shall not see ife. I can conceive of no language, which could more effectually cut off every none of the impenitent, than this.

In Rev. xxi. 27, it is said, There shall in no wise enter into it, that is, into the heavenly city, any thing that defileth, or that worketh abomination, or that maketh a lie, but they who are written in the Lamb's Book of life. According to the declarations of Scripture, all impenitent sinners are defilers. They all work that, which is abominable in the sight of God; and in this character, as they have not repented, nor believed in the Redeemer, nor ceased to sin, they will all appear before their Judge; and, therefore, will in no wise be permitted to enter the Heavenly city.

To these passages might be added, as every one who reads his Bible knows, a multitude of others, declaring the same doctrine in the same unambiguous manner. But if these do not produce conviction, it will, I am afraid, be vainly expected, not only from any, which are found in the Scriptures, but from any, which language

can express.

To all this, however, it is further objected, that God cannot justly punish the sins of men, who are finite beings, with an infinite, or endless, punishment. To this it is usually replied, that although men are finite beings, yet as their obligation to obedience is great in proportion to the greatness and excellency of God, it is of course infinite. To violate infinite obligation, it is further said, is plainly an infinite evil; and therefore a finite being may commit a crime infinitely heinous, and deserving infinite punishment. The same conclusion is also drawn, by much the same course of reasoning, from the tendency of sin to oppose the designs, and glory of God, and the supreme good of his Creation.

It is not my design to deny this doctrine; nor to scrutinize the arguments, by which it is usually supported. It is, however, but just to observe, that neither the doctrine, nor the arguments, have appeared so satisfactory to the minds of others, as they seem to have done to those, by whom they have been alleged. We know nothing of infinity, but the fact that certain things are infinite. The nature of infinity we do not comprehend at all; nor form a conception of what this phraseology means. It hardly needs to be observed, that, where we have no conceptions, we can form no comparisons; and therefore can make no propositions, the truth of which can be perceived by our minds. Concerning the fact, that something is infinite, we may with sufficient care argue, to some extent, successfully. Concerning the nature of infinity, I discern no manner, in which such minds as ours, can argue at all. But in our discussions concerning infinity, we are prone, insensibly, to blend these two things together; and often are amused with words. only, when we suppose ourselves to be employed about ideas. Hence have arisen the perplexity, and the want of satisfaction, which have attended inquiries concerning this subject. I shall, therefore, not insist on these arguments; nor on the conclusion, to

which they conduct us; but proceed to other considerations, which lie more within our reach.

1. God may justly punish sin so long as it exists; and it may exist for ever.

He, who sins through this life, may evidently sin through another such period, and another; and another; without end. That, while we continue to sin, God may justly punish us, if he can justly punish us at all, is equally evident. No reason can be given, why sin may not be punished at any future time with as much justice, and propriety, as at the present. That it may be justly punished at the present time, cannot be denied, any more than that it is in fact punished.

2. The Scriptures teach us, that sinners, who die in impenitence, will not cease to sin throughout eternity.

The supposition, that their sufferings in the future world will be complete, involves in it as a consequence, that they will continue to sin. If they were to become penitent, and virtuous; they would of course possess many enjoyments; and those of a very important nature. Our Saviour, speaking to St. John concerning those, who in the future world are excluded from Heaven, says. Rev. xxii. 15, Without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. It will not be questioned that this is an account of sinners. It cannot be questioned, that it is an account of their existing character in the future world.

Do therefore, says Solomon, Eccl. ix. 10. what thy hand findeth to do with thy might; for there is no work, device, knowledge, nor wisdom, in the world of spirits, whither thou goest. Wisdom, in the language of Solomon, denotes virtue, or the religion of the heart. Work here intends the work of salvation; the work in which virtue is assumed, and increased. There is, ther, in that world, no work of salvation, no assumption of virtue. Of course, those, who go into that world in the character of sinners, still continue to sin. They may, therefore, be punished with the same justice, as in the present world: and the Scriptures declare in the text, and many other passages, that they are punished.

3. These things are all said, and done, after the close of the pres ent Dispensation; and after the commencement of that Dispensation, which, in the Scriptures, is represented as eternal and unchangeable.

There is no hint given us, either in the Old or New Testament, that the Dispensation, which will commence after the Judgment, will ever change. On the contrary, so far as it is mentioned at all, it is always spoken of as enduring, and immutable. In Heb. xii. 26-28, St. Paul says, Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word, yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made

that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore, we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. From this passage it is evident, that the things, which are not shaken, will remain steadfast and immoveable. But were there nothing explicitly declared concerning this subject, the very silence of the Scriptures forbids a rational belief of any such alteration, since the belief rests on nothing but a mere hypothesis, gratuitously adopted.

It is further objected, that the benevolence of God is irreconcileable with the idea of endless punishment. Were I to determine a priori, what conduct the benevolence of God would prompt him to pursue; I should not hesitate to say, that he would never permit either natural or moral evil to exist in the Universe. Perfect benevolence, I should without a doubt conclude, would produce nothing but virtue and enjoyment. Very remote, however, from this scheme is the actual state of the world which we inhabit. Sin has here reigned from the beginning; and sorrow, the proper reward of sin, has been multiplied unceasingly throughout every habitable part of the earth. It is certain, therefore, that to permit the existence of sin, and to punish it with suffering, and that suffering often so excruciating, as to terminate our present life, are things consistent with the benevolence of God. No reason can be given, why he, who does these things, here, in a state of trial, may not do the same things, to a much greater extent, in a state of retribution. When man undertakes to determine what it is proper, or improper, for his Maker to do in the government of the world; he ought to remember, that, As the heavens are high above the earth, so are his ways above our ways, and his thoughts above our thoughts.

