have preached to the antedeluvians, because his spirit inspired Noah to preach to them, as is plain from Gen. vi: 3, "My spirit shall not always strive with man." Hence Noah is called "a preacher of righteousness." As the economy of man's redemption from the beginning has been under the direction of Christ, the preaching of the ancient prophets is attributed directly to him. And the Spirit who was in the ancient prophets is expressly affirmed to be the "Spirit of Christ." Thus Christ by his Spirit upon the mind and through the ministration of Noah preached to the old world. The time when he went and preached was when the long suffering of God waited in the days of Noah while the ark was preparing. It was during the one hundred and twenty years in which Noah was a preacher of righteousness. During that period when the patience of God waited for the reformation of the old world and he delayed the deluge. The spirits in prison are expressly said to have been disobedient in the days of Noah; hence we cannot suppose that (pneumasi) spirits is of the same signification as (psuchai) souls, verse 20. The apostle is speaking of the ante deluvians in their present state. They were men on earth in the flesh when Christ preached to them by his spirit, but they are now" spirits in prison," detained like the fallen angels unto the judgment of the great day. This gives an easy sense to the passage, and at the same time does not interfere with any doctrine of the Bible.

If any one should choose to understand by the prison either the human body or human corruptions, the passage will be equally far from affording the least countenance and support to the doctrine of universal salvation. For the fact that Christ preached to the antedeluvians by his Spirit while they were in the body, wallowing in their corruptions, is no evidence that they will ever be restored to the moral image and favor of God. Many now hear the gospel whe do not believe and obey its precepts, and it is to them a "savour of death unto death."

Another class of texts which are thought to favor the doctrine of universal reconciliation, consist of such as speak of Christ as "reigning until he hath put all enemies under his feet," (1 Cor. xv: 25,)—

of "every knee bowing to Christ," (Isa. xl: 23,)—and of "all things in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, bowing at the name of Jesus," (Phil. ii: 10.) These and similar texts are in the highest degree figurative, and are to be understood with such limitations as are necessarily suggested by the nature of the subject and other plain declarations of scripture. The most that a fair interpretation of the texts in question can be made to prove, is the glorious exaltation of Christ as head over the Church, and over all things unto the Church, and the subjection of all things to his control. Doubtless the Lord Jesus will rule till he has put all enemies under his feet. "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." This language is manifestly used in reference to the resurrection of the bodies of those who sleep in Jesús. For "when this corruption shall put on incorruption then shall be brought to pass the saying, death is swallowed up in victory." This is the same thing as the last enemy being destroyed. And when the resurrection is accomplished and the judgment finished, and the righteous introduced into the presence of God, "then cometh the end" of the present state of things, "when he shall have delivered up (or re-established) the kingdom to the Father; when he shall have put down all (opposing) rule, and all authority and power." But does this mean that he will save all men? One would think "to be placed under foot" denotes the condition not of friends but of vanquished rebels. Further, these things are to attend the last judgment, and do not include the "second death" which is the wages of sin.

Doubtless "every knee shall bow to Christ." But is this necessarily expressive of a holy and voluntary submission to him? Is it a proof that all will be saved? Surely not. The submission of every knee in heaven, earth and hell, to Jesus, is no more a proof that all will be saved than the confession of the devil that Christ was the Son of God was an evidence that he was a proper subject of salvation. The same inspired writer applies this language to the universal conviction which shall be produced at the general judgment, when "every mouth shall be stopped and all the world become guilty before God." "We shall all stand before the judgment seat

