Chapter XVIII: Part 18

(2.) This may serve as an encouraging motive to induce Christians to hold on their way. Whatever difficulties or distressing providences they may meet with in this life, if they have the earnest and foretastes of heaven at any time, this will make their afflictions seem light; inasmuch as they work for them a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. And if they are rather waiting and hoping for them, than actually enjoying them, let them adore and depend on the sovereignty of God, who dispenses these comforts when he pleases: and if they are destitute of the joy of faith, let them endeavour to be found in the lively exercise of the direct acts thereof, trusting in Christ, though they have not such sensible communion with him as others have; and let them bless God, (though they have not those foretastes of the heavenly glory, which accompany a full assurance thereof,) if they have a quiet, composed frame of spirit, and are not given up to desponding thoughts, or unbelieving fears, and have ground to conclude, that though their state be not so comfortable as that of others; yet it is no less safe, and shall, at last, issue into the fruition of that felicity of which others have the first-fruits here on earth.

(3.) Let them who are at any time favoured with this privilege of assurance, and the joy that arises from it, walk very humbly with God, as being sensible that this frame of spirit is not owing to themselves, but to the quickening and sealing influences of the Holy Ghost; and if, by neglecting to depend on him for the continuance thereof, we provoke him to leave us to ourselves, we shall soon lose this desirable frame, and be left in darkness: since as without him we can do nothing, so without his continued presence we can enjoy none of those privileges which tend to make our lives comfortable, and give us an anticipation of future glory.

Footnote 109:

_See Quest._ lxxxvi. xc.

Footnote 110:

Reflecting as mirrors, or beholding as by mirrors.

Footnote 111:

_Vid. Dauberi orat. Funeb. ad front. & Hor. Noviss. ad calc. Tom. 3.
Riveti operum: in which he is represented as saying, Nolite mei causa
dolere, ultima hæc momenta nihil habent funesti; corpus languet
quidem, at anima robore & consolatione plena est, nec impedit paries
iste intergerinus, nebula ista exigua, quo minus lucem Dei videam.
Atq; exinde magis magisque optavit dissolvi & cum Christo esse.
Sufficit mi Deus exclamabat subinde, sufficit, suscipe animam meam:
Non tamen moram impatienter fero. Expecto, credo, persevero, dimoveri
nequeo, Dei Spiritus meo spiritui testatur, me ex filiis suis esse. O
amorem ineffabilem! id quod sentio, omnem expressionem alte
transcendit. Veni Domine Jesu, veni, etenim deficio, nan quidem
impatiens Domine, sed anima mea respicit te ut terra sicca. Preces &
votum, ut Deus Paradisum aperiret, & huic fideli servo suo faciem suam
ostenderet; his verbis supplevit; cum animabus justorem sanctificatis;
Amen, Amen. Exinde lingua præpedita verbo affirmare; mox ad vocem
adstantium, ipsum jam visione Dei frui, annuere; paulo post sub mediam
decimam matutinam placide in Domino obdormiit._

Footnote 112:

_See Fleming’s Fulfilling of the Scripture, in fol. Part 1. page 287._

Footnote 113:

_See Dr. Goodwin’s Works, Vol. 5. in his life, page 19._

Footnote 114:

_See the Memoirs of the Life of Mr. Halyburton, Cap. 6._

Footnote 115:

_See this argument improved by Mr. Fleming_, _in his Fulfilling of the
Scripture_, _Edit. in Fol. page 394_, & seq. _in which he takes
several remarkable passages out of Melchoir Adam’s Lives, and gives
several instances of that extraordinary communion which some have had
with God, both in life and death; whose conversation was well known in
Scotland; so that he mentions it as what is a matter undeniably true:
and he relates other things concerning the assurance and joy which
some have had; which has afforded them the sweetest comforts in
prisons and dungeons, and given them a foretaste of heaven, when they
have been called to suffer death for Christ’s sake._

Footnote 116:

_See Page 252, ante._

Footnote 117:

_See Vol. II. page 151._

Quest. LXXXIV., LXXXV.

QUEST. LXXXIV. _Shall all men die?_

ANSW. Death being threatened as the wages of sin, it is appointed
unto all men once to die; for that all have sinned.

QUEST. LXXXV. _Death being the wages of sin, why are not the
righteous delivered from death, seeing all their sins are forgiven
in Christ?_

ANSW. The righteous shall be delivered from death itself at the last
day, and even in death are delivered from the sting and curse of it;
so that, although they die, yet it is out of God’s love, to free
them perfectly from sin and misery; and to make them capable of
farther communion with Christ in glory, which they then enter upon.

In these answers we have an account,

I. Of the unalterable purpose of God, or his appointment that all men once must die; which is also considered as the wages of sin.

II. It is supposed, that death has a sting and curse attending it with respect to force.

III. It is the peculiar privilege of the righteous, that though they shall not be delivered from death, yet this shall redound to their advantage: For,

1. The sting and curse of it is taken from them.

2. Their dying is the result of God’s love to them; and that in three respects,

(1.) As they are thereby freed from sin and misery.

