kingdom of heaven. This people's heart is waxed gross, and
their eyes have they closed; lest they should be converted,
and their sins should be forgiven them. Let the wicked for-
sake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let
him return unto the Lord, and he will have
mercy upon him ;
and abundantly pardon. If thou warn the wicked, and he
turn not from his wickedness, he shall die in his iniquity and
when a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and
committeth iniquity, he shall die in his sins, and his righteous-
ness shall not be remembered. But if thou warn the righte-
ous, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live. Again-if a
man be just, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall
surely live; if not, he shall surely die. The soul that sinneth,
it shall die. But if the wicked turn from all his sins, he shall
surely live; he shall not die, he shall save his soul alive. As
I live, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, saith the
Lord; wherefore, turn yourselves and live ye-Turn ye from
your evil ways, for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

Here God declares that he cannot pardon, or have mercy upon sinners, unless they turn or are converted. How then can they be saved without conversion? Here God declares that all the ungodly shall die. This cannot mean that they shall die a natural death, because the righteous as well as the wicked must die this death. Nor can it mean that they shall die spiritually, for being wicked, they are already spiritually dead; and the punishment here threatened is something future-they shall die, sometime hereafter. Besides, this death of the wicked is put in contrast with the life of the righteous; and as the life of the righteous necessarily means eternal life and happiness in another world, death must necessarily mean the reverse of this, viz. eternal death. What else then can death mean, but that future punishment which takes place after the dissolution of soul and body—which the Apostle calls the second death, a death that comes after the first death-which he says, consists in being cast into the lake

P Matt. xviii. 3; xiii. 15; Mark iv. 12; Isa. lv. 7.

Rev. ii. xx. xxi. xxii.

1

which burneth with fire and brimstone-and by which the Jews, in our Saviour's time, always understood endless future punishment. In fine, as God here speaks of individuals, and declares that the soul of the sinner shall die, and the soul of the righteous shall be saved alive, what can it possibly mean, but eternal life and salvation in the one case, and eternal death and damnation in the other?

4thly. Eternal salvation is promised on condition of obedience to God's commandments; while the disobedient are threatened with exclusion from heaven and happiness. Hear the Scripture proof of this:-Cursed is every one that con-tinueth not in all things, written in the book of the law, to do them. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. Not the hearers of the law, but the doers of the law, shall be justified before God. Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have a right to the tree of life. If a man keep my sayings, he shall never see death. Christ is the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him. When the Lord Jesus shall come to be glorified in his saints, and admired in all them that believe, he shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, to take vengeance with flaming fire, on them that know not God, and obey not the Gospel." If then, the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the sinner and the ungodly appear? And if the preceding declarations be true, what becomes of the doctrine of the Universalist ?

5thly. Heaven and eternal happiness are promised on condition of holiness, while the ungodly are cut off from all hope beyond the grave. Hear the Scripture proof of this also:Follow after holiness, without which no man shall see the. Lord. When ye were the servants of sin, what fruit had ye in those things of which ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. But now, being made free from sin,

r Gal. iii. 10; Matt. vii. 22; xix. 17; Rom. ii. 13; Rev. xxii. 14; John viii. 51; Heb. v. 9; 2 Thess. i.

and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness; and the end, everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Be not deceived; God is not mocked :-whatsoever.. a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit. do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. The wicked is driven away in his wickedness: but the righteous hath hope in his death.s Now if none can see God without holiness-if the end of sin is death, and the end of holiness everlasting life —and none but the righteous have hope in death, is not the doctrine of the Universalist unscriptural and false?

It appears then from the preceding passages, that eternal life and happiness are promised upon the conditions of our believing, repenting of our sins, turning to God with all our hearts, obeying his commandments, and leading a holy lifeand it appears further, that those who do not perform these conditions, have no hope beyond the grave; but are cut off from the heavenly inheritance-the wrath of God abideth upon them-and they incur eternal death. But the Universalist doctrine contradicts all this. For it denies that there are any conditions of salvation; and declares that all shall be. saved and enjoy eternal life, whether they believe, repent, obey, and are holy, or not. Universalism then does directly contradict the Scriptures; and it is therefore impossible that it should be true-it must necessarily be false.

