SECT. VI.] THE HAPPINESS OF SEPARATE SPIRITS. 445 rate state of souls : It is as if he had said, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are dead long ago ; but God is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob still. Now God is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living ; there- fore the souls of those patriarchs are yet alive, for they all live to God in the separate state, and they shall appear in their complete human nature, soul and body, at the resurrection. This is the language and the force of our Saviour's argument, and therefore I must believe the soul of Abraham is alive now. When Jesus promises the penitent thief upon the cross, Luke xxiii. 43. " This day shalt thou he with me in Pa- radise ;" can we persuade ourselves that he intended no more than that the thief should be with him in the grave, or in a state of indolence and insensibility ? Does he not assure him in these words, that there is a state of happi- ness for spirits dismissed from the body, whither the soul of our Lord Jesus was going, and where the dying pe- nitent should find him ? So when the infidel Jews stoned Stephen the first mar- tyr, Acts vii. 59. while he expressed his faith and hope in these words, " Lord Jesus receive my spirit :'' was this spirit of his to be laid asleep till the resurrection? Can we suppose the dying saint would have made such a request upon so lethargic a principle, and in the view of such a stupid state? No, surely; for be expected, and desired, and prayed to be received to dwell where Christ is, and to behold that glory which he had a glimpse of in the agonies of death. Would the apostle Paul have been so willing to be absent from the body, where he did much service for his Saviour, if he had not a joyful view of being present with the Lord ? as he expresses it, 2 Cor. v. 8. What doth he mean by this blessed language of presence with the Lord, if his soul was to lie asleep in a senseless and inactive state till the second coming of Jesus ? Or would he have told the Philippians, chap. i. verse 23. " that he had a desire to depart, and to be with Christ, which is far better," if he had hoped for no advantage for his spirit by it, but a mere stupid indolence and rest in the silent grave ? Besides, we are told of rebellious spirits that are in prison ; 1 Pet. iii. 19, 20. and of "Sodom and Gomorrah suffering the vengeance of eternal fire ;" Jude, verse 7.
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