(2.) As they are made capable of farther communion with Christ in glory, beyond what they can have in this world.

(3.) As they shall immediately enter upon that glorious and blessed state when they die.

I. God has determined, by an unalterable purpose and decree, that all men must die. Whatever different sentiments persons may have about other things, this remains an incontestable truth. We have as much reason to conclude that we shall leave the world, as, at present, we have that we live in it. _I know_, says Job, _that thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living_, Job xxx. 23. and upon this account the Psalmist says, _I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were_, Psal. xxxix. 12. And if scripture had been wholly silent about the frailty of man, daily experience would have afforded a sufficient proof of it. We have much said concerning man’s mortality in the writings of the heathen; but they are at a loss to determine the origin or first cause of it; and therefore they consider it as the unavoidable consequence of the frame of nature, arising from the contexture thereof, as that which is formed out of the dust must be resolved into its first principle; or that which is composed of flesh and blood, cannot but be liable to corruption. But we have this matter set in a true light in scripture, which considers death as the consequence of man’s first apostacy from God. Before this he was immortal, and would have always remained so, had he not violated the covenant, in which the continuance of his immortality was secured to him; the care of providence would have prevented a dissolution, either from the decays of nature, or any external means leading to it. And therefore some of the Socinian writers have been very bold in contradicting the express account we have hereof in Scripture, when they assert that death was, at first, the consequence of nature;[118] for which reason man would have been liable to it, though he had not sinned; whereas the apostle says, _By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned_, Rom. v. 12.

We have a particular account of this in the sentence God passed on our first parents immediately after their fall; when having denounced a curse upon the ground for their sake, he says, _Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return_, Gen. iii. 19. And it may be observed, that as this is unavoidable, pursuant to the decree of God, so the constitution of our nature, as well as the external dispensations of providence, lead to it. This sentence no sooner took place, but the temperament of human bodies was altered,[119] the jarring principles of nature, on the due temperament whereof life and health depends, could not but have a tendency by degrees to destroy the frame thereof; if there be too great a confluence of humours, or a defect thereof; if heat or cold immoderately prevails; if the circulation of the blood and juices be too swift or slow: or if the food on which we live, or the air which we breathe be not agreeable to the constitution of our nature, or any external violence be offered to it; all these things have a necessary tendency to weaken the frame of nature, and bring on a dissolution. David includes the various means by which men die, in three general heads, speaking concerning Saul, _The Lord shall smite him, or his day shall come to die, or he shall descend into battle, and perish: the Lord shall smite him_, 1 Sam. xxvi. 10. denotes a person’s dying by a sudden stroke of providence, in which there is the more immediate hand of God; and his _falling into battle_, a violent death by the hands of men; in both which respects men die before that time which they might have lived to, according to the course of nature; and what is said concerning his _day’s coming to die_; that is, a person’s dying what we call a natural death, or when nature is so spent and wasted that it can no longer subsist by all the skill of the physicians, or virtue of medicine; and then the soul leaves its habitation, when it is not longer able to perform the functions of life.

We might here consider those diseases that are the fore-runners of death, which sometimes are more acute; and by this means, as one elegantly expresses it, nature feels the cruel victory before it yields to the enemy. As a ship that is tossed by a mighty tempest, and by the concussion of the winds and waves, loses its rudder and masts, takes water in every part, and gradually sinks into the ocean: so in the shipwreck of nature, the body is so shaken and weakened by the violence of a disease, that the senses, the animal and vital operations decline, and, at last, are extinguished in death.[120] This seemed, so formidable to good Hezekiah, that he utters that mournful complaint, _Mine age is departed and removed from me as a shepherd’s tent: I have cut off like a weaver, my life; he will cut me off with pining sickness: from day even to night, wilt thou make an end of me. I reckoned till the morning, that as a lion, so will he break all my bones: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me_, Isa. xxxvii. 12, 13.

We might here consider the empire of death as universal; as the wise man says, _One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh_, Eccl. i. 4. and then they pass away also, like the ebbing and flowing of the sea. Death spares none; the strongest constitution can no more withstand its stroke, than the weakest; no age of man is exempted from it. This is beautifully described by Job; _One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet: his breasts are full of milk, and his bones are moistened with marrow: and another dieth in the bitterness of his soul; and never eateth with pleasure: they shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover them_, Job xxi. 23-26.

We might also consider the body after death, as a prey for worms, the seat of corruption; and lodged in the grave, the house appointed for all living; and then an end is put to all the actions, as well as enjoyments of this life; and, as the Psalmist speaks, _In that very day_ all _their thoughts perish_, Psal. cxlvi. 4. Whatever they have been projecting, whatever schemes they have laid, either for themselves or others, are all broken: as the historian observes concerning the Roman emperor, that when he had formed great designs for the advantage of the empire,[121] death broke all his measures, and prevented the execution thereof.

