Veneer on Article IV: Of the Resurrection of Christ

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The Exposition.

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TroofofChriJl’s Rcfurvection.

p.j HEN we fay that Christ did truly rife 4r - ,f\ ggajj fj.Qj Death, we mean, that he role again with that very Body which was crucified and buried. The

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Do&ine of his Refiirre6lion in general, appears from Matth. xxviii. 6. He is not here^ for be is rifeiiy as he [aid : Cc??ie fee the Place where the Lord lay. These Words of S. Matthew are the Declaration of the Angel of God to those pious Women who brought sweet Spices to anoint him in the Sepulchre, but found him not dead, but alive, Aeld him by the Feet and worshipped him 3 andjjas the firfl Preachers of his Refur- redion, w-lh Fear and great Joy, ran to bring his rifciples W^ord, The BleiTed Apostles fol- low them, to whom also he fhewed himself

alive

Thirty ‘Nine Articles. 95

alive after his Paflion, by many infallible Article iv. Proofs j who with great Power gave Witness of -/“VN the Refurredion of the Lord Jesus, the princi- pal Part of whose Office confifted in this Tefti- mony, as appeareth upon the Eledlion of ilff- thias into the Place of Judas grounded upon this Necellity ; Wherefore of these Men ”jchicb have companied with us all the I’tme that the Lord Jesus ivent in and out among its. rnufi one he ordained to he a Witness ‘with us of bis Kefur- region *. The rest of the Disciples testified the fame, to whom he also appeared, even to Five hundred Brethren at once . I also knew him in the Flesh, faith Ignatius , after his Refur- redion, and believe on him. And when he came to those who were with Peter he said to them. Touch me, handle me, and fee that I am no Spirit without a Body.

These were the Witneffes of his own Family, of liich as w^orfhipped him, such as believed in him : And because the Tellimony of an Adversary is in such Cafes thought of greatest Validity, we have not only his Difci- pies, but even his Enemies to confirm it. Those Soldiers that watched at the Sepulchre, and pretended to keep his Body from the Hands of the Apostles ; they which felt the Earth trem- bling under them, and faw the Countenance of an Angel like Lightning, and his Raiment white as Snow • they who, upon that Sight, did (hake and became as dead Men, while he whom they kept became alive : Even fome of these came into the City, and fnewed unto the Chief

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Pricfts

94 -^^^ Exposition on the

''''l : Prieiis all the Things that were done. Thus was the Refurredlion of Christ confirmed by the highest Human Testimonies, both of his Friends and Enemiesj of his Followers and Revilers, But fb great, fo neceflary, fb important a My- ftcry, had need of a more firm and higher Testimony than that of Man ; and, therefore, an Angel from Heaven, who was Ministerial in it, gave a present and infallible Witness to it, as wc observed before. This was the Angel that descended from Heaven rolled hack the Stone from the Door of the Sepulchre, and fat ttpon it J Mat. xxviii. 2. Nay, two Angels in whIte fittings the one at the Head the other at the Feet where the Body of Jesus had lain said tmto the lVo?iien IVhy feek ye the Living among the Dead ? he is not here hut is risen John XX. 12. Luke xxiv. 4, 5, 6. These were the WitnefTes fent from Heaven, this the An- gelical Testimony of the Refurredtion : And if we receive the Witness of Men, or Angels, the Witness of God is greater, who did sufficiently attest this Refurredtion not only becaule there was no other Power but that of God which could effedl it, but, as our Saviour himself said, he Spirit cfTruth which proceedeth from the Father he fJoall testify of me - adding theie Words to his Apostles, And ye shall hear Witness hecaufe ye have heen with me from the Begmning. The Spirit of God fent down upon the Apostles did thereby testify that Christ was risen, because he fent that Spirit from the Father ; and the Apostles witnefted together with that Spirit, hecaufe they were inlightned comforted confirmed and ftrcngthened in their efimony hy the fame Spirit. Thus God raised up Jesus andfJjewed him openly not to all the People hut unto IVtt- neifes chosen before of God even to those who did

