A FUNERAL SERMON ON DR. JOHN OWEN
Phil. iii.
21. “Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned
like unto his glorious body.”
The occasion why I pitch upon these
words at this time, you are not unacquainted with. The apostle in the
beginning of this chapter, warns the Philippians to beware of false
teachers; he enforceth this with several arguments, the principal of which
are drawn from his own example, in the body of the chapter; and then he
concludes it with an elegant antithesis, opposing them to himself, and
those that faithfully follow Christ with him: he makes use of this to
enforce the dissuasive [from an evil conversation,] in a subserviency to
his main scope, ver.
19–21, “Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly,
whose glory is their shame, who mind earthly things. But our conversation
is in heaven, from whence we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ,
who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his
glorious body.” You may observe an antithesis in all this; they mind
earthly things, but our conversation is in heaven; their God is their
belly, but we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ; their end is
destruction, but our end is glory; their glory is shameful, they glory in
their shame, but our glory shall be like that of our Lord Jesus Christ;
that which they count most glorious, is shameful; but that which is vilest
amongst us, shall be glorious: “Who shall change our vile body, that it may
be fashioned like unto his glorious body.”
The observation from hence is this:
Observ. The bodies of the saints shall be conformed,
and made like unto the glorious body of Jesus Christ.
The bodies of the saints, how vile soever now, shall at the
resurrection be made and fashioned like unto the glorious body of Christ.
The apostle gives a particular account of this, 1 Cor.
xv., which I may take notice of in some particulars
afterward.
For the present, the great inquiry for the
explaining of this truth is: How the bodies of deceased saints shall be
like to the glorious body of Christ?
1. Negatively.
(1.) Not by any substantial change.
The substance of their bodies shall not be changed, as one
of the ancients thought, by a mistake of the word μετασχηματίσει used here, inferring that the bodies of
the saints at the resurrection, shall not be of the same substance as they
are now, but they shall then have ethereal bodies: whereas both the words
σχῆμα and μορφὴ denote quality, a change in quality, not such a
substantial change as they imagined.
(2.) They shall be like, not equal.
The words do import a resemblance, not an equality; they
shall not be equally glorious with the body of Christ. The Lord of glory in
all things must have the pre-eminence; as he was “anointed with the oil of
gladness above his fellows,” so he shall be exalted with greater glory. But
then,
2. Positively: How shall they be fashioned like unto his
glorious body?
You must not expect an exact account of this; it requires
the tongue of an angel, or of some translated saint, that hath seen, and
been invested with this glory, or hath had some full view of it. This is of
the number of those things we must believe though we see not, though we
know not; it is an object of faith, not of sight, and so is
incomprehensible to us, who walk by faith, not by sight. “Eye hath not
seen, nor ear heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man, what things
God hath prepared for those that love him.” If this be true of what is
offered us in the Gospel, much more of what is reserved in glory. “Now are
we the sons of God,” saith the apostle, “and it doth not appear what we
shall be; but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for
we shall see him as he is;” 1 John iii.
2. And who can describe that which doth not appear? Here “we see
but as in a glass darkly,” we have but a dim sight, such a sight of the
kingdom of glory, as the ancient people of God had of the kingdom of the
Messiah: “Abraham saw his day afar off, and rejoiced.” The wisdom of God
hath drawn a veil before that glory, and he hath drawn it in great wisdom.
If so be we had the full discovery of that glory that shall be put upon the
bodies of the saints (not to speak of that upon the soul,) if we had the
full discovery of it here upon earth, it would be as hard to persuade the
saints to be content to live on earth, as it is to persuade the men of the
world to die. As in judgment to them, so in mercy to us, the veil still
remaineth upon us; but though the veil be not quite withdrawn, yet the Lord
is pleased in the Scripture to lift up, as it were, a corner
of the veil, that we may see some glimmerings of that glory which hereafter
we shall see face to face, of which I shall give an account in some
particulars.
The raised bodies of the saints shall be like the glorious
body of Christ in these six or seven respects.
(1.) In respect of perfection, the body of Christ is
perfect, so shall theirs be perfect, both in respect of parts and
degrees.