We might also consider it as putting an end to our present enjoyments, removing us from the society of our dearest friends, to a dismal and frightful solitude. This was one of the consequences thereof, that was very afflictive to Hezekiah, when he says, _I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world_, Isa. xxxviii. 11. It also strips us of all our possessions, and the honours we have been advanced to in this world, as the Psalmist speaks, _When he dieth he shall carry nothing away, his glory shall not descend after him_, Psal. xlix. 27.

We might also consider the time of life and death as being in God’s hand. As we were brought into the world by the sovereignty of his providence, so we are called out of it at his pleasure; concerning whom it is said, _Our times are in his hand_, Psal. xxxi. 15. So that as nothing is more certain than death, nothing is more uncertain to us than the time when. This God has concealed from us for wise ends. Did we know that we should soon die, it would discourage us from attempting any thing great in life; and did we know that the lease of life was long, and we should certainly arrive to old age; this might occasion the delaying all concerns about our soul’s welfare, as presuming that it was time enough to think of the affairs of religion and another world, when we apprehend ourselves to be near the confines thereof; and therefore, God has by this, made it our wisdom, as well as our duty, to be waiting all the days of our appointed time, till our change come.

From what has been said under this head, we may learn,

1. The vanity of man as mortal. Indeed, if we look on believers as enjoying that happiness which lies beyond the grave, there is a very different view of things; but as to what respects the world we have reason to say as the Psalmist does, _Verily, every man at his best estate is altogether vanity_, Psal. xxxix. 5. We may see the vanity of all those honours and carnal pleasures which many pursue with so much eagerness, as though they had nothing else to mind, nothing to make provision for but the flesh, which they do at the expence of that which is in itself most excellent and desirable: We may also infer,

2. That this affords an undeniable and universal motive to humility; since death knows no distinction of persons, regards the rich no more than the poor; puts no mark of distinction between the remains of a prince and a peasant; and not only takes away every thing that men value themselves upon, but levels the highest part of mankind with common dust: They who boast of their extract, descent, and kindred, are obliged, with Job, to say, _to corruption, Thou art my father; to the worm, Thou art my mother and my sister_, Job xvii. 14. Shall we be proud of our habitations, _who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust?_ chap. iv. 19. Are any proud of their youth and beauty? this is, at best, but like a flower that does not abide long in its bloom, and when cut down, it withers. The finest features are not only spoiled by death, but rendered unpleasant and ghastly to behold; and accordingly are removed out of sight, and laid in the grave.

3. From the consideration of man’s liableness to death, and those diseases that lead to it, as the wages of sin, we may infer; that sin is a bitter and formidable evil. The cause is to be judged of by its effects. As death, accompanied with all those diseases which are the forerunners of it, is the greatest natural evil that we are liable to; sin, from whence it took its rise, must be the greatest moral evil; we should never reflect on the one without lying low before God in a sense of the other. The Psalmist, when meditating on his own mortality, traces it to the spring thereof; and ascribes it to those rebukes with which _God corrects men for their iniquities_, that they die, and their _beauty consumes away like a moth_, Psal. xxxix. 11. And elsewhere, when he compares the life of man to the _grass_, which _in the morning fourisheth, and groweth up; and in the evening is cut down and withereth, he immediately adds; thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy countenance_, Psal. xc. 6, 8. And when Hezekiah had an intimation of his recovery, after he had the sentence of death within himself, he speaks of his deliverance from the _pit of corruption_, Isa. xxxviii. 17. as that which was accompanied with God’s _casting all his sins behind his back_. And since we cannot be delivered from these sad effects of sin, till the frame of nature is dissolved, and afterwards rebuilt; it should put us upon using those proper methods whereby we may be freed from the guilt and dominion thereof; and accordingly it should have a tendency to promote a life of holiness in us.

4. From the uncertainty of life, let us be induced to improve our present time, and endeavour so to live, as that, when God calls us hence, we may be ready. And therefore, we ought to pray with the Psalmist, _So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom_, Psal. xc. 12. that by this means, that which deprives us of all earthly enjoyments, may give us an admission into a better world, and be the gate to eternal life. This leads us to consider,

II. That death has a sting and curse annexed to it, with respect to some. Thus the apostle expressly says, _The sting of death is sin_, 1 Cor. xv. 56. As sin at first brought death into the world; so it is the guilt thereof, lying on the consciences of men, which is the principal thing that makes them afraid to leave the world; not but that death is, in itself, an evil that nature cannot think of without some reluctancy. And therefore the apostle Paul, although he expresses that assurance which he had of happiness in another world, which he _groaned_ after, and _earnestly_ longed to be possessed of; yet had it been put to his choice, he would have wished that he could have been _clothed upon with the house which is from heaven_, 2 Cor. v. 2. that is, had it been the will of God, that he might have been brought to heaven without going the way of all the earth, this would have been more agreeable to nature. But when the two evils of death meet together, namely, that which is abhorrent to nature, and the sting which makes it much more formidable, this is, beyond measure, distressing. In this answer, the sting and curse of death are both put together, as implying the same thing. Accordingly, it is that whereby a person apprehends himself liable to the condemning sentence of the law, separated from God, and excluded from his favour, so that death appears to him to be the beginning of sorrows; this is that which tends to embitter it, and fills him with dread and horror at the thoughts of it. Which leads us,

