SECT: IIL1 PROOF OF A SEPARATE STATE. Q9.5 This part of the argument holds good, in whatsoever sense you construe the whole debate, and by.whatsoever medium or connection you prove the doctrineof the resurrection of the body ; and this is obvious to the honest and unlearned reader, as well as to the man of learning. IV. Luke xxiii. 42, 43. And he, that is,. the pent- tent thief upon thecross, said unto Jesus, .Lord, remem- ber me when thou comest into thy kingdom : And Jesus said unto him, verily I say unto thee, to-day shalt thou be with me in paradise." The thiefupon the cross be:- lieved that Christ would enter into paradise, which he supposed to be Christ's kingdom, when he departed from this world, which was not his kingdom : And this he be- lieved, partly according to the common sentiment of the Jews, concerning good men at their death, as well as it is agreeable to our Saviour's own expressions to God, John xvii. 11. " Holy Father, I am no more in the world, and I come unto thee :'' or, as he said to his disciples, John xvi. 28, " I leave the world, and go to the. Father." And, according to these expressions, Lukexxiii. 46. Christ dies with these words on his lips, " Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit." Our Saviour taking notice of the repentance of the thief, acknowledging. his own guilt, thus, " We are justly under this condemna- tion, and receive the due reward of our deeds," and taking notice also of his faith in the Messiah, as a king whose kingdom was not of this world, when he prayed, " Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy king- dom :" Christ, I say, taking notice of both these, an- swers hina with a promise of Much grace, " Verily, I say unto thee, to-day shalt thou be with me in paradise." The use of the word paradise in scripture and amongst ancient writers, Jewish and christian, is to signify the happiness of holy souls in a separate state: And our Sa- viour entering into that state, at his death, declared to the dying penitent, that he should be with him there im- mediately. It is certain that by the word, paradise, St. Paul means the place of happy spirits, into which he was transported, 2 Cor. xii. 4. And this sense is very ac- commodate, and proper to this expression of our Savi- ur, arad to the prayer of the penitent thief, and it is as u4
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