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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
the
cross,
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
thief
upon 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,
Luke
xxiii. 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