The Body of Man in the Grave Compared to Seed That Is Sown

    THE BODY OF MAN IN THE GRAVE COMPARED TO SEED THAT IS SOWN

    "Thou Fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die" 1Co 15:36.

    THE apostle compares the body of man that is laid in the grave, to Seed that is Sown.

    PARALLELS.

    I. SEED that is sown lies some considerable time in the earth before it rises or springs up: so the bodies of men lie some time in the grave before the resurrection, though some lie much longer than others; as such who lived in Adam's, Noah's, and Abraham's days; yet generally all lie, and shall lie some time in the grave, before they rise again.

    II. Seed, that it may not abide alone, is first Sown and dies, and then it rises again; "Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall to the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit," Joh 12:24. So the Body of man must die, or be changed, or it can never arise, nor be made glorious to bring forth the eternal fruit of praise to God. As Seed loses nothing by being Sown: so the Bodies of the saints shall lose nothing by death; death, I mean, will be by no ways to their disadvantage, but contrariwise to their great benefit.

    III. The body of the same seed or corn of wheat that is sown, rises again. "Every seed hath its own body," 1Co 15:38. So the same numerical body that is laid in the grave shall rise again. If it was not thus, the dead rise not; he that denies this, denies the resurrection of the dead: "And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God, whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another, though my reins be consumed within me," Job 19:26-27.