Eat

Thirty ‘Wme Articles. P5

Eat and Drink with him after he rose from the Article iV. Dead. If it be asked. Why he did not appear to O’NJ the whole JewifJjNmon fortheir Convidion, as xvell as to his Followers? I answer. That it was only of absolute Necedity, that those who were to be the first Publishers of the Gospel, should have the utmost Evidence and Satisfadlion concerning the Truth and Reality of Christ’s Relbrredion , for by the fame Reason that he was obliged to have appeared to the Jewiflo Nation, it may be proved, that the whole Roman Empire ought to have had the fame Ad- vantage, and that he should have fhewn himself to all the several succeeding Ages of the World ” Moreover, the Jews by their malicious Re- fiftance of the Evidence of our Saviour’s Mira- des, even of the greateli, of raising Lazarus from the Dead, had made themselves unworthy and incapable of fo extraordinary a Way of Con- virion a and for their obftinate Infidelity, joined with their cruel Usage of the Son of God, were determined for Objeds of the Almighty’s Wrath and Vengeance t.

The Words of S. Ignatius dhovQ cited, allude to Luke xxiv. 39. where our Bleffed Saviour reafbns with his Disciples in this manner : Behold my Hands and my Feet that it is I myself handle me and fee for a Spirit hath not Flefij and Bo?2eSy as ye fee me have. This Text proves, That when our Lord rose from the Dead, he took again his Body, with Flesh and Bones. And thus Irenceiis argues §, Christ rose

t See Pearson on the Creed, Art. V. Scott’s Christian Life, Part II. C. VII. §.13. NWyo»‘sPeftivals, Easter-Bay, Homily of the RefuTedtion. Nowelli Catech. p. 71, yx.

§ Adver. mr. L. V. C. VII.

96 j4n Exposition 07i the

Article IV. again in the Subftancc of his Flesh, and fhewed yy his Dilciples the Mark of the Nails, and the Wound in his Side; and theie are fb many Proofs that his Flesh rose again from the Dead. As to the Truth of his Rising with his Body, laith Tertiillian what can be clearer ? Since he said to his Disciples, who doubted whether he were not a Spirit, yea, believed him to be a Spirit, Why are ye troubled, and why do Thoughts af ife in your Hearts See my Hands and my Feet, that it is I myself, for a Spirit hath not Bones as ye fee me have ”*. His Rising with all Things belonging to the Perfection of Human Nature, appears from y(s x. 41, 42. where S. Ptcr faith, it bat he and his Fellow- Disciples did eat and drink with him after he rose from the Bead,

As we believe that our BlefTed Lord rose frona the Dead, as this Article teaches us, fo do we believe that he alcended, in like manner, into ;,; Ay-,. Heaven ; and by this we mean, that he ascended into Heaven, into the highest Heaven, and fittcth at the Right- Hand of God, to make Interceflion for us : So then, after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into Heaven, and fat at the Plight- Hand of God, faith S. Mark xvi. 19. And JreiKjeus tells us §, That when S. John said, in one of his Epiftles, That every one that be- lieveth that Jesus is the Chrifl, is born of God, he meant, that fame Jesus Christ to whom the Gates of Heaven were opened to receive him in the Flesh.