Their bodies shall have integrality
of parts in exact proportion, there shall be no defect of members, no, not
of those that are now wanting; those that could find no remedy for
lameness, or blindness, or mutilation on earth, shall find it in heaven:
their bodies shall be raised in glory. So the apostle tells us, 1 Cor. xv. 43, “It shall be a
glorious body:” but it would not be so glorious if these imperfections and
defects were not removed: and it shall have exact proportion too, there
shall be no distinction in heaven between small and great; as there shall
be no infant of days, so no decrepit old age, but all shall be reduced to a perfect stature, either to the
stature of the first man Adam (for the resurrection shall be as a new
creation) or to the stature of the Lord from heaven, as the apostle calls
our Lord Jesus. There shall be a conformation to the image of the heavenly,
and so [it] shall not want its proportion. The word μορφὴ in the text, signifies “outward form,” and σχῆμα denotes “external figure.” Now there
could be no resemblance of the body of Christ in external form and figure,
without such proportions.
(2.) The bodies of the saints shall be like the glorious
body of Christ, in respect of impassibleness.
The body of Christ is now impassible; that is, it is not
liable to any sufferings, and so shall the bodies of the saints be; they
shall be secured from all hurtful impressions from without, and all
distempers from within; there shall be no hunger, nor thirst, no pain, no
sickness, nor suffering whatsoever; the body shall suffer no disturbance,
no inconvenience from earthly melancholy, or from dull phlegm, or fiery
choler, or from the levity of a sanguine humour, but all shall be brought
to such an exact temperament, as shall place them above any sufferings
imaginable. The body will not be passible, nor liable to corruption, or
suffering; for that which is liable to suffering, is more or less liable to
corruption, in whole, or in part; but the bodies of the saints will be
incorruptible: “It is sown in corruption, but is raised in incorruption:”
1 Cor. xv. 42; their bodies shall be
secured from whatever may blemish their glory, or impair their perfection,
or any way disorder the constitution of it.
(3.) The bodies of the saints shall be like the glorious
body of Christ in respect of immortality.
The body of Christ is immortal; as the apostle expresses
it, Rom. vi. 9, “Christ dieth
no more, death hath no more dominion over him;” so it shall be with the
bodies of the saints, “mortality shall then put on immortality,” as the
apostle expresses it, 1 Cor. xv.
53; when the bodies of the saints shall be raised, they shall
commence, take the degree of souls, that is, they shall be immortal; they
shall be more secured from death in heaven, than our first parents, while
innocent, were secure from death in paradise; there shall not only be a
posse non mori, “a
possibility not to die;” but a non posse
mori, “an impossibility of dying;” and that not arising from the
nature of the body, but from the decree and purpose of God, from the
victory of Christ, and from an immunity from sin: “Death shall then be
swallowed up of victory;” death shall then lie under the feet of glorified
ones, while they sing that song, 1
Cor. xv. 54–57, “Death is swallowed up in victory: O death,
where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is
sin; the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God which giveth us
the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
(4.) The bodies of the saints shall be like that glorious
body of Christ, in respect of agility; that quickness, nimbleness, and
wonderful celerity of glorified bodies, an instance whereof we have in the
ascent of Christ’s body from earth to heaven. The distance between the
highest heaven, and the earth, is computed by astronomers to be some
hundred millions of miles, so that if he finished that distance in a day,
and we have no reason to think it so long, his body must move some millions
of miles in an hour. But not to insist upon that, the bodies of the saints
shall move when, where, how, and as fast as the soul pleases, without any
reluctancy, without any toil or trouble to the body. The body shall be then
immediately subject to the soul, as the soul shall be subject to God: nor
will this motion be any disturbance to them. For what one of the ancients
saith of the angels, shall be true of the bodies of the saints: “Wherever
they move, they move not out of the blessed presence, out of the
inhappying presence of Christ.”
(5.) The bodies of the saints shall be like the glorious
body of Christ in respect of spirituality.
The body of Christ is now a spiritual body: not that it is
changed into the nature of a spirit; Christ prevents that mistake,
Luke xxiv. 39. “Behold my hands and
my feet, that it is I myself; handle me, and see, for a spirit hath not
flesh and bones as you see me have.” The body is not changed into the
nature of a spirit, but it is said to be spiritual, because it is elevated
to the highest degree of perfection and excellency that the body is capable
of, brought as near to the angelical nature, as is consistent with the
essence of a body. So the bodies of the saints shall be spiritual bodies,
not changed into the nature of spirits, but they shall be
purged, defecated, and cleansed from all the dross, and mud, and feculency
of an earthly temper, and their senses shall be refined to heavenly, all
their acts and motions shall be advanced to a spiritual perfection: there
shall be none of those parts, none of those actions from which the body is
denominated a natural, or an animal body: “It is sown a natural body, it is
raised a spiritual body:” there will be no need of meat, drink, or sleep.
