, when they
|
|
rise, will be so far changed, that they will be fitted for the heavenly
|
|
regions, and that there will be a variety of glories among the bodies
|
|
of the dead, when they shall be raised, as there is among the sun, and
|
|
moon, and stars, nay among the stars themselves. All this carries an
|
|
intimation along with it that it must be as easy to divine power to
|
|
raise the dead, and recover their mouldered bodies, as out of the same
|
|
materials to form so many different kinds of flesh and plants, and, for
|
|
aught we know, celestial bodies as well as terrestrial ones. The sun
|
|
and stars may, for aught we know, be composed of the same materials as
|
|
the earth we tread on, though as much refined and changed by the divine
|
|
skill and power. And can he, out of the same materials, form such
|
|
various beings, and yet not be able to raise the dead? Having thus
|
|
prepared the way, he comes,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. To speak directly to the point: <I>So also,</I> says he, <I>is the
|
|
resurrection of the dead;</I> so (as the plant growing out of the
|
|
putrefied grain), so as no longer to be a terrestrial but a celestial
|
|
body, and varying in glory from the other dead, who are raised, as one
|
|
star does from another. But he specifies some particulars: as,
|
|
|
|
(1.) <I>It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is
|
|
sown.</I> Burying the dead is like sowing them; it is like committing
|
|
the seed to the earth, that it may spring out of it again. And our
|
|
bodies, which are sown, are corruptible, liable to putrefy and moulder,
|
|
and crumble to dust; but, when we rise, they will be out of the power
|
|
of the grave, and never more be liable to corruption.
|
|
|
|
(2.) <I>It is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory.</I> Ours is at
|
|
present a vile body,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Php+3:21">Phil. iii. 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
Nothing is more loathsome than a dead body; it is thrown into the grave
|
|
as a despised and broken vessel, in which there is no pleasure. But at
|
|
the resurrection a glory will be put upon it; it will be made like the
|
|
glorious body of our Saviour; it will be purged from all the dregs of
|
|
earth, and refined into an ethereal substance, and shine out with a
|
|
splendour resembling his.
|
|
|
|
(3.) <I>It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.</I> It is laid
|
|
in the earth, a poor helpless thing, wholly in the power of death,
|
|
deprived of all vital capacities and powers, of life and strength: it
|
|
is utterly unable to move or stir. But when we arise our bodies will
|
|
have heavenly life and vigour infused into them; they will be hale, and
|
|
firm, and durable, and lively, and liable no more to any infirmity,
|
|
weakness, or decay.
|
|
|
|
(4.) <I>It is sown a natural,</I> or <I>animal</I> body, <B><I>soma
|
|
psychikon,</I></B> a body fitted to the low condition and sensitive
|
|
pleasures and enjoyments of this life, which are all gross in
|
|
comparison of the heavenly state and enjoyments. But when we rise it
|
|
will be quite otherwise; our body will rise spiritual. Not that body
|
|
would be changed into spirit: this would be a contradiction in our
|
|
common conceptions; it would be as much as to say, Body changed into
|
|
what is not body, matter made immaterial. The expression is to be
|
|
understood comparatively. We shall at the resurrection have bodies
|
|
purified and refined to the last degree, made light and agile; and,
|
|
though they are not changed into spirit, yet made fit to be perpetual
|
|
associates of spirits made perfect. And why should it not be as much in
|
|
the power of God to raise incorruptible, glorious, lively, spiritual
|
|
bodies, out of the ruins of those vile, corruptible, lifeless, and
|
|
animal ones, as first to make matter out of nothing, and then, out of
|
|
the same mass of matter, produce such variety of beings, both in earth
|
|
and heaven? <I>To God all things are possible;</I> and this cannot be
|
|
impossible.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. He illustrates this by a comparison of the first and second Adam:
|
|
<I>There is an animal body,</I> says he, <I>and there is a spiritual
|
|
body;</I> and then goes into the comparison in several instances.
|
|
|
|
(1.) As we have our natural body, the animal body we have in this
|
|
world, from the first Adam, we expect our spiritual body from the
|
|
second. This is implied in the whole comparison.
|
|
|
|
(2.) This is but consonant to the different characters these two
|
|
persons bear: <I>The first Adam was made a living soul,</I> such a
|
|
being as ourselves, and with a power of propagating such beings as
|
|
himself, and conveying to them a nature and animal body like his own,
|
|
but none other, nor better. The <I>second Adam is a quickening
|
|
Spirit;</I> he is the resurrection and the life,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+11:25">John xi. 25</A>.