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To

Thirty-Nine Articles. p7

To ipeak to these Points somewhat more Article iv

fully 3 our Meaning with relation to pur Blefled Saviour’s Afcenfion, is. That the Only-begotten and Eternal Son of God, who, by his Divinity, was present in the Heavens while he was on Earth, did, by a local Translation of his Human Nature, really and truly ascend from this Earth below, on which he lived, into the Heavens above, or rather above all the Heavens, in the fame- Body and the Soul with which he lived and died, and rofc again. The A scent of Cbrifi into Heaven was not Metaphorical or Figurative, as if there were no more to be understood by it, but only that he obtained a more heavenly and glorious State or Condition after his Reiur- re6tion ; for whatfbever Alteration was made in the Body of Christ when he rose 3 whatlbever glorious Qualities it was invested with thereby, it was not his Afcenfion, as appeareth by those Words which he fpake to Mary Magdalene fotich me nct for I am not yet ascended to my Father John xx. 17. Although he had said before to Nicodemus No Man had ascended up to Heaven hut he that came down from Heaven even the Son of Man which is in Heaven John iii. 13. Which Words imply, that he had then ascended : Yet even those concern not this Afcen- fion , for that was therefore only true, because the Son of Man, not yet conceived in the Virgin’s Womb, was not in Heaven -, and after his Conception, by Virtue of the Hypoflatical Union, was in Heaven : From whence, speak- ing after the Manner of Men, he might well fay, that he had ascended into Heaven; because whatfbever was firfl on Earth, and then in Heaven, we fay ascended into Heaven. Where- fore beside that grounded upon the Hypo- G flatical

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9 8 An Exposition on the

Article IV. itical Union, bcfide that glorious Condition yy upon his Refurredlion, there was yet another, and that more proper Afcenfion for after he had both those Ways ascended, it was ftiil true that he had not yet ascended to his Father. Now this Kind of Afcenfion, by which Christ had not yet alcended to the Father when he fpake to Mary after his Reiurre(5lion, was to be per- formed afterwards ; for at the fame Time he said unto Mary Go to my Brethren, and fay unto them, / ascend tinto my Father and your Father, And when this Afcenfion was per- formed, it appeared manifeftjy to be a true local Translation of the Son of Man, as Man, from these Parts of the World below, into the Heavens above ; by which that Body, which was before locally present here on Earth, and was not fo then present in Heaven, became fub- ftantially present in Heaven, and no longer locally present on Earth: For when he had Ipoken unto the Disciples, and bleffed them, laying his Hands upon them, and lb was Cor- porally present with them, even while he blejjed them he parted from them j and while they beheld he was taken ///, and a Cloud received him out of their Sight and lb he was carried up into Heaven, whilst they looked ftedfaftly towards Heaven as he went up. This was a visible Departure, as it is described, a real removing of that Body of Christ, which was before present with the Apostles -, and that Body living after the Refurre5lion, by Virtue of that Soul which was united to it : And therefore, the Son of God, according to his Humanity, was really and truly tranilated from those Parts below, unto the Heavens above, which is a proper local Afcenfion.

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Thirty-Nine Articles. ^^

ARTici.r. IV,

Thus was Christ’s Afcenfion visibly per- /V formed in the Presence and Sight of the Apo- \qs for the Confirmation of the Reality and Certainty thereof They did not fee him when he rose, but they law him when he ascended • because an Eye-Witn efs was not neceffary unto the Ad of his Refurredion, but it was necel lary unto the Ad of his Afcenfion : It was fuf- ficient that Christ fhewed himself to the Apostles alive after his Paflion , for since they knew him before to be Dead, and now faw him Alive, they were thereby affured that he rose again 5 for whatsoever was a Proof of his Life after Death, was a Demonflration of \\s Refur- redion. But fmce the Apoflles were not to fee our Saviour in Heaven 3 fmce his fitting there at the Right-Hand of God, was not to be visible to them on Earth, therefore it was neceffary they ihould be Eyc-Witneffes of the Ad, who were not with the fame Eyes to behold the Effed. Beside the Eye- Witness of the Apoflles, there was added the Testimony of the Angels ; those Bleffed Spirits which miniftred before, and faw the Face of God in Heaven, and came down from thence, did know that Chrifl ascended up from hence, unto that Place from whence they came : And becaufc the Eyes of the Apoflles could not follow him fb far, the Inhabitants of that Place did come to teflify of his Peception, For heboid two Men flood hy them in white Apparel which also [aid TeMen ofGalilee, why ft and ye gazing up into Heaven ? his fame yefus which is taken up from you into Heaveit Jhallfo come in like manner as ye have feen him go into Heaven Ads i. 10, 11. We must therefore acknowledge and confess, againil all the wild Herefies of Old, That the Eternal Son

