44 THE PROOF OF A SEPARATE STATE, of Paul as being "present with the Lord which is far better," than dwelling in this flesh, or being present with this body, &ci Therefore there must be a sort of judgment, or sentence of de- termination passed,upon every such soul by the great God, who- (her it shall be -happy or miserable : For it can never be sup- posed that happiness or misery should be given to such souls without the determination of God, the judge of all : And per- haps that text ; lleb. ix. 27. refers to it " It is appointed unto seen once to die, bút after this the judgment ;" that is, imme- diately after it. Or suppose that in the separate state, the pleasures or sor- rows which attended souls departing from the body, should be o ily such as are the necessary consequents of a life spent in the practice of vice or virtue, of religion or ungodliness, without any formalities of standing before a judgment -seat or a solemn sentence of absolution or condemnation ; yet the very entrance upon this state, whetlttrr it be of peace or of torment must be supposed to signify that the state of that soul is adjudged or de- termined by the great Governor of the world : And this is all that is necessarily meant by a particular judgment of each soul at death, whether it pass under the solemn formalities of a judg tuent and a tribunal, or no. Objection XIV. If the saints can be happy without'a body, what need of a resurrection ? Let the body be as refined, as active, as powerful and glorious as it can be, still it must certainly be a clog to the soul : And this was the objection that the heathen philosophers made to the dectrine of the resurrection, which the christians profess ; for the philosophers told them, this resurrec- tion, which they called their highest reward, was really a punish- ment. Answer. The force of this objection has been quite taken away before, when it lias been shewn, that man being a creature compounded of body and spirit, was designed for its highest happiness, and the perfection of its nature in this state of union, and not in a state of separation. And let it be observed, that when the body shall be raised from the grave, it shall not be such flesh and blood as we now wear, nor made of such materials as shall clog or obstruct the soul in any of its most vigorous and di- vine exercises ; but it shall he a spiritual body; 1 Cor. xv. 44. a body fitted to serve a holy and a glorified spirit in its actions and its enjoyments, and to render the spirit capable of some fur- ther excellencies, both of action and enjoyment, than it is natu rally capable of without a body. 'What sort of qualities this new- raised body shall be endued with, in order to increase the excellency, or -the happiness of pious souls, will be in a great measure a mystery, or a secret, till that blessed morning appears.
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