|
|
|
|
He hath life in himself, and quickeneth whom he will,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+5:20,21">John v. 20, 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>The first man was of the earth,</I> made out of the earth, and was
|
|
earthy; his body was fitted to the region of his abode: <I>but the
|
|
second Adam is the Lord from heaven;</I> he who came down from heaven,
|
|
and giveth life to the world
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+6:33">John vi. 33</A>);
|
|
|
|
he who came down from heaven and was in heaven at the same time
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+3:13">John iii. 13</A>);
|
|
|
|
the Lord of heaven and earth. If the first Adam could communicate to us
|
|
natural and animal bodies, cannot the second Adam make our bodies
|
|
spiritual ones? If the deputed lord of this lower creation could do
|
|
the one, cannot the Lord from heaven, the Lord of heaven and earth, do
|
|
the other?
|
|
|
|
(3.) We must first have natural bodies from the first Adam before we
|
|
can have spiritual bodies from the second
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:49"><I>v.</I> 49</A>);
|
|
|
|
we <I>must bear the image of the earthy before we can bear the image of
|
|
the heavenly.</I> Such is the established order of Providence. We must
|
|
have weak, frail, mortal bodies by descent from the first Adam, before
|
|
we can have lively, spiritual, and immortal ones by the quickening
|
|
power of the second. We must die before we can live to die no more.
|
|
|
|
(4.) Yet if we are Christ's, true believers in him (for this whole
|
|
discourse relates to the resurrection of the saints), it is as certain
|
|
that we shall have spiritual bodies as it is now that we have natural
|
|
or animal ones. By these we are as the first Adam, earthy, we bear his
|
|
image; by those we shall be as the second Adam, have bodies like his
|
|
own, heavenly, and so bear him image. And we are as certainly intended
|
|
to bear the one as we have borne the other. As surely therefore as we
|
|
have had natural bodies, we shall have spiritual ones. The dead in
|
|
Christ shall not only rise, but shall rise thus gloriously changed.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
5. He sums up this argument by assigning the reason of this change
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:50"><I>v.</I> 50</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Now this I say that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of
|
|
God; nor doth corruption inherit incorruption.</I> The natural body is
|
|
flesh and blood, consisting of bones, muscles, nerves, veins, arteries,
|
|
and their several fluids; and, as such, it is of a corruptible frame
|
|
and form, liable to dissolution, to rot and moulder. But no such thing
|
|
shall inherit the heavenly regions; for this were for corruption to
|
|
inherit incorruption, which is little better than a contradiction in
|
|
terms. The heavenly inheritance is incorruptible, and never fadeth
|
|
away,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Pe+1:4">1 Pet. i. 4</A>.
|
|
|
|
How can this be possessed by flesh and blood, which is corruptible and
|
|
will fade away? It must be changed into ever-during substance, before
|
|
it can be capable of possessing the heavenly inheritance. The sum is
|
|
that the bodies of the saints, when they shall rise again, will be
|
|
greatly changed from what they are now, and much for the better. They
|
|
are now corruptible, flesh and blood; they will be then incorruptible,
|
|
glorious, and spiritual bodies, fitted to the celestial world and
|
|
state, where they are ever afterwards to dwell, and have their eternal
|
|
inheritance.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="1Co15_51"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Co15_52"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Co15_53"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Co15_54"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Co15_55"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Co15_56"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Co15_57"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec5"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Resurrection of Saints.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM><FONT SIZE=-1>A. D.</FONT> 57.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>51 Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we
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shall all be changed,
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52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump:
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for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised
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incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
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53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this
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mortal <I>must</I> put on immortality.
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54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and
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this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought
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to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in
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victory.
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55 O death, where <I>is</I> thy sting? O grave, where <I>is</I> thy
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victory?
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56 The sting of death <I>is</I> sin; and the strength of sin <I>is</I>
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the law.
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57 But thanks <I>be</I> to God, which giveth us the victory through
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our Lord Jesus Christ.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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To confirm what he had said of this change,</P>
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<P>
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I. He here tells them what had been concealed from or unknown to them
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till then--that all the saints would not die, but all would be changed.
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Those that are alive at our Lord's coming will be caught up into the
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clouds, without dying,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Th+4:11">1 Thess. iv. 11</A>.
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But it is plain from this passage that it will not be without changing
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from corruption to incorruption. The frame of their living bodies
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shall be thus altered, as well as those that are dead; and this <I>in a
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moment, in the twinkling of an eye,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:52"><I>v.</I> 52</A>.
