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SECT. IV.]
PROOF
OF
.A
SEPARATE STATE.
X13
to.
the
Philippians, should mean no more than
this, as
verses
13,
14.
"
I
forget
the
things
that
are behind, as
though
I
had gained
so
little already,
as
not
to
be
worth
my notice
;
and
I
reach forth unto
those things which
are
.before,
that
is,
further
degrees
of
holiness to
be
obtain-
ed, pressing towards the
mark
of
perfection,
if
by
any
means
I
might be
made
so
conformable
to
the
death
of
Christ,
as to be
entirely dead
to sin,
and
if
by
any means
I
might
attain
to
the
resurrection
of
the dead
;"
that
is,
to such a
perfection
of
hòliness,
as
is
represented
by
the
resurrection
of Christ;
Rom.
vi.
4,
11.
or
as
that
in
which
the
"
dead
saints
shall
be
raised
;
for
I
know
I
have
not
already attained
it;
nor
am
alreády perfect."
Answer
3.
Suppose
the soul
of
St.
Paul,
to be
present
with
Christ
after death
in
heaven
in
the
separate
state,
yet
this
is
not
the
ultimate or
highest
happiness
of
the saints,
and therefore
he
aimed
at
something higher and
further,
-namely,
the more complete
happiness
which
he
should
enjoy
at
the
resurrection of the
dead.
Objection
V.
is
borrowed
from
several
verses
of
1
Cor.
xv.
viz. 13,
18, 19,
39.;.
where the
apostle
is
imagined to
argue
thus, "
If
there
be no
resurrection
of
the dead."
verse
13.
"
Then
they which
are fallen
asleep in
Christ
are
perished," verse
18.
" Then
we
have hope only
in
this
life,
and nothing
else
to
support
us," verse
19.
Then,
"what
advantage
do
I.
get
by
all
my
sufferings
for
Christ,
if
the dead rise
not
r"
We
had
better
comply
with the appetites
of
the
flesh,
and
enjoy
a
merry
life
here,
"
Let
us
eat
and drink, for
to-
morrow
we
die,'
verse
'32.
whereby
it
is
evident,
that
the
apostle
places
the
blessed
expectation of
those,
that
are
fallen asleep in
Christ, only,
and entirely,
upon
their
being
raised
from
the dead, which
he
would
not
have
done,
if
there
had
been
such a
separate state:
Iie
extends
our
hope
in
Christ beyond
this
life,
and raises
his own
expectation
of
advantage, or
reward
for
his
sufferings on
the
account
of
the
gospel,
entirely
and
only
upon
the
resurrection
of
the
dead, having no
notion
of
any happiness
in
a
separate
state of
souls
:
For:if
he
had
any such opinion or hope,
this
expectation
of
the happiness
of
the
soul
in
a separate
state, might
have
been
a sufficient
proof,
that
those,
who
died or
slept
in
the faith
of
Christ, are
not
perish-
ed,
and he had
abundant
reward for
his sufferings,
in
that