N01272:183
Meditations on the glory of the heavenly world. I. On the happiness of the…
Meditations on the glory of the heavenly world. I. On the happiness of the soul of believers, at the instant of their separation from their bodies. II. On the glory of the bodies of God's children, in the resurrection world, when they shall be as the angels of heaven. III. On the glory of both soul and body in the heaven of heavens, after the day of judgment, to all eternity. / By Increase Mather, D.D. ; [Six lines of quotations]
Boston in N.E. printed: : Sold by Benjamin Eliot, at his shop in King Street., 1711
Title page typeset from the transcription.
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
1. It is because of the Covenant which they are in with God, that they are made partakers of an happy Resurrection. As for Unbelievers, although some of them pretending to Christianity may be Externally in Covenant with God, they are not Internally and Really so, and therefore their Resurrection cannot be by virtue of that Covenant which they never had a Real Interest in: but Believers have. By this Argument Christ proved against the Sadducees, that there will be a Resurrection, as we see in the Verse following our Text before us, That the dead are raised Moses showed in the bush, when he called the Lord, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, for he is not the God of the Dead, but of the Living. Those holy Patriarchs were Dead and in their Graves when God said to Moses, I am their God, I am in Covenant with them. That which is in Covenant with GOD shall Live Eternally, therefore so shall the bodies of his Children, which implies their Resurrection. For the Covenant is made with the Person consisting of Body & Soul, and ⟨p. 158⟩not with the Soul only although' principally. Hence the bodies of Believers and not their Souls only are the Subjects of the Seals of the Covenant. So concerning Baptism the first Seal of the New-Testament, the body is the Subject of that Ordinance. Believers have their body washed with pure Water. The Lord says to the true Believer, as sure as thou hast been Baptized, so certain is it that thy body shall have a blessed Resurrection. He has therein Communion with Christ in respect of the benefits both of his Death and Resurrection, Rom. 6. 3, 4. He shall as surely be raised up at the Last Day to Eternal Life as Christ is risen. Moreover, Believers do with their bodies Sacramentally, as well as with their Souls by Faith, feed upon Christ Exhibited in the Lord's Supper. That body which does with a believing Soul Eat the Flesh and drink the Blood of Christ, shall have a Resurrection to Everlasting Life. Joh. 6. 54. Whoso eats my flesh and drinks my blood has Eternal Life, and I will raise him up at the Last Day. […] does the Believers Resurrection ⟨p. 159⟩proceed from Gods Covenant with him. The Resurrection of the body to Eternal Life, is a special Promise contained in the Covenant,