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What cannot almighty power effect? That power that calls the dead into
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life can surely thus soon and suddenly change the living; for changed
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they must be as well as the dead, because flesh and blood cannot
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inherit the kingdom of God. This is the mystery which the apostle
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shows the Corinthians: <I>Behold, I show you a mystery;</I> or bring
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into open light a truth dark and unknown before. Note, There are many
|
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mysteries shown to us in the gospel; many truths that before were
|
|
utterly unknown are there made known; many truths that were but dark
|
|
and obscure before are there brought into open day, and plainly
|
|
revealed; and many things are in part revealed that will never be fully
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known, nor perhaps clearly understood. The apostle here makes known a
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truth unknown before, which is that the saints living at our Lord's
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second coming will not die, but be changed, that this change will be
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made in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, and <I>at the sound of
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the last trump;</I> for, as he tells us elsewhere, the <I>Lord himself
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shall descend with a shout, with a voice of the archangel, and with the
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trump of God</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Th+4:16">1 Thess. iv. 16</A>),
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so here, <I>the trumpet must sound.</I> It is the loud summons of all
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the living and all the dead, to come and appear at the tribunal of
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Christ. At this summons the graves shall open, the dead saints shall
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rise incorruptible, and the living saints be changed to the same
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incorruptible state,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:52"><I>v.</I> 52</A>.</P>
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<P>
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II. He assigns the reason of this change
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:53"><I>v.</I> 53</A>):
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<I>For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must
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|
put on immortality.</I> How otherwise could the man be a fit inhabitant
|
|
of the incorruptible regions, or be fitted to possess the eternal
|
|
inheritance? How can that which is corruptible and mortal enjoy what
|
|
is incorruptible, permanent, and immortal? This corruptible body must
|
|
be made incorruptible, this mortal body must be changed into immortal,
|
|
that the man may be capable of enjoying the happiness designed for him.
|
|
Note, It is this corruptible that must put on incorruption; the
|
|
demolished fabric that must be reared again. What is sown must be
|
|
quickened. Saints will come in their own bodies
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:38"><I>v.</I> 38</A>),
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not in other bodies.</P>
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<P>
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III. He lets us know what will follow upon this change of the living
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and dead in Christ: <I>Then shall be brought to pass that saying, Death
|
|
is swallowed up in victory;</I> or, <I>He will swallow up death in
|
|
victory.</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+25:8">Isa. xxv. 8</A>.
|
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For <I>mortality shall be then swallowed up of life</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Co+5:4">2 Cor. v. 4</A>),
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|
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and death perfectly subdued and conquered, and saints for ever
|
|
delivered from its power. Such a conquest shall be obtained over it
|
|
that it shall for ever disappear in those regions to which our Lord
|
|
will bear his risen saints. And therefore will the saints hereupon sing
|
|
their <B><I>epinikion,</I></B> their <I>song of triumph.</I> Then, when
|
|
this mortal shall have put on immortality, will death be swallowed up,
|
|
for ever swallowed up, <B><I>eis nikos.</I></B> Christ hinders it from
|
|
swallowing his saints when they die; but, when they rise again, death
|
|
shall, as to them, be swallowed for ever. And upon this destruction of
|
|
death will they break out into a song of triumph.</P>
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<P>
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|
1. They will glory over death as a vanquished enemy, and insult this
|
|
great and terrible destroyer: "<I>O death! where is thy sting?</I>
|
|
Where is now thy sting, thy power to hurt? What mischief hast thou done
|
|
us? We are dead; but behold we live again, and shall die no more. Thou
|
|
art vanquished and disarmed, and we are out of the reach of thy deadly
|
|
dart. Where now is thy fatal artillery? Where are thy stores of death?
|
|
We fear no further mischiefs from thee, nor heed thy weapons, but defy
|
|
thy power, and despise thy wrath. And, <I>O grave! where is thy
|
|
victory?</I> Where now is thy victory? What has become of it? Where are
|
|
the spoils and trophies of it? Once we were thy prisoners, but the
|
|
prison-doors are burst open, the locks and bolts have been forced to
|
|
give way, our shackles are knocked off, and we are for ever released.
|
|
Captivity is taken captive. The imaginary victor is conquered, and
|
|
forced to resign his conquest and release his captives. Thy triumphs,
|
|
grave, are at an end. The bonds of death are loosed, and we are at
|
|
liberty, and are never more to be hurt by death, nor imprisoned in the
|
|
grave." In a moment, the power of death, and the conquests and spoils
|
|
of the grave, are gone; and, as to the saints, the very signs of them
|
|
will not remain. Where are they? Thus will they raise themselves, when
|
|
they become immortal, to the honour of their Saviour and the praise of
|
|
divine grace: they shall glory over vanquished death.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. The foundation for this triumph is here intimated,
|
|
|
|
(1.) In the account given whence death had its power to hurt: <I>The
|
|
sting of death is sin.</I> This gives venom to his dart: this alone
|
|
puts it into the power of death to hurt and kill. Sin unpardoned, and
|
|
nothing else, can keep any under his power. And the <I>strength of sin
|
|
is the law;</I> it is the divine threatening against the transgressors
|
|
of the law, the curse there denounced, that gives power to sin. Note,
|
|
Sin is the parent of death, and gives it all its hurtful power. <I>By
|
|
one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+5:12">Rom. v. 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is its cursed progeny and offspring.
