The particular design of the apostle in this place, is to show on what grounds justified believers rejoice in God through Jesus Christ, by whom they have received the means of reconciliation.—(ver. 11.) These are illustrated by an appeal to the connection between Adam and his descendants who are all joined with him in sin and its consequences. He affirms that sin entered into the world by Adam, and that all his posterity are with him involved in guilt, and exposed to death, temporal, spiritual, and eternal. "By the offence and disobedience of one, many were made or (constituted) sinners, and judgment came upon all men to condemnation." So, argues the apostle; believers in Christ have a peculiar and endeared connection with him. This connection is different in its principle from that of Adam and his posterity, yet it is not less certain. As all his posterity were joined with Adam in sin, and were in a state of condemnation, so believers are joined with Christ by his free grace, and are in a state of justification. This connection between Adam and his posterity and Christ and believers, differs in this respect. The sentence of condemnation was for one offence only, but the gracious gift of pardon is of many offences to righteousness to the person who is pardoned. Now if it is consistent with justice that Adam and his posterity should be connected with sin and its consequences, much more is it consistent with justice and goodness that they who receive the overflowing of grace and of the gift of Christ's righteousness by imputation shall reign in a happy life through Jesus Christ. The benefits flowing to believers through the death of Christ, however, infinitely outweigh the evils flowing from the sin of Adam.

The abounding grace of which the apostle speaks, refers to the number and magnitude of sins forgiven, and not to the number of persons who receive it, unless you fall into the absurdity of supposing that more are saved in Christ than were constituted sinners by the fall. "Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound." Even where the introduction of the written law had charged human guilt with its heaviest aggravations, there the introduction of the gospel unfolded a depth of contrivance, power and compassion in

the divine mind fully adequate to the exigencies of the case. And it is reasonable to suppose that it should be so; because the goodness of God disposes to bestow blessings through Christ infinite in degree as well as in duration. Thus he who receives and relies upon the gospel of Christ for pardon and acceptance with God, shall find the grace of God revealed in it as flowing through the cross, infinitely to exceed his most enlarged conceptions, wants and desires. Where sin has abounded, as to degrees of demerit it has limits, though the punishment annexed to it is unlimited in duration; but the grace of God is unlimited in degree as well as in duration. The riches of Christ are unsearchable. They spring from an inexhaustible source. This is undoubtedly the argument of the apostle. Notwithstanding all the obscurity and perplexity of his language, arising from the nature of the subject and the omission in some cases of the second member of comparison, which he supposes the reader to have supplied in his own mind, whoever reads the passage with attention must perceive that these were the leading ideas which the apostle had in his mind.

These passages which I have briefly noticed, are I believe the strongest which can be brought to overthrow the doctrine of endless punishment and to establish the hypothesis of universal salvation. Whether they are sufficient to set aside the multitudes of plain and positive declarations of scripture which have been adduced in the preceding Lectures in proof of endless punishment, I leave it with my hearers to decide. One thing is plain; there is not a single passage of scripture that denies the endless duration of future punishment. But if it is not a Bible doctrine, ought we not to expect such a denial? The belief of that doctrine must occasion in the minds of some at least, painful apprehensions. Now Christ endeavored to remove from the minds of his hearers all painful apprehensions of things that would never take place. We have already seen that in the time of Christ and his apostles the doctrine of endless punishment was the common doctrine of the day. Should we not then expect that if there was no punishment endless in duration, they would have assured the world that their doctrine was Q*

false? Further; they inveighed against every error, however powerful and popular or weak and contemptible. Why then did they not lift a warning voice against the belief of the doctrine of endless punishment?

There is not a single passage in the Bible that directly asserts or even implies the final salvation of all men. This doctrine is not derived from plain and direct declarations of scripture, but from strained explanations, from far-fetched inferences, and from a wretched perversion of language. In short, that theory which denies the doctrine of endless punishment and advocates the final salvation of all men, is but "the baseless fabric of a vision," advoeated by those only who wish to find happiness apart from holiness. Every one who is willing to give his heart to God, will be satisfied to seek admittance into the kingdom of heaven by becoming holy in Christ Jesus, and will think too much of its purity to dream of meeting there the impure; while he will have too much good sense to assume the idea of any purification which is not commenced in this life. But others will wrest the scriptures to their own destruction. Those of them who should watch for souls as they that must give account, will prophesy smooth things in saying to the wicked. it shall be well with him, and lead thousands of deluded beings blindfold to hell with themselves. "O my soul come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly mine honor, be not thou united." That this may not be your sin and punishment may the Lord prevent by his grace, and may you all strive to enter into heaven at the strait gate.

LECTURE IX.

ON THE ARGUMENTS WHICH THE OBJECTORS TO

THE DOCTRINE OF ENDLESS PUNISHMENT URGE

AGAINST THAT DOCTRINE.

Gen. iii: 4.-"Ye shall not surely die."

FROM the sacred annals of the Hebrews, the only authentic account of primeval ages, we learn that after the Deity had spake into being this mighty globe, he created and placed upon it the father and founder of the whole human race. "And God said, let us make man in our image; after our likeness." (Gen. i: 26.) Adam was created in the image and likeness of his Maker. His understanding was enlightened, his will was holy, and his passions and affections were pure. With him there was no warfare between the flesh and the spirit. The propensities of his nature were in sweet accordance with the dictates of his pure mind. And as he was without any principle of imperfection or corruption, the past, the present, and the future with him had no regret, no guilt, no

terror.

He was placed in the garden of Eden, where, with countenance glowing with the lustre of perfect innocence and beauty, and with an intelligent mind that raised him high in the scale of created beings, he walked the shady groves, gazed on the majestic scenery of nature, and looked "through nature up to nature's God." He was a very glorious being; the favorite of heaven, and the lord of this lower world. But though every object around and within was adapted to fill him with the most exquisite delight, still his paradise

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