The resurrection of the body : a discourse delivered in the Presbyterian Church in Georgetown, on Sun., Oct. 22, 1809

r^w

t^ $:/r^

m ^^ ^^vC

»-r.%

?^r

-^_

-■5^...'

!-■

^.iA^-

:*?%

^^

^Hf

v>

I THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, |

Princeton, N. J. w"'

*

«9^

Bequeathed by the Hon. E. BOUDINOT, LI^.D.

Case. Division .,

Booh\ .,

6

M

B

Vol. 3

,f

•"^^/ -y ■

m.::. i

DISCOURSE.

I CORINTHIANS, 15. 53.

For this corruptible must put on incorruption^ and
this mortal must put on immortality.

THE hope of existing after the present life
A\'as not utterly lost, from among mankind, even a-
midst the darkness and corruptions of paganism ;
but the prospect was so obscure and the hope so un-
certain that it could afford but small consolation in
their last moments to the wisest and most virtuous
men of the heathen world. And, to all others, it
was so blended with the melancholy phantoms of ^
superstitious imagination that it served rather to op-
press than to shed any comfort on the hour of death.
But, in the gospel of our blessed Saviour, the doubt-
ful expectations of nature are rendered clear and
certain ; the obscurities of reason are enlightened ;
and to the doctrine of the immortality of the soul,
there is added a principle which the human mind
had never dared before to conceive ; I mean, that
of the resurrection of the body, and its future and
eternal re-union with the soul in a happy state of
existence.

This doctrine, which is peculiarly precious to
man, inasmuch as it brings our future existence
more within the comprehension of the mind, and
gives it a stronger interest in the heart, was re-
ceived at first Avith astonishment and incredulity

equally by Jews and Greeks. Against the objections
or the doubts of the one and of the other, the
apostle, in this chapter, demonstrates both its pos-
sibility, and its conformity to reason, and pointy
out the unspeakable consolation which the pious
hope, that this corruptible shall put on mcorruption^
and this mortal shall put on immortalitij^ is fitted to
impart to every true believer, amidst the variouS
trials and sorrows of this life.

Let me invite you, therefore, to employ witli
me a few moments, while we are here assembled
in the presence of Almighty God, in meditating on
the resurrection of the body — the certainty, and
importance of the doctrine, its practical uses,
and its spiritual consolations. And may it im-
part to us those holy comforts, those blessed sup-'
ports under all the distressing vicissitudes of the
world, and finally, that victory over the fears of
death, which amidst labors, and persecutions, and
the certain anticipations of martyrdom for the
cause of his Redeemer, formed the joy aiid triumph
of the apostle himself!

In the first place, let us contemplate the evi-
dences of the resurrection of the body, notwith-
standing the insurmountable objections which the
laws of nature are said to oppose to it.

It has been at all times, as well as in the age of
the apostles, an objection to this doctrine — With
what bodies do they come? Can these corporeal
systems, after they have been long dissolved into
their orginal elements, and variously dispersed
by winds and waves in a thousand different direc-
tions ; after they have successively passed perhaps

into a thousand different bodies, be again collect-
ed, and re-organized in the same body which per-
ished at death ? If it were possible, would it be a
reasonable object of desire, in that spiritual and
immortal state, that the soul should be again
united to a sluggish mass which might be regarded
as its former prison, which impaired its active
powers, and was, perhaps, the seat of all the er-
rors of reason, and of all the disorders of the
passions ?