|
|
|
|
(2.) In the account given of the victory saints obtain over it through
|
|
Jesus Christ,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:56"><I>v.</I> 56</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>The sting of death is sin;</I> but Christ, by dying, has taken out
|
|
this sting. He has made atonement for sin; he has obtained remission of
|
|
it. It may hiss therefore, but it cannot hurt. <I>The strength of sin
|
|
is the law;</I> but the curse of the law is removed by our Redeemer's
|
|
<I>becoming a curse for us.</I> So that sin is deprived of its strength
|
|
and sting, through Christ, that is, by his incarnation, suffering, and
|
|
death. Death may seize a believer, but cannot sting him, cannot hold
|
|
him in his power. There is a day coming when the grave shall open, the
|
|
bands of death be loosed, the dead saints revive, and become
|
|
incorruptible and immortal, and put out of the reach of death for ever.
|
|
And then will it plainly appear that, as to them, death will have lost
|
|
its strength and sting; and all by the mediation of Christ, by his
|
|
dying in their room. By dying, he conquered death, and spoiled the
|
|
grave; and, through faith in him, believers become sharers in his
|
|
conquests. They often rejoice beforehand, in the hope of this victory;
|
|
and, when they arise glorious from the grave, they will boldly triumph
|
|
over death. Note, It is altogether owing to the grace of God in Christ
|
|
that sin is pardoned and death disarmed. The law puts arms into the
|
|
hand of death, to destroy the sinner; but pardon of sin takes away this
|
|
power from the law, and deprives death of its strength and sting. It is
|
|
<I>by the grace of God, through the redemption which is in Christ
|
|
Jesus, that we are freely justified,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+3:24">Rom. iii. 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is no wonder, therefore,
|
|
|
|
(3.) If this triumph of the saints over death should issue in
|
|
thanksgiving to God: <I>Thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory
|
|
through Christ Jesus, our Lord,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:57"><I>v.</I> 57</A>.
|
|
|
|
The way to sanctify all our joy is to make it tributary to the praise
|
|
of God. Then only do we enjoy our blessings and honours in a holy
|
|
manner when God has his revenue of glory out of it, and we are free to
|
|
pay it to him. And this really improves and exalts our satisfaction. We
|
|
are conscious at once of having done our duty and enjoyed our pleasure.
|
|
And what can be more joyous in itself than the saints' triumph over
|
|
death, when they shall rise again? And shall they not then rejoice in
|
|
the Lord, and be glad in the God of their salvation? Shall not their
|
|
souls magnify the Lord? When he shows <I>such wonders to the dead,
|
|
shall they not arise and praise him?</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+88:10">Ps. lxxxviii. 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
Those who remain under the power of death can have no heart to praise;
|
|
but such conquests and triumphs will certainly tune the tongues of the
|
|
saints to thankfulness and praise--praise for the victory (it is great
|
|
and glorious in itself), and for the means whereby it is obtained (it
|
|
is given of God through Christ Jesus), a victory obtained not by our
|
|
power, but the power of God; not given because we are worthy, but
|
|
because Christ is so, and has by dying obtained this conquest for us.
|
|
Must not this circumstance endear the victory to us, and heighten our
|
|
praise to God? Note, How many springs of joy to the saints and
|
|
thanksgiving to God are opened by the death and resurrection, the
|
|
sufferings and conquests, of our Redeemer! With what acclamations will
|
|
saints rising from the dead applaud him! How will the heaven of heavens
|
|
resound his praises for ever! <I>Thanks be to God</I> will be the
|
|
burden of their song; and angels will join the chorus, and declare
|
|
their consent with a loud Amen, Hallelujah.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="1Co15_58"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec6"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>
|
|
The Obligations of Christians.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM><FONT SIZE=-1>A. D.</FONT> 57.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable,
|
|
always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know
|
|
that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
In this verse we have the improvement of the whole argument, in an
|
|
exhortation, enforced by a motive resulting plainly from it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. An exhortation, and this threefold:--
|
|
|
|
1. That they should be stedfast--<B><I>hedraioi,</I></B> firm, fixed in
|
|
the faith of the gospel, that gospel which he had preached and they had
|
|
received, namely, <I>That Christ died for our sins, and arose again the
|
|
third day, according to the scriptures</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:3,4"><I>v.</I> 3, 4</A>),
|
|
|
|
and fixed in the faith of the glorious resurrection of the dead, which,
|
|
as he had shown, had so near and necessary a connection with the
|
|
former. "Do not let your belief of these truths be shaken or staggered.
