tihtwy of Che theological ^tminary 
 
 PRINCETON . NEW JERSEY 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 Francis L. Patton 
 
 
Digitized by the Internet Arciiive 
 
 in 2009 with funding from 
 
 Princeton Theological Seminary Library 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/expositiondefenc1859will 
 
AN 
 
 EXPOSITION AND DEFENCE 
 
 OP 
 
 UNIYEBSALISM, 
 
 IN A SERIES OF SERMONS 
 
 DILIVERED IN THE UKIVURSAXIST CHURCH, BALTIMORE, MD- 
 
 REV. I. D. WILLIAMSON, D.D 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 HENRY LYON, PUBLISHER, 
 
 No. 7 LE ROY PLACE. 
 
 1859. 
 
Entered according to Ad ol" Congress, in the year 1840, by 
 
 P. PRICE, 
 the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United State*, 
 for the Southern Distrie of Ntew York. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The circumstances which drew out the following dis- 
 courses, are rather local, than general. The author is 
 the only public advocate of a world's salvation, in a city 
 of one hundred thousand souls. His sentiments are fre- 
 quently attacked, and as often misrepresented, both in 
 the pulpit and from the press. For this cause he felt 
 himself called upon to lay before his congregation, and 
 the public, so far as they were willing to hear, a plain 
 and explicit statement of his faith, and the reasons on 
 which that faith was founded. He had no intention of 
 giving these labors to the public through the press, but 
 prepared them for the pulpit alone. He commenced 
 their delivery ; and it was soon discovered, that they at- 
 tracted more attention than his most sanguine anticipa- 
 tions had led him to expect. The large house in which 
 they were delivered became crowded to overflowing, and 
 a general desire was expressed that they might be issued 
 from the press. In accordance with this desire and the 
 advice of friends, the author has consented to present 
 them to the public in their present form, with scarcely 
 a revision from the original copy. 
 
 He is aware that there are already many able works 
 upon the same subject before the public, in comparison 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 witn which, any effort of his pen must be feeble. But 
 It is hoped, that the attention which has been given 
 these lectures, in that portion of the Master's vineyard 
 where the author resides, will secure for them there, a 
 more general circulation than could be obtained for any 
 other work upon the same subject. It is hoped, also, 
 that they may be the means of adding something to the 
 general good, by strengthening the faith of the believers 
 who are scattered abroad, and presenting to the minds 
 of those " who are of the contrary part," a feeble effort 
 to explain and establish the doctrines of those who re- 
 joice in the great salvation. 
 
 For the style and manner of his sermons, he makes 
 no apology, his aim has been to be understood, and to 
 convince, rather than please the ear with well sounded 
 periods or flights of fancy ; and as for his errors, if he 
 has advanced any, let the reader and the public give 
 them no quarters. " If this work be of man, it will 
 come to naught, but if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow 
 it." "Whosoever readeth let him understand," and it 
 the doctrines here taught shall be proved ialse, none 
 will be more ready to abandai them than the public's 
 
 humble servant 
 
 The Author. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Preface. . • • • . 3 
 
 SERMON I. 
 Introductory. •••••• 7 
 
 SERMON II. 
 Unity of God. . , , , . 22 
 
 SERMON III. 
 Atonement. ••••»• S6 
 
 SERMON IV. 
 Death of Christ. • . • . . 64 
 
 SERMON V. 
 Punishment. • • • • fib 
 
 SERMON VI. 
 Forgiveness of Sins. • - 80 
 
 SERMON VII. 
 Duration of Punishment. • • • • 96 
 
 SERMON VIII. 
 Judgement. . . . • •ill 
 
 1* 
 
VI CONTENTS. 
 
 SERMON IX. 
 
 The Resurrectiou. . • • • 125 
 
 SERMON X. 
 Destruction of Death. ■ • • 140 
 
 SERMON XL 
 Nature of Salvation. • • • • . 165 
 
 SERMON XII. 
 Repentance. • • • • . 170 
 
 SERMON XIII. 
 Faith 184 
 
 SERMON XIV. 
 Influence of Universalisni. . i • ,199 
 
 SERMON XV. 
 Decision of cliaracter, a Religious daty. • ?}4 
 
4^11 
 
 AN 
 
 EXPOSITION AND DEFENCE 
 
 OF 
 
 UNIVERSALISM. 
 