III. To shew that it is the peculiar privilege of the righteous, that though they shall not be delivered from death, yet this shall redound to their advantage. That they shall not be exempted from death is evident; because the decree of God relating hereunto, extends to all men. We read, indeed, of two that escaped the grave, viz. Enoch, who was translated that he should not see death, and Elijah, who was carried to heaven in a fiery chariot; but these are extraordinary instances, not designed as precedents, by which we may judge of the common lot of believers. And the saints that shall be found alive at Christ’s second coming, shall undergo a change[122], as the apostle speaks; which though it be equivalent to death, it cannot properly be styled a dying; inasmuch as he opposes it thereunto, when he says, _We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed_, 1 Cor. xv. 51. and he speaks of it as a future dispensation of providence, which does not immediately concern us in this present age. Therefore we must not conclude that believers are delivered from the stroke of death; nevertheless, this is ordered for their good, as the apostle says, with a particular application to himself, _For me to die is gain_, Phil. i. 21. And when he speaks of the many blessings that believers have in possession or in reversion, he says, _Death is yours_; as though he should say, it shall redound to your advantage; and this it does if we consider,

1. That the sting of death is taken away from them. This is the result of their being in a justified state; for since a person’s being liable to the condemning sentence of the law is the principal thing that has a tendency to make him uneasy, and may be truly called the sting that wounds the conscience; so a sense of his interest in forgiveness through the blood of Christ, tends to give peace to it; such an one can say, who shall lay any thing to my charge? It is God that justifieth; or though I have contracted guilt, which renders me unworthy of his favour; yet I am persuaded that this guilt is removed; and therefore iniquity shall not be my ruin; and even death itself shall bring me to the possession of those blessings that were purchased for me by the blood of Christ, which I have been enabled to apply to myself by faith; and with this confidence he can say with the apostle, _O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?_ 1 Cor. xv. 55.

2. Their dying is an instance of God’s love to them. As those whom Christ is said to have _loved in the world, he loved unto the end_ of his life; so he loves them to the end of theirs, John xiii. 1. And as nothing has hitherto separated them from this love, nothing shall be able to do it. There are _three_ instances wherein the love of God to dying believers discovers itself.

(1.) In that they are hereby freed from sin and misery; this they never were, nor can be till then. As for sin, there are the remainders thereof in the best of men, which give them great disturbance, and occasion for that daily conflict which there is between flesh and spirit, as has been before observed. But at death the conflict will be at an end, and the victory which they shall obtain over it, compleat. There shall be no law in the members warring against the law of the mind; no propensity or inclination to what is evil; nor any guilt or defilement contracted; which would be inconsistent with a state of perfect holiness. And as it is a state of perfect happiness, there is an entire freedom from all those miseries which sin brought into this lower world. These are either internal or external, personal or relative; none of which shall occur to allay, or give any disturbance to the saints’ blessedness after death. But more of this will be considered under a following answer; in which we shall be led to speak of the happiness of the righteous at the day of judgment, both in soul and body[123]; and therefore we proceed to consider,

(2.) That the death of a believer appears to be an instance of divine love, in that hereby he is made capable of farther communion with Christ in glory. Persons must be made meet for heaven before they are admitted to it. Though our present season and day of grace is a time in which God is training his people up for glory; and there is an habitual preparation for it, when the work of grace is begun; which is what the apostle intends when he speaks of some who are _made meet to be made partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light_, Col. ii. 12. when they were first translated into Christ’s kingdom: nevertheless this falls very short of that actual meetness which the saints must have when they are brought to the possession of the heavenly blessedness. Then they shall be made perfect in holiness, as will be observed in the next answer; otherwise there can be no perfect happiness.

And besides this, the soul must be more enlarged, that hereby it may be enabled to receive the immediate discoveries of the divine glory, or to converse with the heavenly inhabitants, than it can be here. The frame of nature must be changed; which is what the apostle intends, when he says, _Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither doth corruption inherit incorruption_, 1 Cor. xv. 50. accordingly he adds, ver. 53. _This corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality_; whereby he intimates, that frail, mortal, and corruptible man, is not able to bear that glory which is reserved for a state of immortality. Therefore the soul must be so changed as to be rendered receptive thereof; and in order thereto, all its powers and faculties must be greatly enlarged; otherwise it can no more receive the immediate rays of the divine glory, than the weak and distempered eye can look steady on the sun shining in its meridian brightness. In this world our ideas of divine things are very imperfect, by reason of the narrowness of our capacities, and God condescends to reveal himself to us in proportion thereto; but when the saints shall see him as he is, or have a perfect and immediate vision and fruition of his glory, they shall be made receptive of it; this is done at death; whereby they are rendered capable of farther communion with Christ in glory.[124]

(3.) At death believers immediately enter upon, and are admitted into the possession of this glory. At the same time that the soul is enlarged and fitted for the work and enjoyment of heaven, it is received into it; where it shall have an uninterrupted communion with Christ in glory; which is the subject insisted on in the following answer.