The following miscellaneous passages and remarks will render the preceding reasoning still more unanswerably conclusive.

Our Saviour, speaking of Judas, declares,' that it would have been better for him if he had never been born. If this is true, Universalism is false. For if all men are to be for

& Heb. xii. 14; Rom. vi. 20; Gal. vi. 7; Rom. viii. 13; Prov. xiv. 32. * Mark xiv. 21.

ever happy in heaven, it never can be true of any man, that it would have been better for him never to have been born. Even upon the principle of the old Universalism, this cannot be true. For however long the punishment of the wicked, there is an eternity of happiness coming after it. And as a man would be thought a fool, who should say he would rather not have been born, than to suffer one hour's pain during a whole life of uninterrupted happiness; so, for the sake of the eternity of perfect happiness that is to follow, every reflecting being would be willing to undergo a temporary punishment in another life. And, whether willing or not, it could with truth be said of no man, that he had better never been born.

Again our blessed Saviour says"-He that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost never hath forgiveness; but is exposed to eternal damnation. The blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven. He that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven.-How then are such persons to be saved-without forgiveness? This cannot be. For the Universalist admits, what the Scripture also declares, that Christ saves men from their sins-not in their sins. But those who die without forgiveness, die in their sins. How then can they be saved?

I am not ignorant of the manner in which the new Universalism attempts to get rid of this difficulty. It says our Saviour's declaration, that this sin shall not be forgiven in this world or in the next, means only, that it shall not be forgiven either in this age or the next; i. e. neither under the Jewish nor Christian dispensation: and eternal damnation means only aionian, or age-lasting damnation, and expires of course at death. Now upon this we would briefly remark: It is a uniDersally received rule of interpretation, that if there are different laws relating to one and the same subject, and if the meaning of any of these laws be doubtful on account of ambiguous terms or phrases, that law which is plain and unequivocal, must be taken to explain those that are dubious, and admit of different senses. Now it is admitted by the Univer

"Mark iii. 29; Matt. xii. 31; Luke xii. 10.

salist, that the word age-lasting (eternal) does sometimes mean endless duration; and it is admitted, that the phrases, in this world and the world to come, do sometimes mean, what these words literally signify-in time and in eternity. As then there is a dispute about the meaning of these words-as their mean ing, by the Universalist himself, is admitted to be doubtfulthese words and passages must be set aside, as neutrals-as proving nothing on either side; and we must find out the meaning of the law from those passages that are plain, and admit but one interpretation; according to that universally received rule of interpretation: Doubtful passages must be explained by those that are clear and unambiguous. These words, we admit then, for the present, are no proof for us, because they are sometimes used in a different sense from that in which we understand them: neither are they any proof in favour of the Universalist, because they are sometimes used in a sense different from what he puts upon them. Laying these aside then, let us turn to other passages.

Now upon this point there are the following plain and unequivocal passages. The blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. Again-He that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven. This language is plain, unambiguous, and unqualified. It admits of but one meaning, and that is this: the sin against the Holy Ghost is unpardonable. Those who commit it, therefore, will continue under the displeasure of God, and can never be admitted to a state of happiness after death. For if they ever are admitted to a state of happiness, their sins must be pardoned. But if they are ever pardoned, the above-mentioned declaration of our Saviour is false. This, however, is impossible; and it is therefore likewise impossible that the Universalist interpretation of this passage should be correct.

We might adduce many other arguments, that would lead us to the same conclusion. But we do not think it necessary to add more than the following remarks. The Universalist interpretation cannot be supported, except upon a principle that sets at defiance all the ordinary rules of grammar, criticism, and interpretation-a principle that must, upon all sub