Our Lord Jesus Christ calls the raised bodies, ἰσάγγελοι, like to the angels in this respect, for in
the resurrection, “they shall neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but
are like the angels of God in heaven,” Matt. xxii.
30.
(6.) The bodies of the saints shall be like the glorious
body of Christ, in respect of splendour and beauty.
He gave a glimpse of that glory to his disciples in his
transfiguration; Matt.
xvii. 1, 2. “He took some of his disciples into a high mountain
apart, and was transfigured before them: his face did shine as the sun, and
his raiment was white as the light;” it was glistering, saith the other
evangelist; so shall the bodies of the saints be, they shall shine as the
firmament and stars; Dan. xii.
3. “They that are wise shall shine as the brightness of the
firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars for ever
and ever;” not only as the firmament and stars, but as the sun; Matt. xiii. 43. “Then shall the
righteous shine forth as the sun, in the kingdom of their Father.” The
purest and most lovely complexion, the most exquisite beauty on earth, is
but darkness and deformity to that which shall shine forth in the glorified
bodies of the saints: they shall shine as the sun, with a brighter lustre
than that of the sun, with such a splendour as shall never be clouded,
never be eclipsed, never obscured. If the glory of Solomon did transport
the queen of Sheba, when she saw him, so that it is said, “there was no
more spirit left within her,” 1 Kings x.
5, how ravishing will the sight of those glorious bodies be,
whose splendour, whose glory shall as far exceed that of Solomon’s, as the
glory of the sun exceeds that of a lily! If a little converse with God put
such a glory upon Moses’s face, that the people were not able to behold it,
[because] their eyes were too weak; what glory will shine forth in the
bodies of the saints, of those that converse with God for ever, who will
see him face to face unto all eternity! “And we all with open face,” saith
the apostle, “beholding the glory of the Lord, as in a glass, are thereby
changed from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord.” By this we may
guess, indeed we can do little more than guess as to these things, farther
than the Scripture leads us, but by this we may conjecture, how these
bodies that are now so vile, should have such a glory derived upon them.
The moon is of itself a dark, gross, opacous body,
much like the earth, as it is now generally concluded, and
capable of demonstration; but the sun darting its beams upon it, makes it a
lightsome and glorious planet; so the bodies of the saints, though vile in
themselves, yet by the glory of Christ darting on them, shall be made
glorious bodies.
(7.) They shall be like him in respect of glorious
dignities and privileges.
It is the glorious privilege of Christ, that he sits on the
right hand of God, as Mediator, in respect of his human nature; “The Lord
said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand. Him hath God exalted to be a
prince, King of kings, and Lord of lords;” and he hath glorious regalities,
ensigns of royalty; he hath a throne, and a crown, and a sceptre: “Thy
throne, O God” (it is spoken of Christ, as Mediator) “endures for ever; the
sceptre of thy kingdom, it is a right sceptre, a sceptre of righteousness.”
And he shall exercise his royal power in a glorious manner, in a judiciary
way, when he shall descend corporally to judge both the quick and the dead.
Now the saints shall partake of these glorious privileges, or of something
like them: they shall stand at the right hand of Christ: “Upon thy right
hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir,” Psal. xlv.
9. The bodies of the saints shall have possession of a glorious
kingdom, a kingdom of glory: “Fear not, little flock, it is your Father’s
good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” And they have glorious ensigns of
royalty ascribed to them. They have a crown: “when the chief Shepherd shall
appear, we shall receive a crown of glory;” yea, the Lord himself will be
their crown, as the expression is, Isa. xxviii.
5. “In that day shall the Lord of hosts be for a crown of glory
and for a diadem of beauty to the residue of his people.” How glorious will
it be for them, not only to be crowned by the Lord, but to have the Lord
himself to be their crown! And they shall partake with him in the glory of
judging quick and dead; they shall sit with him in his throne: “To him that
overcometh will I give to sit with me on my throne, as I also overcame, and
am set down with my Father on his throne.” They shall join with Christ as
assessors in that glorious act of judgment; they shall not only judge the
world, but the angels: “Know ye not,” saith the apostle, “that we shall
judge angels?”
And so much for the explication of this truth.
I might improve it several ways.
Use 1. By the way of inference: If the bodies of the
saints shall be so glorious, what glory then will be put upon their souls!
If the body, the vile body shall be advanced to such a glory, what glory
will be put upon the soul, which is the prime receptacle of the image of
God! If glory be the portion of the body, the soul will much more exceed in
glory.