Footnote 118:

_Sequela naturæ._

Footnote 119:

_Before this there was what some call_ temperamentum ad pondus, _which
was lost by sin; and a broken constitution, leading to mortality
ensued thereupon_.

Footnote 120:

_See Dr. Bates on Death, chap._ ii.

Footnote 121:

_Vid. Sueton. in Vit. Jul. Cæs. Talia agentem atq; meditantem mors
prævenit._

Footnote 122:

_See more of this in Quest._ lxxxvii.

Footnote 123:

_See Quest._ xc.

Footnote 124:

The belief of a separate state is very ancient. Cicero and Seneca have
asserted, that all nations believed the immortality of the soul. Yet
we know there were not only individuals, but sects who were
exceptions. Saul the first king of Israel believed that the soul
survived the death of the body, or he would neither have made laws
against necromancers, nor have applied to one in his distresses. If
Samuel was raised, it is a fact, directly in point, but the words
though express, are probably an accommodation to the sentiments of
men. The son of Sirach who lived two hundred years before Christ, says
that Samuel prophesied after he was dead. (Ecclus. c. 46. v. 20.) And
Josephus in his account of the life of Saul, shows his belief to be
that Samuel actually arose. The same feats of apparitions which the
disciples had, still exist with the common people, and are proofs that
they entertain the same sentiment.

Some of the Pharisees, who are represented as believing a separate
state, thought souls might return to other bodies. This was the
opinion of Josephus with respect to the virtuous; and also of those
Jews, who supposed that Jesus was Elijah or Jeremiah; but the question
of the disciples, whether a man had been born blind for his own sins,
implies a possibility of a return also of the wicked into other
bodies. Nevertheless the prevailing opinion of the Pharisees was of a
separate state; otherwise Paul’s professing their sentiments, which
must have been known to him, was disingenuous; nor, if they had known
the difference, would they have protected him. The approbation of the
multitude when he proved the doctrine from the words of Jehovah to
Moses at the bush, (Matt. xxii. 32.) and the parable of Lazarus and
the rich man, evince that the common opinion was such.

This subject, has been enlightened, not first brought to light,
through the Gospel, but plainly asserted: _this day shalt thou be with
me in paradise. At home in the body, and absent from the Lord, absent
from the body, and present with the Lord_, is descriptive but of two
states. The desire _to depart to be with Christ_, shows an immediate
expectation. And otherwise it cannot be said that the spirits of just
men are _made perfect_.

The Jews, Greeks, and Romans assigned the Heaven to the gods, earth to
men, and under the earth (שאול, αδης, inferi) to the dead. The
passages “the spirit shall return to God,” and “the spirit of a man
goeth upwards” are not exceptions, for then they would prove that the
evil, as well as the good, went to heaven. That the spirit is disposed
of by God, and that the spirit of a man survives the death of the
body, seem to be all that is respectively implied. Samuel was believed
to come out of, and return to his place under the earth; and Saul was
to be with him, below the earth; but, possibly, in a different
apartment. Thus Abraham and Lazarus were in sight of, and only divided
from the man in torments by a gulph.

Under the gospel the place of separate saints is represented to be in
Heaven. Heaven had been always assigned to God among the Jews, and
even the heathens thought it the most honourable place: Virgil
assigned it to Cæsar. Jesus declared he came from thence, and would
return thither; and for the comfort of his disciples, told them, he
would prepare a place for them, and take them to himself. They saw him
actually ascend. He is to come from thence, and to bring them with him
to judgment.

This change of representation implies no contradiction, for pure
spirits are not confined to place. Our souls are connected with our
bodies, and therefore go and come with, or rather in them. But when
the connexion is broken, the soul cannot be said to be in one place
more than another, except as it is occupied with material objects. It
can attend to one thing only at once, and therefore when in, it cannot
be out of the body, and must be wherever occupied, but not in any
_place_, except concerned with material objects. The infinite Spirit
had no connexion with space in all the eternity which preceded
creation; since time began as every thing is known and supported by
him, he is said to be in all places. But the idea of place is not
necessary to our conceptions of Spirit.

To speak of the planets as the residence of spirits, and to talk of
souls flying through the _visible_ Heavens in quest of paradise is
idle. If all souls must ascend to Heaven, from India they go in a
direction opposite to our course thither.

