43 nArrsausS OF SEPARATE SPIRITS. certain parts of the creation : And wheresoever they are, if they are under the immediate influences of divine glory, they are in heaven ; if of his vengeance, they are in hell. 4. They are usually represented as having some relation to particular place or places ; because while we dwell in flesh and blood, we knownot how to conceive of their presence so well any other way : and therefore they may described in scripture or in common discourse, as being in heaven, and above the heavens, and in the third heaven, and as coming down to earth, &c. ac- cording as they are supposedto put forth any actions there, or to havean immediate cognizance of things that are done in those pla- ces : for the chief notion we have ofthe presence of spiritsis their immediate consciousness, and their immediate agency. 5. But iftheyare providedwith any subtile or ethereal bodies, which are called vehicles, in and by which they act as soon as they leave flesh and blood, then they may properly be said to re- side in those places where their vehicles are, even as our souls at present are said to be in a room or a closet, or a field, because ourbodies are there, in and by which they act. 6. There must be some place where the glorified body of Christ is, and the souls of departeá saints are, in some sense, with him. There Enoch and Elijah are in theirimmortal bodies, and other saints who rose at the resurrection of Christ. They may be, for ought we know, in or among some of the planets, or 'amongst the stars, though the distance of the stars is so prodigi- ous and amazing, according to the exactest calculations of the new philosophy, that if the motion of a spirit or glorified body were no swifter than that of a cannon bullet, they would not get so far as the stars in a thousand ages ; nor would the journey of so swift a traveller to any of the planets, except the moon, cost less than the labour of several years. 7;These things are so puzzling to our reason, so confound our imagination, and so far transcend the reach of our present faculties to enquire and determine, that it is sufficient for us to. know and believe, that the spirits qt. thejust made perfect have au existence under the blissful influences of the grace and glory of God. And though we freely speak of them, and the scripture leads us to conceive of them, as dwelling in a world of light, and in some special place of magnificence and apartments of glory, or as moving from one place to another ; yet perhaps it is to be understood chiefly in condescension to the weakness of our present capacities, or in relation to vehicles to which they may be united. But our ignorance in these matters shall be no hindrance to our arrival at heaven, if we tread the paths of faith, and holiness, though we know not in what part of the creation it lies. I proceedto the secondremark. II. Ifall the spirits of the just that depart fromthis world are-
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