G a of

I oo An Exposition on the

Article IV. Qo who died and rose again, did with the "" fame Body with which he died and rose, ascend up to Heaven. Should it be asked, what Reason can be given why our Saviour did not alcend in the Sight of the Jews for their Convi6lion I anilver, That it was only abiblutely neceflary, that they who were to preach the Goipel, should have the utmost Evidence of those Matters of Fad they attested. God’s Dcfign was to bring the World to Salvation by the Exercise of Faith, which is an Adl of AfTent upon the Testimony of another, with which Sight is inconfiftent : And it is to be doubted, whether they who ascribed our Saviour’s Miracles to the Power of the Devil, and fuborned the Soldiers to fay upon his Refurretion, that his Disciples stole him away, would not have called his Alcenfion, if they had feen it, a Phantafm, and vain Ap- parition. I aflerted before, that when we speak of our Saviour’s ascending into Heaven, we mean, that he ascended into the highest Heaven ; and to illaftrate this Matter, tis necelTary to observe. That the Word Heaven admits of diverie Acceptations in the Scriptures, and to inquire what is the proper Termination of Christ’s Alcenfion. In fome Sense it might be truly said, Cbrijl was in Heaven before the Cloud took him out of the Apostle’s Sight ; for the Clouds themselves are called the Ootids of Heaven : But that Heaven is the Firfl, and our Saviour certainly aicended, at least, as far as St. Paul was caught up, that is, into the ktrd Heaven , for ‘-joe have a great Hgh-Pnefi that is pajl through the Heavens Fleb. iv. 14 ’ e read it, indeed, into the Heavens bit the Ori- ginal imports as much as through the Herner.s cf)gAl/3J7a T iifsrviy or according to the vu!a;‘r Latin qui penetravit C(£ks tiiat is who b.irh

pierced

TIjirty-Nine Articles. loi

pierced the Heavens, And Eph. iv. lo. he is Article iv, said to have ascended tip far above all Heavens. L/V When thcitfore Christ is laid to have ascended into Heaven, we must take that Word as figni- fying as much as the Heaven of Heavens ; and fo Christ is ascended through, and above the Heavens, and yet is still in Heaven : For he is entered into that within the Veil Heb- vi. 19. into the Holy Place even into Heaven itielf, to appear in the Presence of God, chap. ix. ver. 26. Whatibever Heaven then is higher than all the rest, which are called Heavens • whatsoever Sandluary is holier than all which are called Holies; whatsoever Place is ofgreateft Dignity in all those Courts above, into that Place did he ascend, where he was in the Splendor of his Deity, before he took our Humanity upon him. As therefore, when we fay Christ afeended, we understand a literal and local Ascent, not of his Divinity, which poiTefteth all Places, and therefore is not fubjed to the Imperfedion of removing any whither, but of his Humanity, which was Co in one Place, that it was not in another : fo when we fay the Place into which he ascended was Heaven ; and from the Expo- fitionsof the Apostles, must understand thereby, the Heaven of Heavens, or the highest Heaven, it followeth, that we believe the Body with the Soul of Christ,, to have paifed far above all thcfe Coeleftial Bodies which we fee, and to look upon that Opinion as a low Conceit, which left his Body in the Sun f.

t See Nowelli Catech. p. 7^. Pearson on the Creed, Art. VI. Scott’s Christian Life, Part II. C. VII. […] Festivals, Ajcenfan-Day,

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lox Ai Exposition on the

Article IV. OuR Lord’s remaining in Heaven till the K.j’*‘y’\J Day of Judgment, appears from js iii. 20, chftonmar js Jhdl fend Jesus Christ, which hefore the Buy of ”doas preached tmto you : Whom the Heavens must Judgment, recci’ve until the tjnes of Kejtitution of all Things which Gdd hath spoken by the Mouth of all his Holy Prophets since the World began. And from Chap. x. ver. 42. where St. Peter says. And he commanded us to preach unto the People and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of lick and Dead, The Time when this is to be, is what this Ar- tide, and all Chriiliians call the Last-Day , for tis certain that the Years and Days this World is to endure, are fixed by God, though neither Men nor Angels can tell when they (hall receive their Period or End. When this Time is past, our Lord shall return from Heaven to judge both the Quick and Dead, and shall render to every Man according to his Works. And Ire- naus tells us +, That he (hall come again with the fame Fiefh in which he sufFered.