There is no sun nor moon enjoyed by saints in glory; the Lord is their
light. And spiritual bodies are not flesh and blood, nor belly, nor
meats; nor corruptible nor mortal; but fit for the society of spirits.
The soul at death is discharged from the prison of these bodies, and
not confined to place. It receives new faculties, which entertain it
with more than substitutes for the sensations it had in the body; it
obtains a perception of light more vivid than in dreams, and
permanent. It enjoys the discernment, society, and communion of other
Spirits; the presence of God and the Redeemer; and progresses in the
knowledge and love of God, and so in holiness and happiness forever.

Quest. LXXXVI.

QUEST. LXXXVI. _What is the communion in glory with Christ, which
the members of the invisible church enjoy immediately after death?_

ANSW. The communion in glory with Christ, which the members of the
invisible church enjoy immediately after death, is, in that their
souls are then made perfect in holiness, and received into the
highest heavens, where they behold the face of God in light and
glory, waiting for the full redemption of their bodies, which, even
in death, continue united to Christ, and rest in their graves as in
their beds, till at the last day they be again united to their
souls: Whereas the souls of the wicked are at death cast into hell,
where they remain in torments and utter darkness, and their bodies
kept in their graves, as in their prisons, till the resurrection and
judgment of the great day.

Having considered the soul as separated from the body by death; the next thing that will be enquired into, is what becomes of it, and how it is disposed of in its separate state? and here we find that there is a vast difference between the righteous and the wicked in this respect: the former have communion with Christ in glory, the latter are in a state of banishment and separation from him; being cast into hell, and there remaining in torments and utter darkness. Both these are particularly insisted on in this answer. In speaking to which, we must consider,

I. That there is something supposed; namely, that the soul of man is immortal; otherwise it could not be capable of happiness or misery.

II. We shall consider the happiness which the members of the invisible church enjoy; which is called communion with Christ in glory.

III. The misery which the souls of the wicked endure at death; which is contained in the latter part of the answer.

I. To speak concerning the thing supposed in this answer; namely, that the soul of man is immortal. This is a subject of that importance, that we must be first convinced of the truth of it before we can conclude that there is a state of happiness or misery in another world. But before we proceed to the proof of it, it is necessary for us to explain what we are to understand thereby; accordingly let it be premised,

1. That we read, in scripture, of the death of the soul, in a spiritual sense, as separated by sin, from God, the fountain of life and blessedness, and as being destitute of a principle of grace; whereby it is utterly indisposed to perform any actions that are spiritually good, as much as a dead man is unable to perform the functions of life. In this sense we are to understand the apostle’s words, _She that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth_, 1 Tim. v. 6. And in this respect unregenerate persons are said to be _dead in trespasses and sins_, Eph. ii. 1. and a condemned state, which is the consequence hereof, is a state of death. Now that which is opposed hereunto, is called, in scripture, a spiritual life, or immortality; but this is not the sense in which we are to consider it in our present argument.

2. Immortality may be considered as an attribute peculiar to God, as the apostle says, _he only hath immortality_, 1 Tim. vi. 16. the meaning of which is, that his life, which includes his Being, and all his perfections, is necessary and independent; but in this respect no creature is immortal; but their life is maintained by the will and providence of God, which gave being to it at first.

3. When we speak of creatures being immortal, we must consider them either as not having any thing in the constitution of their nature, that tends to a dissolution, which cannot be effected by any second cause; or their eternal existence, pursuant to the will of God, who could, had he pleased, have annihilated them. It is in both these senses that we are to consider the immortality of the soul.

That it is in its own nature immortal, has been allowed by many of the Heathens, who have had just conceptions of the spirituality of its nature, possessed due regards to the providence of God, and those marks of distinction that he puts between good and bad men, as the consequence of their behaviour in this life. That the soul survives the body, has been reckoned, by some of the Heathens, as an opinion that has almost universally obtained in the world[125]. Thus Plato introduces Socrates[126] as discoursing largely on this subject, immediately before his death: and, in some, other of his writings, not only asserts, but gives as good proofs of this doctrine as any one, destitute of scripture-light, could do. One of his followers, in the account he gives of his doctrine, recommends and insists on an argument which he brings to prove it, which is not without its weight, namely, that the soul acts from a principle seated in its own nature, and not by the influence of some external cause, as things material do[127]. And Strabo speaks of the ancient Brachmans, among the Indians, as entertaining some notions of the immortality of the soul, and the judgment passed upon it in its separate state; agreeable to what Plato advances on that subject[128].