The sacred writer, who presents these objec-
tions, answers them by a beautiful analogy, taken
from the grain which the husbandman casts into
the earth. It seems to perish ; it becomes a mass
of putrefaction, like the body laid in the grave ;
but still there is a delicate and almost impercepti-
ble germ which survives, and presently assumes
a new and much more beautiful form. Can Ave
doubt but that the stalk, the foliage, the flowers
which display such beauty to the eye, and the fruit
with which the tree is loaded, were all included
in that minute and invisible particle which receives
a new life in the midst of death ? And, may not
the soul, (it is the suggestion of an ancient pliiloso-
pher) in parting from its present abode, carry along
with it that material principle which shall become
the germ hereafter, of a new and more glorious
organization ? Shall we deem this impossible, be-
cause the fineness and sul>tilty of this principle at
present, eludes our perceptions ? But, are we not
constandy surrounded with forms of matter not
less imperceptible to sense ? Is that mysterious
power obvious to our sight or feelings, which

points the needle to the pole; or that mightier
influence which binds to one centre the vast orbs
that compose our system, which, however, is
constantly operating within us and around us ?

Learn another lesson on the Resurrection from the
numerous transmutations of the insect tribes which
daily pass under our view. A deformed and
sluggish grub weaves a tomb for itself. It seems
to become extinct ; but, in a little time, we see
it mount into the air in a new form, disporting
with active wing, and adorned with the most beau-
tiful colours. Of spiritual and celestial objects,
which are so far above the reach of our present
faculties, frequently wecanjudgeonly by analogy.
And although such analogies can never convey
adequate images of those things which eye hath
not seen^ and of which it hath not entered into the
heart of man to conceive^ yet they serve to throw
some feeble rays of light upon subjects, otherwise
so obscure, and to offer some foundation on which
the mind, exhausted by its efforts to conceive them,
can rest. Look round thee then, O man ! who think -
est that the dead cannot be raised from the dust,
and from that profound oblivion in which they seem
to be forever lost ; and does not all nature teach
thee important lessons, and present thee with im-
pressive images of the future resurrection of the
saints ? Behold the resurrection, the new creation,
which every vernal season produces ! Do we not
see plants and flowers of every species ; in a word,
all the glories of the year, springing, if I may speak
so, from the tomb of winter ? These images, in-
deed, are only imperfect illustrations, adapted to the

weakness of our senses, of that great object of
faith ; the only solid and immovable foundation
of a christian's hope is, the infallible promise of
the spirit of truth : But now is Christ risen^ and
become the first fruits of them that sleep* The
time is coming when all they who are in their
graves shall hear the voice of the Son of man, and
shall come forth, they that have done well to the
resurrection of life and they that have done evil to
the resurrection of damnation.

Another objection against this doctrine is drawn
from the ills and inconveniences, to which the soul
is subjected by its union with the body in the
present life. This sluggish and unwieldy mass
of matter, is supposed to be rather the prison than
the helpful companion of the active spirit, to cloud
and darken the clearness of its preceptions, and to
oppress and enchain the activity of its powers.

Although this should be true of the present
gross and disordered bodies which we inhabit,
yet such is the nature anil order of human spirits
that it is only by being united to some corporeal
and organized system that they can receive any
ideas. And at the resurrection of the just, all that
is gross, all that is disordered, all that is impure,
shall be forever separated from the bodies of the
saints raised to hiimortal life ; and their powers,
their activity, and glory shall correspond with the
exalted rank which the soul shall hold in the scale
of being in her <:elestial state. Do you ask, then, if
they can be the same bodies which we inhabited
here, which shall assume such a different and glori-
')us appearance ? My brethren do ^^T not continually

behold the same elements capable of receivint^ the
most various forms ? What resemblance is there
between those beautiful and active tribes which
fill the air with their harmony, and the lifeless egg
from which they have s})rung ? Do not the same
elements compose the unsightly clay which we
trample beneath our feet, and the resplendent
diamond which glitters in the crowns of princes ?
The lightning which in its destructive course,
rends oaks and rocks to pieces, and the mild and
glorious rays of the sun that give life, and health,
and beauty to the whole universe ! Accordingly
the apostle hath said, all flesh is not the same, in
its outward form and visible appearance ; there is
one flesh ofmen^ and another of beasts ; there is
one glory of the sun and another glory ofths ?noon^
and another glory of the stars, though all proceed-
ing from the same light. Not less difference, O
believers ! may you expect to find between your
present tenements of clay, which, at death, re-
turn to their original dust, and those celestial tem-
ples in which the glorified spirit shall dwell for-
ever. Raised to heaven by the power and love
of your Redeemer, to inhabit those glorious worlds
of hght above, this corporeal system will be con-
formed in beauty and perfection to its immortal
habitations. This eo?'rupti/)le sliall put on incor-
ruption, and this mortal shall put on immortality.
Soivn in weakness it shall he raised in power ;
sown in dishonor, it shall be raised in glory ; sown
a natural or gross and animal body, it shall be
raised a spiritual body ; that is, a body infinitely
refined and purified from the dregs of matter, and