The Light of Nature itself diicovers to us an effential Difference between Good and Evil ; whence, by the common Consent of Mankind, Rewards are affixed to the one, and Punish- ments to the other: And according as Men govern their Actions in relation to these effen- tial Differences of Good and Evil, lb are their Hopes and their Fears. The Pradice of Virtue Is attended not only with present Quiet and Satisfadion, but with the comfortable Hope of a future Recompence 3 the Commiflion of any

t Mver. mr. Lib. JII. C XVIII.

wicked

Thirty-Nbie Articles. lo;

wicked Adion, though never fo secret fits Article iv. uneasy upon the Mind, and fills it full of Horror ” and Amazement i all which would be very un- accountable, without the natural Apprehension and Acknowledgments of future Rewards and Punishments. And it must be from this Prin- ciple, that many of the Heathens esteemed Virtue and Honesty dearer than Life, with all the Advantages of it, and abhorred Villany and Impiecy worse than Death. Besides the Dif- pemations of God’s Providence towards Men in this World are very promifcuous 3 good Men often suffer, and that even for the Sake of Righteoufnefs, and bad Men as frequently pro- fper and Rourifh, and that by Means of their Wickednels: So that to clear the Juflice of God’s Proceedings, it seems reasonable there should be a future Judgment, for a suitable Distribution of P.ewards and Punishments. And this Principle of a Judgment to come, JtiJIm Martyr propounds to the Gentiles as generally acknowledged by all their Writers, and as the great Encouragement for his Apology for theChriftian Religion* The fame Dodrine is likewise taught us by the clear and exprels Teflimonies of Scripture, particularly A6fs x. 42. before mentioned, and chap. xvii. qer. $1. where we are told. That God hath gin) en Affw ranee unto all Men that he will judge the I for Id hy Jesus Christ in that he hath raijed him from the Dead. And the Process of that great Day, with fevcral of the particular Circumstances of it, are fully described by our Saviour. St Paul exprefly declares, That we mufi all appear and ft and before the Judgment Seat ofChrift. S. Peter

G 4 That

1 ©4 An Exposition on the

ArticifIV. That the Bay of the Lord Jh all come in which y the Heavens JJo all pass away with a great Noise and the Elements fiaU melt with fervent Heat f. In short, no Dodrine is more clear, and exprefi, and fundamental in the Word of God, than that of an Eternal Judgment at the End of the World, when the State of our Trial and Pro- bat’on shall be finished, which will be a proper Seafbn for the Distribution of Publick Justice, for rewarding all thoie with Eternal Life, who hy patient Continuance in Hfell-doing feek for Glory and Honour and Immortality and for rendering to them that obey not the Truth hut chey Uiirtghteoiifnefsy Indignation and IVrath tribulation and Anguijh Rom. ii. 7, 8, 9. I shall therefore conclude my Observations upon this Article, with that moil excellent Inference of St. Pifr’s, 2 Fet. iii. ii, 12. Seeing then that all these ‘things Jhall be dtffolved what manner of Persons ought ye to be in all holy Con- verfation and Godltnefs looking for and hajling- unto the Coming of the Bay of God §.

f Meit. XXV. Rom. XVI, 10. 2 Cor. v. 10. 2 Vet. iii. ro. Heb. vi. 2.

Article

Notes

• Ad Gruos Cohor. p. i .
• See NowcUi Catech. p. 86, NeJfon’s Festivals, C II. TeMrfon on the Creed, Art. VII. Sherlock of Judgment. Scott’s Chririiaa Life, Part II. C. VII. §. ii.