fair for their going directly to Heaven, where Chrift is; but the Primitive Chriftians underftood them otherwife: That Paradife, and 4braham's Bofom was a place of Eafe and Happinefs, but not Heaven; that no man afcends into Heaven till after the Refurrection; which Irenæus and Tertullian prove from the Example of Chrift, to which we must be conformed; for Chrift himself did not afcend into Heaven till after the Refurrection; but as his Body refted in the Grave, fo his Soul went into the State of Souls departed; and when he arofe again, then he afcended into Heaven; and thus they fay we must do alfo. When we die, our Souls fhall live in those Places which God has prepared for feparate Souls; and when we have reaffumed our Bodies, we fhall be admitted into the highest Heavens, whither Chrift is afcended: And this feems very reasonable, that we should not afcend into Heaven, into the immediate Prefence of God, which fignifies our perfect Reconciliation to him, without our Bodies; the want of which is an Argument of our Apoftacy and bis Difpleafure; and all the Marks of his Difpleasure ought to be removed, before we appear in his immediate Prefence. But is not Chrift in Heaven? and how then can good Men be present with the Lord after Death, if they do not immediately afcend into Heaven? Now as for this they tell us, That the Souls of Juft Men in Paradife have the Sight and Converfation of Angels and Archangels, and the Vision, or laciar, of our Saviour, which, they think, is what is meant by be

ing prefent with the Lord; though they did not affirm that no Good Men did immediately afcend into Heaven when they died; but exprefly taught that all Martyrs did, who died for the Name and Religion of Chrift: And this was the thing which made them in that Agefo fond of Martyrdom, that they thought all Martyrs afcended directly into Heaven: And if they could have proved this, as it is plain they believed it, that Martyrs did immediately afcend into Heaven, and that other Chriftians did not, who would not have coveted to dye a Martyr?

Thus I have very fairly and truly reprefented this matter: And that no man who has not fo carefully confidered this, may take offence at it, I fhall 1. fhew you how ufeful this Doctrine is at this time. And 2. That it gives no Difcouragement to Virtue, nor any Encouragement to Vice.

ft. As for the firft, we may confider in the firft place, That in fuch an Age as this, wherein we have to deal with fo many Atheists and Infidels, we ought to take care to make Religion reafonable and intelligible; for if we do not, they expose it to Scorn and Ridicule, and both harden themselves in their own Infidelity, and corrupt others; and therefore we must take care not to represent any thing abfurdly and inconfiftently: Now to fay that men who are already judged, and either condemned or abfolved, and actually fent to Hell or to Heaven, fhould be folemnly judged over again, and condemned a

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gain to Hell, or advance to Heaven, founds od-. ly to fuch men; but if the Scripture does not exprefly teach fuch a Doctrine, we are at liberty not to teach it, efpecially if we can give another account of it, which feems as agreeable to Scripture, and more agreeable to the Reason and Understanding of Mankind:

2. Some there are, who obferving that Mankind fhall not be judged till the Day of Judgment, conclude that there is no' intermediate State, but that the Soul fleeps with the Body till the Day of Judgment. A very Foolish and Unphilofophical Opinion; for we may as reafonably think that the Soul dies, as that it fleeps in a State of Separation: If the Soul be a Spiritual Subftanice, diftinct from the Body, it may live and act without it; and it is as eafy and reafonable to defend the Mortality of the Soul, as its fleeping; for if the Soul muft fleep when it's feparated from the Body, it must fleep for ever, if it never be reunited to the Body again; that is, it must live and die with the Body; for fuch a fleep as this is not merely an Image of Death, but Death it felf. But from what I have now difcourfed, it appears, That though there be a great diftance between Death and Judgment, yet the Soul does live and act, is happy or miferable the mean time.

3. This Notion does very great fervice alfo against Popery: For 1. It gives an account of a Middle State, without Purgatory. This has greatly impofed upon Unlearned Men that the Advocates of Popery have proved

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from the Ancient Fathers, that they owned aMiddle State, which was neither Heaven nor Hell; and then presently conclude, That this must be Purgatory. Now it is very true, the Ancient Chriftians did own a Middle Ștate between Death and Judgment, which was neither Heaven nor Hell, but yet never dreamt of a Popish Purgatory: They believed bad men were in a State of Punishment as foon as they left these Bodies, but not in Hell and that good men were in a state of Reft and Happiness, but not in Heaven; but they never thought of a Place of Torment to expiate the Temporal Punishment due to Sin, when the Eternal Punishment is remitted, which is the Popish Purgatory, and the moft Barbarous Reprefentation of the Chriftian Religion, though the moft Profitable too, to the Church of Rome, that ever was invented.

2. This utterly overthrows the Worship of Saints in the Church of Rome; at least, of all Saints who were not Martyrs; for Saint-Worship is founded on this Belief, That these Saints when they dye are received into Heaven, into the immediate Prefence of God, and therefore can there powerfully interceed for us; but if these Saints are not yet received into Heaven, nor fhall be till the Refurrection, which was the Faith of the Primitive Chriftians, and feems very agreeable to the Doctrine of the Gofpel, as I have now fhewn you; then there is an end of the Worship and Interceffion of Saints.

2dly. This Doctrine neither difcourages Virtue, nor encourages Vice: I cannot indeed fay, but that Heaven is a much happier Place than Paradife, and therefore it is more defirable for Good Men when they die, to go directly to Heaven than to Paradife: But yet it is a fufficient Encouragement to the exercife of the moft perfect Virtues, that as foon as we die, we fhall be carry'd by Angels into Abraham's Bofom, or into Paradife; a Place of perfect Eafe and Reft, and as perfect Happiness as can be enjoy'd out of Heaven. Such a Paradife where Holy Souls dwell, Patriarchs, Prophets, Apoftles, Martyrs, and Confeffors, with Heaven at the end of it, is a fufficient, an abundant Reward for all the most difficult and laborious Services of this Life: That Heaven is not yet, is no greater Difcouragment, than that we fhall not rife from the Dead till the Day of Judgment, that we shall not have our Bodies again till they are awakened by the Laft Trumpet; Bodies which will be bright and glorious as the Sun, which will rife with Eternal Youth and Strength, and Beauty: This is a much greater Happiness, than to live either in Paradife or in Heaven without our Bodies: But this we must ftay for, and fo we may for Heaven; and we may be very well contented to wait for Heaven, and for the Refurrection of our Bodies in Paradife: When we are as happy as Paradife can make us, we may very patiently expect the full Completion of our Happiness in the Refurrection of our Bodies, and our Admiffion into

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