455 / 652
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.