|
|
They are most certain, and of the last importance." Note, Christians
|
|
should be stedfast believers of this great article of the resurrection
|
|
of the dead. It is evidently founded on the death of Christ. <I>Because
|
|
he lives, his servants shall live also,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+14:19">John xiv. 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
And it is of the last importance; a disbelief of a future life will
|
|
open a way to all manner of licentiousness, and corrupt men's morals to
|
|
the last degree. It will be easy and natural to infer hence that we
|
|
may live like beasts, and eat and drink, for to-morrow we die.
|
|
|
|
2. He exhorts them to be <I>immovable,</I> namely, in their expectation
|
|
of this great privilege of being raised incorruptible and immortal.
|
|
Christians should not be moved away from this hope of this gospel
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Col+1:23">Col. i. 23</A>),
|
|
|
|
this glorious and blessed hope; they should not renounce nor resign
|
|
their comfortable expectations. They are not vain, but solid hopes,
|
|
built upon sure foundations, the purchase and power of their risen
|
|
Saviour, and the promise of God, to whom it is impossible to lie--hopes
|
|
that shall be their most powerful supports under all the pressures of
|
|
life, the most effectual antidotes against the fears of death, and the
|
|
most quickening motives to diligence and perseverance in Christian
|
|
duty. Should they part with these hopes? Should they suffer them to be
|
|
shaken? Note, Christians should live in the most firm expectation of a
|
|
blessed resurrection. This hope should be an anchor to their souls,
|
|
firm and sure,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+6:19">Heb. vi. 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
3. He exhorts them <I>to abound in the work of the Lord,</I> and that
|
|
<I>always,</I> in the Lord's service, in obeying the Lord's commands.
|
|
They should be diligent and persevering herein, and going on towards
|
|
perfection; they should be continually making advances in true piety,
|
|
and ready and apt for every good work. The most cheerful duty, the
|
|
greatest diligence, the most constant perseverance, become those who
|
|
have such glorious hopes. Can we too much abound in zeal and diligence
|
|
in the Lord's work, when we are assured of such abundant recompences in
|
|
a future life? What vigour and resolution, what constancy and patience,
|
|
should those hopes inspire! Note, Christians should not stint
|
|
themselves as to their growth in holiness, but be always improving in
|
|
sound religion, and abounding in the work of the Lord.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. The motive resulting from the former discourse is that their
|
|
<I>labour shall not be in vain in the Lord;</I> nay, they know it shall
|
|
not. They have the best grounds in the world to build upon: they have
|
|
all the assurance that can rationally be expected: as surely as Christ
|
|
is risen, they shall rise; and Christ is as surely risen as the
|
|
scriptures are true, and the word of God. The apostles saw him after
|
|
his death, testified this truth to the world in the face of a thousand
|
|
deaths and dangers, and confirmed it by miraculous powers received from
|
|
him. Is there any room to doubt a fact so well attested? Note, True
|
|
Christians have undoubted evidence that their labour will not be in
|
|
vain in the Lord; not their most diligent services, nor their most
|
|
painful sufferings; they will not be in vain, not be vain and
|
|
unprofitable. Note, The labour of Christians will not be lost labour;
|
|
they may lose for God, but they will lose nothing by him; nay, there is
|
|
more implied than is expressed in this phrase: it means that they shall
|
|
be abundantly rewarded. He will never be found unjust to forget their
|
|
labour of love,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+6:10">Heb. vi. 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
Nay, he will do exceedingly abundantly above what they can now ask or
|
|
think. Neither the services they do for him, nor the sufferings they
|
|
endure for him here, are worthy to be compared with the joy hereafter
|
|
to be revealed in them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+8:18">Rom. viii. 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, Those who serve God have good wages; they cannot do too much nor
|
|
suffer too much for so good a Master. If they serve him now, they shall
|
|
see him hereafter; if they suffer for him on earth, they shall reign
|
|
with him in heaven; if they die for his sake, they shall rise again
|
|
from the dead, be crowned with glory, honour, and immortality, and
|
|
inherit eternal life.</P>
|
|
|
|
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