Some, indeed, have thought that this notion took its rise from Thales, the Milesian, who lived between two and three hundred years before Plato, and about six hundred years before the Christian Æra, from an occasional passage mentioned by Diogenes Laertius, in his life, which is hardly sufficient to justify this supposition; which he brings in only as matter of report[129]: And Cicero[130] supposes it was first propagated by Pherecydes, who was cotemporary with him; though Diogenes Laertius makes no mention of it. But it may be inferred from many things in Homer, the oldest writer in the Greek tongue, who lived above three hundred years before Thales, that the world had entertained some confused ideas of it in his time: As we often find him bringing in the souls of the deceased heroes appearing in a form, and speaking with a voice like that which they had when living, to their surviving friends. And he not only supposes, but plainly intimates that their souls existed in a separate state[131]. And in other places he represents some suffering punishment for their crimes committed here on earth[132]; which plainly argues, whatever fabulous account we have of the nature of punishment, or the person suffering it, that it was an opinion, generally received at that time, that the soul existed in a separate state.

And, indeed, this maybe inferred from the doctrine of Dæmons, or the superstitious worship of the heathens, which they paid to the souls of those heroes who formerly lived on earth, and had done some things which they thought rendered them the peculiar favourites of God, and the objects of worship by men; and that their souls existed with God in great honour and favour in a separate state[133]. But passing this by, it may be farther observed, that whatever notions some of the heathens had of the immortality of the soul in general; they were very much at a loss, many of them, in determining the place, or many things relating to the state in which they were; and therefore many of them, with Pythagoras, asserted the doctrine of transmigration of souls, or their passing from one body to another; and being condemned to reside in vile and dishonourable bodies; which, though it perverts, yet doth not overthrow the doctrine of the soul’s immortality; and others seemed to doubt whether, after four or five courses of transmigration of souls from one body to another, they might not at last shrivel into nothing.

It must also be acknowledged, that there was a considerable party among the heathen that adhered to the sentiments of Epicurus, who denied the immortality of the soul, as supposing it to be material. And the Sadducees are represented, in scripture, as imbibing that notion; who are said to deny both angels and spirits, Acts xxiii. 8. In this respect they gave into his philosophy, as to what concerns his denying the immortality of the soul, or its existence in a future state[134]: But passing this by, we may observe, that notwithstanding all that has been said concerning this doctrine, by the better and wiser part of the heathen in their writings; yet their notions seem very defective, if we trace them farther than what concerns the bare separate existence of the soul; or, if they attempt to speak any thing concerning its happiness in a future state, they then discover that they know but little of this matter; and many of them, though they cannot deny the soul’s immortality, yet they seem to hesitate about it; and therefore we may say with the apostle, that _life and immortality is brought to light through the gospel_, 2 Tim. i. 10. that is, if we would be sure of the immortality of the soul, and know its state and enjoyments in another world, we must look farther than the light of nature for it: and in seeking for arguments in scripture, we shall find great satisfaction concerning this matter, which we cannot do from the writers before mentioned.

That some of the heathen were in doubt about this important truth, is very evident from their writings; for Plato himself[135], notwithstanding the many things which he represents Socrates as saying, concerning a state of immortality after death, endeavouring to convince his friend Cebes about that matter, and apprehending that he had so far prevailed in the argument, as that his antagonist allowed that the soul survived the body, but yet held the transmigration of souls into other bodies; this he seems to allow him, and adds, that it is uncertain whether the soul, having worn out many bodies, may not at last perish with one that it is united to[136]. And he farther says to him, that I must now die, and you shall live; but which of us is in the better state God only knows[137].

As for Aristotle, though, in many places of his writings, he seems to maintain the immortality of the soul; yet in others it appears that he is in doubt about it; and seems to assert, that neither good nor evil happens to any man after his death[138]. And the Stoicks, who did not altogether deny this doctrine; yet they supposed that in process of time, it would be dissolved[139]. And even Cicero himself, notwithstanding all that he says, by which he seems to give into this doctrine; yet sometimes speaks with great hesitation about it[140]. And notwithstanding what Seneca says concerning the immortality of the soul, as has been often before observed; yet he speaks doubtfully of it[141]; so that we must have recourse to scripture, and those consequences that are deduced from it, as well as those things that may be inferred from the nature of the soul to prove that it is immortal. And,

(1.) For the proof of this doctrine, let it be considered, that the soul is immaterial; which appears from its being capable of thought, whereby it is conversant about, and takes in ideas of things divine and spiritual, which no creature below man can do. It has a power of inferring consequences from premises, and accordingly is the subject of moral government, capable of conversing with God here, and expecting rewards or punishments from him hereafter; all this cannot be produced by matter or motion: As for matter, that is in itself altogether unactive; and when motion is impressed upon it, the only change that is made therein, is in the situation and contexture of its parts, which cannot give it life, sensation or perception, much less a power of judging and willing, or being conversant about things spiritual and immaterial.

(2.) This power of thinking or reasoning was not derived from the body to which it was united; for that which has not in itself those superior endowments, cannot communicate them to another: Its union with the soul cannot impart them to it; for whatever sensation the body has, (which is below the power of reasoning,) is derived from the soul, as appears from its being wholly destitute thereof, when the union between the soul and body is broken: And therefore, since those superior powers, or excellencies of the soul, are produced by another cause, we must conclude, that they are immediately from God: This evidently appears from scripture; the body of Adam was first formed, and then it is said, _God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life_, Gen. ii. 7. that is, he put into it that soul which was the spring and fountain of all living actions; and then it follows, man became a living soul: And it is considered as a peculiar display of the glory of God, that he _formeth the spirit of man within him_, Zech. xii. 2.

