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SECT`.
t.
THE HAPPINESS
OF
SEPARATE
SPIRITS.
3iß
long
to
the
church on
earth.
"
We
are
come, says
the
apostle,
verse
Q2,
we,
in
the
gospel
state,
are
come
to
mount
Lion, to
the
heavenly
Jerusalem,
to
the innume-
rable company
of
angels,
and
to the
spirits
of
just
men
made perfect."
What.
sort of
communion
it
is
that
gbod men here
be;-
low
maintain
with-those exalted
spirits,.it
is
not
tirV
pre-
sent
business to describe
therefore
I-
apply myself im-
mediately
to the words
of
my
text, and
-confine
myself
to
them
only.
And
here
I
shall
consider these four
things
-:
I. Who are
particularly
designed
by
the spirits
Of
the
just;
and here I shall
make it
evident
that
'the
apostle
intends not
merely the spirits
of
good
men,
but
such good
spirits
as
are dismissed
from
their
mortal
bodies.
II.
We
shall
enquire
wherein consists the'perfectiTh
to
which
they have arrived,
and what
are
the
excellencies
in
which
they are made perfect.
III.
What sort of
perfection it
is
they
enjoy,
and
what
are the peculiar characters
of
it.
IV.
How they
arrive
at
this
perfect
state, and
what
influence the dismission from
their
bodies has
towards
their attainment of
it.
And then conclude with a
few
remarks for
obi-
instrtc-
tion
and
practice, suitable
to
the present.providence.
SECTION
I.
Of
the
spirits
of
the
just.
Our
first
enquiry
is,
whom
are
we
to
understand
by
the spirits
of
the
just
here spoken
of
The name of
just
or
righteous
men,
taken
in
-á
large
and general
sense, as
it
is
often
used
in
scripture,
signi-
fies
all those who
fear
and
love.
God,
and ate acceptbd
of
him.
In
the New
Testament
they are .`frequently
called
saints.,
believers, or children
of
God but in both
parts of
the bible they are often described
:by
the name
of just,
or righteous,
and
they
are
properly
called
so
uptin
these
three
accounts:
I.
Theirr
persons
are made righteous
in ,the
sight
of
God,
having
their
sins forgiven,
and
their
gatrls
justified
through the.death and righteousness
of Jesus
Christ:
So
the word
is
used
:
Rom.
v.
19.
By
the
obedience
of
äie
B4