Use 2. Let us here take notice of the love of
Christ, the wonderful love of Christ, that he will take notice
of the bodies of his people, of that which is so vile, bodies that are vile
in themselves, and much more vile as they are instruments of sin; bodies
that are vile while they live, but much viler when they are dead; noisome
by putrefaction, or devoured by vermin, or dissolved into dust. Will the
King of glory take notice of such vile things? Can he think thoughts of
love concerning objects that are so unlovely? Yes, thoughts of love indeed,
to make things so vile to be glorious, glorious like himself. Was it not
enough that he redeemed men from wrath, delivered them from going into the
pit of destruction? Was it not enough to make their souls glorious, but
will he make their bodies glorious too? Was it not enough to make their
bodies like the stars, or the sun, but to make them glorious like himself?
Must his own glory be the pattern of theirs? Will nothing less satisfy the
love of Christ, but imparting to these vile bodies his own glory? Oh, what
manner of love is this! So dear are the saints to him, such love he hath
for them, as the very vilest thing belonging to them
shall partake of his own glory, shall be made glorious like himself. As
Mephibosheth said to David: “What is thy servant that thou shouldest look
on such a dead dog as I am?” With much more reason may we say, and that
with astonishment, What are we, O Lord, that thou shouldst look upon such
vile dust, which is even trampled under the feet of the beasts, that thou
shouldst advance us to such a height of honour, that thou shouldst crown us
with glory, with such a glory, a glory like thine own?
Use 3. For inquiry: How shall we know whether we are
of the number of those whose vile bodies shall be fashioned like to the
glorious body of Christ? There are several characters in this chapter by
which it may be known: I shall only name them.
(1.) Those that worship God in the spirit.
(2.) Those that rejoice in Christ Jesus.
(3.) Those whose conversation is in heaven. And,
(4.) Those that look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus
Christ; you have these two last in the verse before my text, but I must not
insist on them.
Use 4. This should teach us to mix our grief for the
loss of deceased relatives (those that die in the Lord) with joy. Some
sorrow is allowed. They are reckoned among the worst of sinners, that are
ἄστοργοι, without natural affection.
Stoical senselessness is inhuman, it is far from being Christian, or
evangelical. We may mourn for ourselves in reference to the great
advantages that we lose by those we are bereaved of, especially if they are
spiritual advantages: we may mourn in reference to the places where they
lived, it portends evil to those places: “For the righteous
are taken away from the evil to come.” When those that should stand in the
gap are removed, there is wrath breaking in upon that people without any
remedy: we may mourn in reference to ourselves, but in reference to them we
have cause to rejoice. If we mourn, it should not be as those without hope.
Immoderate sorrow hath its rise from self-love. Will you count him a friend
who grieves at your preferment? The death of the saints is the highway to
glory. The apostle calls death a seed-time, that is, a time of hope, not of
mourning; and a time in reference to an expected harvest, is a time of
rejoicing.
But we may mourn, we of this congregation have a particular
cause to do it. I shall speak something of that excellent person that we
have lost: but what I shall say, as the time will permit me, is but little
concerning that great worthy. It was my unhappiness that I had so little
and late acquaintance with him, which makes me not competent for such an
undertaking; the account that is due to the world, requires a volume, and a
better hand than mine, which I hope it will meet with in time: only let me
touch some generals, which may help us to a
sense of our loss, without which we are not like[ly] to make such an
improvement of it, as the Lord expects from those upon whom his hand is
fallen so heavy.
A great light is fallen; one of eminency for holiness,
learning, parts, and abilities; a pastor, a scholar, a divine of the first
magnitude; holiness gave a Divine lustre to his other accomplishments, it
shined in his whole course, and was diffused through his whole
conversation. I need not tell you of this that knew him, and observed that
it was his great design to promote holiness in the power, life, and
exercise of it among you. It was his great complaint that the power of it
declined among professors. It was his care and endeavour to prevent or cure
spiritual decays in his own flock. He was a burning and a shining light,
and you for a while rejoiced in his light: alas! that it was but for a
while, and that we cannot rejoice in it still!
Those practical discourses which he published to the world,
did give a taste that his spirit and temper was under the influence and
power of holiness. There are some creatures that love to bark at the light,
instead of making a better use of it: he met with such, I mean some that
wrote against him, who thought themselves concerned to represent him [as]
odious to the world, but with great advantage to him, because they could
not do it but by groundless surmises and false suggestions, such as showed
the authors of them malicious, and rendered them ridiculous.