of Christ; for it is written, As I live saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one shall give account of himself to God."--(Rom. xiv: 10–12. Another passage adduced, as affirming that all mankind will be ultimately restored to purity and happiness, is this: "Having made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in himself; concerning the dispensation of the fulness of times, that he would gather together to himself, in one all things through Christ, which are in the heavens, and which are on the earth: even in him."-(Eph. 1:9, 10.) By the dispensation we are to understand the plan which God had formed for gathering together all believers in one visible Church under Christ as their head. The word (oikonomai) properly signifies a plan formed for the management of any business. By the (tapanta) all things, we are to understand all holy beings. This passage supposes that sin has effected a disunion between men and the other parts of the universe. But through the mediation of Christ a reunion is effected. By the blood of Christ believers are reconciled to him, and through him they are united to all who love him throughout the extent of his creation. "The interpretation of the ancient fathers," says Whitby, "seems to give this sense, that God hath by this dispensation gathered under one head, viz. Christ, the head of the Church, all things on earth, that is, believers of all nations, Jews and Gentiles, and all things in heaven, that is, the angelic hosts." By "things in heaven" Beza understands the glorified saints who died before Christ came into the world, and who are not to be made perfect till the resurrection. It is the design of God to unite in one happy society all holy beings under one head who is Jesus Christ. Surely nothing can be gathered from this passage to favor the doctrine of universal salvation. It does not imply, much less assert, that all men will be ultimately restored to purity and happiness. If we take the phrase all things in its most extended sense, as including the whole creation animate and inanimate, this expresses only the universal dominion of Christ. But how this involves the salvation of all men does not appear.

Much reliance is placed by the objectors to endless punishment on this text: "It hath pleased the Father that in him, (Christ,) all fullness should dwell; and having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in heaven, or things in earth."-Col. i: 19, 20.) If by the reconciliation of all things in heaven and in earth is denoted the salvation of all the inhabitants of heaven and earth, it would follow, that the holy angels are saved. But salvation is deliverance from sin and punishment. This the sinless angels cannot experience. Further, if by all things in heaven and earth we understand all their inhabitants are to be reconciled, the apostle must have dealt in unmeaning tautology when he declared to the Collossians: "And you that were sometimes alienated and enemies in your minds by wicked works yet now hath he reconciled."-(Col. i: 21.) The word (apokatallarai) translated to reconcile, signifies here to unite, simply; because the good angels are said to be reconciled to Christ who were never at variance with him. The meaning of the passage is that through the blood of the cross all holy beings are united in one blessed society under Christ as their head, and that peace is established between God and the sinner and between sinners themselves.

Much reliance is placed by these objectors under consideration on those passages which speak of "all the ends of the earth remembering and turning to the Lord," and of "all the kindreds of the nations coming and worshipping before him;" (Ps. xxii : 27)—of “all nations-glorifying his name ;" (Ps. lxxxvi: 9)—of "all the kings of the earth praising the Lord;" (Ps. cxxxviii: 4)—of "the glory of the Lord being revealed, and all flesh seeing of it together;" (Isa. xl: 5)—of "all the ends of the earth seeing the salvation of the Lord;" (Isa. lx: 10)-and of "the people being all righteous;" (Isa. lx: 21. But texts of this descriptions it is manifest to every candid, intelligent student of the Bible, have not the remotest reference to the subject. They are glorious predictions of the coming spiritual reign of Christ on earth, in the latter-day glory of the Church, when the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the glory

of God. Then indeed shall the ends of the earth turn unto the Lord, and all the kindreds of the earth shall come and worship before him. Then shall the glory of the Lord be revealed, and the ends of the earth shall see his salvation. The Church of Christ will then arrive to a state of prosperity which it has never yet enjoyed. Christianity will be diffused through all nations and Christ will reign on earth by his spiritual presence in a glorious manner. In fact the knowledge of the Lord shall fill the earth as the waters cover the sea. And who knows but the present convulsions among the different nations, the overthrow which popery has had in places where it has been dominant for centuries, and the present efforts to promote the cause of benevolent exertion, are forerunners of events which may usher in the happy morn of that bright and glorious day when the whole world shall be filled with the glory of God? But what has the future spread of the gospel and the conversion of the world to do in proving the final salvation of those who have lived and died in their sins? Surprising that those who are accounted teachers in Israel should infer from texts which predict the Millennium when the world shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, that all will be saved!

I grant that in the account of the new heavens and the new earth which we have recorded in the 21st chapter of Revelations, it is said among other things that "there shall be no more death," and afterwards, "no more curse.' But who would think of applying this to all mankind, since it is said in the same chapter that "the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolators, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."

"I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction."-(Hosea xiii: 14.) But how the assertion that God would ransom from the power of the grave the men of Ephraim and prevent the ravages of death among them, proves that all men.