possessing, at once, both the rapid energy and the
imperishable nature of spirit. It shall there be in-
vested with new powers and be fitted with new
organs, adapted to its celestial state ; and, having
attained its highest perfection, shall shine with
undecaying lustre in the kingdom of God.

The doctrine of the resurrection of the body,
therefore, as it is explicitly taught in the holy
scriptures, so it contains nothing which violates
reason, and which is not even supported and ren-
dered credible by the course of nature.

Let us then in the next place, take a brief review
of the importance of this doctrine. I mean not
merely the doctrine of the immortality of the soul,
but that of the resurrection of the body, and its
immortal existence in re-union with the soul.

In the first place, it meets, in the best possible
manner, our ideas and hopes of happiness. Spi-
rits there may be of a superior order, which have
no connexion with any material system, and are
not dependent for their knowledge or their enjoy-
ments on any sensible organs. But of their
modes of existence, and their sources of happiness,
we can frame no conception. All our ideas, and
all our pleasures come to us through the medium
of sense. Our spirits are of such an order, as
has been before remarked, that their knowledge,
their felicity, their perfection depend on their con-
nexion in some way, with a corporeal system;
every thing connects us with the body, every thing
attaches us to the body ; even the severest afflic-
tions, the keenest pains, do not quench in the soul
this strong and inextinguishable love of its com-

10

panion, unless guilt, by creating despair, has first
induced a dread of future existence. Hence the
apostle has said ; JFe who arc in this tabernacle do
groan, being burdened, not that we would be un-
clothed; not that it is the object of these anxious
desires to be disembodied, but clothed upon with
our house, which is from heaven ; with that celes-
tial, that regenerated body which shall be freed
from all the pains and imperfections of this mor-
tal flesh, and which is only our present nature
exalted to its ultimate perfection and glory. The
earnest expectation of the creature, continues the
same apostle, waitethfor the manifestation of the
sons of God, at the resurrection of the just. The
whole creation groaneth, and even those who have
received the most precious gifts of the spirit groan
within themselves, waiting for the redemption of
the body. What, indeed, would be the pleasure
of existence to the soul, if we can suppose it con-
scious of existence, deprived ofaR^ion, and the
aids of the senses, which are at present, the only
inlets of its knowledge, and the chief sources of
its enjoyments ?

The christian doctrine of the resurrection, then,
corresponds w ith the dearest hopes and wishes of
the human heart. It assists, likewise the percep-
tions of faith. We are not now left in total uncer-
tainty and darkness with rea:ard to the nature of our
future being. Some conjectures we can frame
concerning it, without the hazard of being lost
entirely in the unsubstantial regions of fancy.. A
fuuire existence is no longer an inscrutible mys-
itn-. Althoup-h it offers to our hoi)es, a condition