It is further said, that the punishment of the future world is merely disciplinary. This opinion certainly cannot be founded upon Scriptural testimony. When the Gospel was written, the fallen Angels had been suffering punishment at least four thousand years. Yet we find them no less hostile to their Creator, and actuated by no less malice against his Intelligent creatures, than at the first. Men of all succeeding ages, are by Christ and his Apostles warned against their falsehood and seduction, because in every age they would be false and seductive. At the Judgment Day, to which they are reserved under chains and darkness, they will be consigned to the fire which was prepared for them. Of course, their punishment will, to that time, have had no good effect upon their character. The punishment of the future world, therefore, is not exhibited in the Scriptures as disciplinary.

Again it is objected, that endless punishment is unnecessary. This cannot be said with propriety, unless we know the whole state of the Divine government, and all the necessities of those who are governed. The wants of the universe are such, as to be supplied by far other means, than we should devise. It is impossible for

us to determine how great, how numerous, or how useful, the consequences may be, which will flow from the punishment of the impenitent. God, speaking by the Prophet Isaiah, in a passage which our Saviour applies to the future state of the wicked, says, They, that is, righteous beings, shall go forth, and look upon the carcasses of the men who have transgressed against me; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh. This abhorrence may, for aught that appears, have a powerful, perhaps an indispensable, efficacy to preserve virtuous beings throughout the Universe in a course of endless obedience. The measures, necessary in a moral government, reaching through immensity and eternity, cannot be contrived by such beings as we are.

I know of but one objection more, which appears to demand a particular answer. This is derived from the Gospel. Here, in various passages and forms, it is said, that Christ died for all. The meaning of these declarations I formerly explained, and, if I mistake not, sufficiently, when considering the extent of the Atonement. I shall, therefore, only observe, at this time, that with the strictest propriety and truth, Christ may be said to have died for all, if he has made a sufficient Atonement for all; although some should choose not to accept the proffer of an interest in it, and should therefore never enjoy the blessings which it provides.

To these objections, and arguments, are customarily added several passages of Scripture, construed by the objectors in such a manner, as they judge to be favourable to their own scheme. These have been often shown to be vainly alleged for this purpose nor are they, so far as I perceive, articles, on which the objectors very seriously rely. I shall, therefore, refer those of my audience, who wish to see these texts particularly considered, to formal treatises, written on the subject, and to respectable commentaries on the Scriptures, and shall conclude this discourse with the following

REMARK;

That the considerations, presented in this discourse, strongly exhibit the folly of hazarding the soul upon the doctrines of Univer salism.

The peculiar evil of the doctrine, which I have opposed in this discourse, is this: those who embrace it, are prone, almost of course, to feel, that they are in some good degree safe, while continuing in a state of impenitence and unbelief. The heart relishes sin, and disrelishes reformation. Hence it devises various modes of quieting its fears concerning the anger of God, and securing itself from future wo. To forsake its iniquities is, according to its own views, to strip itself of all real good; and therefore does not enter into its plans, nor become any part of its conduct. Still it cannot bear the thought of being punished for its sins. In this situation

it contrives various schemes, by which it hopes, on the one hand, to enjoy the pleasures of sin, and, on the other, to escape punishment. For this purpose some persons become atheists, and deny the very Existence of God. Others become deists, and deny his Word and Character. Others, who acknowledge the Revelation of the Scriptures, reject the Atonement of Christ; and others the necessity and reality of Regeneration by the Spirit of God; merely that they may neither be obliged to confess, nor to feel, themselves so sinful as to need these things. Some determine, that they shall be safe on account of the natural amfableness of their dispositions; some on account of the abundance of their good works, their uprightness towards men; their zealous attendance on the external duties of religion; the fervid state of their imagination, and their feelings, with respect to religious subjects; or their correct, and abundant, conversation about religious doctrines. Others, still, adopt, for the same purpose, the scheme of Universalism; to something, very like which, in substance, all the other schemes, which I have mentioned, directly tend; whether perceived by those who embrace them, or not perceived. Of those who embrace this scheme, some admit that the impenitent will be punished for a season. Others deny that they will be punished at all. Some hold, that Christ has, in the complete sense, expiated the sins of all men: while others consider the impenitent as expiating their own sins by sufferings, limited in their duration. In all these different schemes it is obvious, that not a single contrivance is adopted to make men virtuous. This, evidently, is no part of their designs. On the contrary, every one is calculated only to foster the love of sinning, and provide safety for the sinner.

But how suspicious is this design in its very nature! Is there, to the eye of common sense, even a remote probability, that God will love sin, or prosper sinners? Do the Scriptures furnish a single hint, which in the remotest manner even countenances such an opinion? Do they not, on the contrary, hold out the most terrible alarms to every impenitent transgressor? Would it not break the heart of every such transgressor in this house, if God were audibly to declare to him, " Thou shalt go away into everlasting punishment?" Trust not then your souls, your eternal safety, to the doctrines of Universalism. Launch not into the ocean of eternity upon this plank. Flee to Christ; the Ark, in which you will be secured from every danger. Waste not your probation in seeking refuges of lies, in making covenants with death, and agreements with hell. Remember that God hath said, Your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand. Remember, that Christ himself has told you, that He, who believeth on the Son, hath everlasting life; and that he, who believeth not the Son, shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

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