He was master of all parts of learning requisite to an
accomplished divine; those that understood him, and will be just, cannot
deny him the reputation and honour of a great scholar; and those that
detract from him in this, seem to be led by a spirit of envy, that would
not suffer them willingly to see so great an ornament among
those that are of another persuasion. Indeed he had parts able to master
anything he applied himself unto, though he restrained himself to those
studies which might render him most serviceable to Christ, and the souls of
men. He had extraordinary intellectuals, a vast memory,
a quick apprehension, a clear and piercing judgment; he was a passionate
lover of light and truth, of Divine truth especially; he pursued it
unweariedly, through painful and wasting studies, such as impaired his
health and strength, such as exposed him to those distempers with which he
conflicted many years: and some may blame him for this as a sort of
intemperance, but it is the most excusable of any, and looks like a
voluntary martyrdom. However it showed he was ready to spend, and be spent,
for Christ: he did not bury his talent, with which he was richly furnished,
but still laid it out for the Lord who had intrusted him. He preached while
his strength and liberty would serve, then by discourse and writing.
That he was an excellent preacher none will deny who knew
him, and knew what preaching was, and think it not the worse because it is
spiritual and evangelical. He had an admirable facility in discoursing on
any subject, pertinently and decently, and could better express himself
extempore, than others with premeditation. He was never at a loss for want
of expression; a happiness few can pretend to; and this he could show upon
all occasions, in the presence of the highest persons in the nation, and
from the greatest to the meanest. He hereby showed he had the command of
his learning. His vast reading and experience was hereby made useful, in
resolving doubts, clearing what was obscure, advising in perplexed and
intricate cases and breaches, or healing them which sometimes seemed
incurable. Not only we, but all his brethren will have reason to bewail the
loss of him. His conversation was not only advantageous in respect to his
pleasantness and obligingness; but there was that in it which made it
desirable to great persons, natives and foreigners, and that by so many,
that few could have what they desired.
I need speak nothing of his writings, though that is
another head that I intimated; they commend themselves to the world. If
holiness, learning, and a masculine unaffected style can commend anything,
his practical discourses cannot but find much acceptation with those who
are sensible of their soul concerns, and can relish that which is Divine,
and value that which is not common or trivial. His excellent Comment upon
the Hebrews gained him a name and esteem, not only at home, but in foreign
countries. When he had finished it (and it was a merciful providence that
he lived to finish it) he said, Now his work was done, it was
time for him to die. There were several other discourses that seem
controversial, and are so: our loss of him in this respect seems to be
irreparable, for anything that is in our present prospect. The due
management of controversies requires so great abilities, that there is not
one among a hundred of our divines, are competently qualified for that; and
the truths of the Gospel, which should be dearer to us than our outward
concerns, are like to be suppressed or adulterated, unless the Spirit of
truth stir up and empower some to assert and vindicate them. He had a
singular dexterity this way, for the managing of controversies; and those
truths that he vindicated, were such as were most in danger by the
apostatising spirit of this age: some may think his genius led him much to
study debates, but so far as I have observed, he did not affect to be an
aggressor, but still was on the defensive, and proceeded with such temper,
that he would rather oblige his adversary (if a lover of truth) than
exasperate him. He made it appear [that] he did not write so much against
any man’s person, as for the truth: I heard one of them declare, it would
not trouble a man to be opposed in such a way as this great doctor did
treat his greatest antagonist. It is usual with persons of extraordinary
parts, to struggle from the common road, and affect novelty, though thereby
they lose the best company; as though they could not appear eminent, unless
they march alone. But this great person did not affect singularity; they
were old truths that he endeavoured to defend, those that were transmitted
to us by our first reformers, and owned by the best divines of the Church
of England. What the truth has lost by this, I cannot easily say.
But it falleth heaviest and most directly upon this
congregation; we had a light in this candlestick, which did not only
enlighten the room, but gave light to others far and near: but it is put
out; we did not sufficiently value it; I wish I might not say, that our
sins have put it out. We had a special honour and ornament, such as other
churches would much prize; but the crown is fallen from our heads: yea, may
I not add, Woe unto us, for we have sinned! We have lost an excellent
pilot, and lost him when a fierce storm is coming upon us, when we have
most need of him. I dread the consequences, considering the weakness of
those that are left at the helm. If we are not sensible of it, it is
because our blindness is great. Let us beg of God, that he would prevent
what this threatens us with, and that he would make up this loss, or that
it may be repaired, or at least that the sad consequences of it may be
prevented. And let us pray in the last words of this dying person to me:
“That the Lord would double his Spirit upon us, that he would not remember
against us former iniquities; but that his tender mercies may speedily
prevent us, for we are brought very low.”