(3.) It follows from hence, that the dissolution of the body makes no alteration in the powers and faculties of the soul; which is not hereby rendered subject to death. For, as it did not derive those powers from the body, as was before observed, it could not be said to lose them in the ruin of the body: Thus our Saviour speaks of the soul as not being affected with those injuries that tend to the bodies destruction, when he says, _Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul_, Mat. x. 28.

(4.) We have a particular account in scripture, of the soul when separated from the body, as disposed of in a different way from it; it does not go down to the earth as the body does, from whence it was, but _returns to God who gave it_, Eccl. xii. 7. Its return to God supposes that it was accountable to him for its actions performed in the body, or the way and manner in which the faculties were exerted; and accordingly, when separate from it, it is represented as returning to God to give an account of its behaviour in the body, and to reap the fruits and effects thereof. And as it is said to return to God; so believers breathe forth their souls, and resign them by faith into the hand of God, as our Saviour expresses it, _Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit_, Luke xxiii. 46. or, as Stephen says, _Lord Jesus receive my spirit_, Acts vii. 59.

(5.) The soul’s immortality may be proved from the extent of the capacities thereof, and the small improvement men make of them in this world, especially the greatest part of mankind. What a multitude are there who never had the faculties of the soul deduced into act, in whom the powers of reasoning were altogether useless, while in this world; I mean in those whose souls are separated from their bodies as soon as they are born; others die in their childhood, before reason comes to maturity; and how great a part of the world live to old age, whose souls have not been employed in any thing great or excellent, in proportion to their capacities? Were these made in vain? or did God design, when he brought them into, or continued them either a longer or a shorter time in the world, that they should never be employed in any thing that is worthy of these noble faculties? Therefore we must conclude that there is another state, in which the soul shall act more agreeably to those capacities which it is endowed with.

(6.) This may be farther proved, not only from the natural desires, which there are in all men, of immortality; but more especially those desires, which the saints have, of enjoying some things in God, which cannot be attained in this life. The natural desire of immortality is what belongs to all: With what reluctancy does the soul and body part; which arises from a natural aversion to a dissolution, unless there be a well-grounded hope of a life of blessedness that shall ensue? Moreover there is not only a desire but an expectation of the soul’s living for ever, when separated from the body, in a state of happiness; which believers are made partakers of, as a peculiar blessing from God: Therefore we must conclude, that he that gave them will satisfy them; so that as they have a thirst after happiness, which is the effect of a supernatural power, they shall not be disappointed or destitute of it; which they must be if the soul does not survive the body.

(7.) The immortality of the soul may be proved from the justice of God as the Governor of the world. This divine perfection renders it necessary that rewards and punishments should be distributed according to men’s behaviour in this life. We observe, under a foregoing head, that man is supposed to be accountable to God, from the consideration of the spirit’s returning to him: And it also follows, from what was said under another head, concerning the soul’s being the subject of moral government: But this argument will be farther improved under a following answer, when we consider our Saviour’s coming to judge the world[142]. All the use therefore that we shall at present make thereof, is, that the soul being thus accountable to God, has reason to expect some peculiar marks of favour beyond what it receives in this world; or to fear some punishment as the consequence of crimes committed, from the hand of the supreme Judge of all: Thus it is said, _God will render to every man according to his deeds_, Rom. ii. 6. And elsewhere, _Every one shall receive according to what he hath done in the body, whether it be good or bad_, 2 Cor. v. 10. Now that which makes for our present argument, is, that the best men in the world do not receive those peculiar marks of divine favour, as to what respects their outward condition therein, as some of the vilest men often do: This the prophet Jeremiah takes notice of, when he says, _Righteous art thou, O Lord, when I plead with thee; yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? Wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously?_ Jer. xii. 1. And the Psalmist, when observing the prosperity of the wicked, says, _They are not in trouble like other men; neither are they plagued like other men_, Psal. lxxiii. 5. that is, not exposed to those rebukes of providence, as to what concerns outward things, as good men are.

That which is alledged by some to solve this difficulty, is, that virtue has its own reward; and therefore, the good man cannot but be happy, whatever troubles he meets with in this life, since he has something within himself that makes him so. But to this it may be replied, that this cannot give the least satisfaction, that the divine distributions are just and equal, to those who are destitute of this inward comfort; and the principal ingredient in that internal happiness which arises from the exercise of religion and virtue, consists in the divine approbation, and the interest which such have in that love, which shall discover itself more fully, when the soul, being separate from the body, shall enjoy the happiness resulting from it in another world: Therefore, this is so far from militating against the doctrine we are maintaining, that it affords a considerable argument to support it.