11

of being inconceivably improved above the pres-
ent, still we can discern between them some points
of resemblance, which present to us ideas on that
subject, at once intelligible to reason, and infinite-
ly precious to the human heart. There, believer !
your faculties will be employed as here, but with
an activity and vigor, inconceivably augmented,
in searching into the wonderful works of God ; in
admiring the order, the beauty and harmony of the
universal system ; in adoring, and with the angels,
endeavoring to penetrate the astonishing myste-
ries of divine grace to man. Blessed and eternal
sources of knowledge, and of happiness! The fa-
culties which you now feebly exert in the search
of truth, in the love and service of your Creator,
your Redeemer, and your fellow men, will be new
created in celestial vigor, and raised in a state of
undescribable excellence and perfection. All the
obstacles to your advancement in knowledge, at
present, arising from the narrowness of this corpo-
real sphere ; the imperfection of these mortal pow-
ers, the inactivity and sluggishness of these gross
and earthly organs, will be forever removed. —
That carnal and disordered mass which now ren-
ders the body the seat of impure passions, and im-
pedes the holy aspirations of the soul, will be re-
fined and purified. A body of celestial and incor-
ruptible light ; a spiritual hody^ as it is stiled by
the apostle, that is, a body, active and unembar-
rassed in its movements, like spirit, rapid as im-
agination and thought, will, in heaven, be the fit
instrument of the glorified soul in its sublime and
blissful employments.

i2

From the doctrine of the resurrection of tht
same body results another happy anticipation, the
future knowledge of our pious friends with whom
we have been connected on earth ; the re-union
in the highest felicity, of the same hearts which
have been united here in the tenderest affections.
Delightful and ravishing hope ! What pictures
may imagination frame of friendships renewed in
heaven ; of the mutual joys of pious friends who
meet on that hapjjy and eternal shore, escaped
from all the ills and dangers of life ; of their sweet
intercourse, purified from all the passions and
weaknesses of the flesh which disturb the harmony
of this world ; of the range they may be permitted
to enjoy in each other's societ}^ among the innu-
merable glories of the heavenly world to nourish
their devotion, and to diversify their happiness ;
of those flights which they may be allowed to take
together into distant provinces of the universal
empire of God, to collect the knowledge of nature,
or to admire and adore him in the astonishing
operations of his hands ; or of the rapture with
which every ray of the Sun of righteousness will
penetrate their hearts when they turn their faces
towards the heavenly Zion, the more immediate re-
sidence of the divine glory to raise their common
devotions to the Father of the universe, and to re-
cognize at the foot of his throne, their mutual and
boundless obligations to redeeming love. But re-
straining all unlicensed excursions of fancy ; ex-
quisite, and now ineflable, must be the felicity,
springing from a thousand different sources w^iich
you shall enjoy from meeting, iu those blissful

13

afid everlasting habitations, the friends whom you
have most tenderly and aft'ectionately loved upon
earth. Oh ! how is the religion of our ever bles-
sed Saviour adapted to the best, and most excel-
lent feelings of human nature ! How is it fitted to
cherish the noblest and sweetest sympathies of the
human heart! Away with that cold philosophy
tvhich would destroy these precious consolations !
which, at death, would devote our existence to
eternal oblivion, and hopelessly rend asunder those
delightful unions which form the dearest portion
of ourselves ; the chief joy of our being ! Yes,
christian friends ! beloved relatives ! though you
may be separated by death from those whom you
have most loved ; although you may often be
clothed ^vith tlie emblems of mourning w^hich but
feebly express the deep affliction which penetrates
3-our hearts, religion points you to a source of di-
vine and eternal consolations : You are separated
for a moment, only to be restored to each other in
a most blissful and eternal union. A tear, a pang
you are allowed to give to nature ; but it is the
command of the gospel, weep not as those wlw
hove 110 hope. Jesus! Saviour! Who art the
first fruit of the resurrection from the dead ! Who
art thyself the resurrection and the life ! We adore
and bless thee who hast given this consolation to
suffering humanity !

The doctrine of the resurrection of the body
seems also 10 be intimately connected with our ac-
countable state in this world, and with our future
judgment. In this view it will have the most im-
portant moral influence upon the conduct of man-

14.

