ed unto you for every one that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened.*

Christ presuming that the Jews were not so arrogant as to pretend to be more bountiful than his Father, asks them, If a son shall ask bread of any of you being a father, will he give him a -stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion ?....He then concludes by asking them, If ye then being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the holy spirit to them that ask him!

But in order to destroy the consolations which might be derived from these gracious promises, and evade and invalidate the arguments grounded thereon in support of the divine benignity of our heavenly Father, our opponents contend, that the infinite benevolence of the Deity towards the human race is limited and confined to this life, during which period we must be convinced, converted, and regenerated, otherwise his divine love will be converted into the most implacable hatred and interminable cruelty. They affirm

* Luke xi. 9, 10.

that the door of mercy will be eternally closed against all those who die impenitent; but whoever will discard prejudice, and read the vision of the dry bones, with a desire to discover the real disposition of our heavenly Father towards his children, will find sufficient evidence to convince them that the mercy of God endureth forever; and that his loving kindness is not withdrawn from those who have died in their sins. God conducts the prophet in a vision to a valley full of dry bones, and after he had viewed them, the Lord asked him, Son of man, can these bones live? As we now ask, Is it possible that those who have died in sin should ever be revived by the power of God to a life of righteousness and peace?

It appeared as improbable to the prophet, that these dry bones should live, as it now does to the greatest number of our Clergy, that a dead sinner should ever be raised by the power of God to live a life of righteousness. He there fore evades giving his opinion, and answers, O Lord God thou knowest! But the greatest number of our prophets are not so diffident as Ezekiel; for they determine positively, that dead sinners cannot be raised and taken into favour by God. He however prophesied as he was commanded, and the breath came into

them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet an exceeding great army. Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, our bones are dried, and our hope is lost....we are cut off for our parts. Therefore prophesy and say unto them, thus saith the Lord God, Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves; and shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, saith the Lord.

And say unto them, thus saith the Lord God, behold I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and I will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land. And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel, and one king shall be king to them all, and they shall no more be two nations, &c. And David, my servant, shall be king over them, and they shall have one shepherd: and they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them, it shall be an everlast

ing covenant with them, and I will place them, and multiply them, and I will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. Yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Presuming that it will not be alledged, that the Lord was mistaken when he told the prophet, saying, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel, I shall proceed to observe, that the Deity has promised, in the most explicit, unequivocal language, to raise the whole posterity of Jacob up out of their graves, who may have died, until the period when this prophesy shall be fulfilled, and bring them, together with all their brethren who may be living in exile, and place them in their own land; when they shall forever afterwards be united in one kingdom. He then declares, that he will make an everlasting covenant of peace with them, and promises twice in this chapter, that he will be their God, and that they shall be his people.

As our intention in citing this chapter is to prove that God does not abandon those to the permanent dominion of the devil who may die in an unregenerated state, in order, therefore, to discuss and dertermine this important proposi

* Ezek. xxxvii. 1, 10, 11 to 14, 21, 24, 26, 27.

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tion fairly, it behoves us candidly to examine the Jewish history, and judge from the information which we collect there, whether it is certain, or even probable, that all the Jews who shall be raised from their graves at that period had been regenerated previous to their death; for if they were not converted, but had died in their sins, it demonstrably follows, that their heavenly Fa ther will not abandon them to eternal perdition, because they had not believed in the Saviour of the world in this life; because he has promised (who is faithful to perform) to make an everlast. ing covenant of peace with them....to put his spirit into them....and that he will be their God, and that they shall be his people.

Whoever can seriously doubt or dispute the reality of this predicted resurrection and posthu mous restoration to the favour of God, may, with as much propriety, doubt the reality of every other, even that of Lazarus; for none are so particularly narrated. But if any Partialist, who has not been in the habit of estimating the benignity of the Deity as highly as we have done, should conceive, that in construing this chapter we have exaggerated and overrated his goodness and clemency, we are willing to hear what they have to say on the subject. But if they should prove successful in their attempt to convince