kind. If the soul were not to be re-united to tb(*
body, not being the same persons hereafter, that
we are here, might we not lose the consciousness
of a former existence, and of our accountabihty
for the actions of a being, in all respects, so dift'e-
rent ? But believing in the resurrection of the bo-
dy, in the completeness of the same person, in the
consciousness which each one shall have of all that
he has done in a previous state of existence, then
every action, every word, every thought, becomes
important in reference to eternity ; and is continu-
ally impressing some colour, or some shade of co-
lour on our everlasting destinies. The body which
shall be raised being included in the present, be-
ing of its substance, having the same orgaiTTzation,
the vvhole man shall preserve the same dispositions,
habits, and affections, which form the character in
the present life. These shall decide our condition
in happiness or in misery, on which the judgment
of heaven shall fix its everlasting seal. What we
have been, we shall be forever. The impressions
which we receive, the piu\suits in which we have
been engaged, the inclinations which have been
created and cherished in the heart, in our proba*
tionary existence shall form the basis of our char-
acter throughout an immortal duration.

What, then, are the conclusions, what are the ex-
h.ortations we should derive from these serious and
interesting truths'? The same which the apostle
has already urged on all christians. Let not sm
7'eign ill your mortal bQcIic,^. Purify }-.ourselves
liom all Jilthbwss of the fesh and spirit. Dishonor
not your bodies by intemj)t;rance and lust, for tlieij

15

are the temples of the living God. And never let.
it escape your memory, and attention, in whatever
you undertake, or do, in necessary business, or in
lawful amusement, in the plans of deliberate design,
or under the impulse of more sudden passion, that
we shall all appear before the Judgment seat of
Christy to receive according to ivhat we have done
in the body^ whether it be good^ or whether it be
evil.

Christians ! What sublime, and glorious pros-
pects does our holy religion present to the imagi-
nation ; what blessed and delightful hopes to the
heart ! I speak of sincere believers. For although
the doctrine of the resurrection applies also to the
wicked who will rise to shame and everlasting con-
tempt ; yet the apostle in this passage, confines his
reflections wholly to the destiny of the righteous.
But what tongue of men or of angels, can describe
the heavenly Jerusalem, the celestial Eden, the
paradise of God, those scenes of everlasting peace
and blessedness, those mansions illuminated by the
eternal splendors of the Son of righteousness, those
bodies of light, those souls of fire ? It would re-
quire the eloquence of heaven to speak of them
as they deserve ; to understand them fully would
require the ripened powers of immortality. Far
eye hath not seen, nor hath ear heard, neitfier hath
it entered into the heart of man to conceive the things
ivkich God hath prepared for those who love him.
Christians ! disciples and servants of the Lord Je-
sus Christ! are you destined to such glory and
happiness ? Have you the same foundation for this
precious hope as for your religion itself? Let it

16

prove to you tlie most powerful motive to culti*
vate in your hearts those aftections of piety, in your
lives those habits of holiness, which will prepare
you for your eternal existence in the heavens. By
temperance, by purity, by the exercise of every
virtue, endeavor to assimilate more and more these
perishing bodies, to that pure and celestial nature
in which you shall hereafter behold the glory of
God.

Listen, christians, to one reflection more on this
interesting subject ! The hope of the resurrection
strips death of its greatest terrors. Death is no
longer what it appears to be — -the destruction of
our being. It yields to the grave only the gros-
sest parts of these mortal bodies. The finer esr
sence shall still cleave to the soul, and be improv-
ed with immortal vigor and glory at the resurrec-
tion of the just. The stroke of death shall cause
no intermission in the consciousness of a happy
existence. Even if the soul itself, according to
the opinion of some good men, should sleep till
the revivification of universal nature, there is no
perception of time in the insensibility of sleep.
The moment of our dissolution shali touch on that
of our restoration to life. The grave, sanctified
by the death, triumphed over by the resurrection
of our blessed Saviour, is now, to all his disciples,
only the gate to a new, a glorious, and immortal
existence. This corruptible shall put on incorrup-
tion^ afid this mortal shall put on immortality. O
Death ! where^ then is thy sting ? 0 grave ! where
■is thy victory F Thanks be to God who giveth us
the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord !

Amen !

^

" -^^

I

%F

m

•I* ^ 2 wmm*

&-

•#-;|:&. -3^^\^

f'

^v^ r'''^

"t^^. ^

^^r'^-^'-