 SERMON T. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 " May we know what this new doctrine whereof thou speakest is? Pol 
 thou bringcst certain strange things to our ears ; we would know therefore, 
 what these things mean." Acts xvii. 19, ao. 
 
 The hearer will undoubtedly recognise this, as the 
 language of certain philosophers of Athens, addressed 
 to the Apostle Paul. At Thessalonica, the Jews raised 
 a tumult and drove him out of the city. Departing 
 thence, he went to Berea, and there preached the good 
 word of the kingdom, with great success. Thither, 
 however, the Jews followed him, and, " stirred up the 
 people against him," until he was no longer safe in that 
 city. Accordmgly, he departed, and went to Athens, 
 and there waited for his companions, Silas and Timo- 
 theus to join him. He was now in the midst of the 
 most opulenc and powerful city of Greece— a city, dis- 
 tinguished alike for the military talents, learning and 
 eloquence of its inhabitants. There, the schools, pro- 
 fessors and philosophers of Greece, were congregated, 
 
8 INTRODUCTORT. 
 
 and there, temples and altars were reared to every false 
 God of whose name the people had heard. The historian 
 informs us, that "Paul's spirit was stirred within him, 
 when he saw ihe whole city given to idolatry, there- 
 fore, disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews, and 
 with devout persons, and in the market, daily, with such 
 as met him." In these disputations, he encountered cer- 
 tain of the Epicureans and Stoics, and they brought him 
 to Areopagus, the place where they held their courts of 
 justice, and there, they addressed him in the language 
 of the text. " May we know what this new doctrine 
 whereof thou speakest is? for thou bringest certain 
 strange things to our ears ; we would know therefore 
 what these things mean; for they spent their time in 
 nothing else, but to tell, or to hear some new thing." 
 
 I cannot forbear the remark here, that although these 
 inquirers were actuated by nothing better than an idle 
 curiosity, in making this request, yet their conduct was 
 far more commendable, than that of those who condemn 
 a man and his religion, without first giving him a hearing 
 in his own behalf Paul gladly embraced the opportunity 
 thus afforded him of entering upon a defence of the gos- 
 pel. He preached to them, " God that made the world, 
 and all that dwell therein," pointed out to them the folly 
 of their idolatrous practices, and appealed to them in be- 
 half of Jesus and the resurrection, with such energy and 
 power, that " some believed," and others said, " we will 
 hear thee again of this matter." 
 
 I presume the hearer has already anticipated the use 
 the speaker intends to make of this text. He stands 
 before you, the advocate and the only 'public advocate 
 in this large city, and even in this State, of the doctrme 
 of impartial and efficient grace — a doctrine, which to 
 some of his hearers, may be both new and strange. He 
 
INTKODUCTORT. 9 
 
 doubts not, that some of his auditors have turned in 
 hither, and he trusts with good motives, for the purpose 
 of learning what this new doctrine is; and they would 
 giadly know what these things mean. The speaker has 
 no sentiments to conceal, and if his hearers will mani- 
 fest a good share of that patience which characterized the 
 man of Uz, he will proceed in all frankness and simplicity 
 to lay before them his views of the economy of his 
 father's grace. He asks, and he feels confident that he 
 will receive from this enlightened and respectable au- 
 dience, a candid and patient hearing, and if in the end, 
 he fails of producing conviction that his sentiments are 
 true, the hearer shall, at least, have it in his power to 
 give a more enlightened judgement against them. He 
 speaks for himself only, and is alone responsible for 
 what he utters ; at the same time, the hearer is at liberty 
 to conclude that in these views, he mainly agrees with 
 the great body of the denomination to Avhich he is at- 
 tached. These preliminaries being settled, we come 
 now to lay before you the most prominent features of 
 our faith. These are 
 
 I. The existence of one only living and true God. 
 
 This supreme object of our devotions, we believe, to be 
 possessed of every possibly great and glorious attribute 
 and perfection, that can command our love or invite our 
 praise. In him is Poiver, which knows no control — 
 Wisdom, which never errs, but sees with infallible ex- 
 actness, " the end from the beginning, and from ancient 
 times the thing that is not yet done ^'— Mercy, which 
 melts in pity o'er the woes of man — Truth, which can- 
 not lie — Holiness, without spot or blemish — Goodness, 
 unchanging as God and impartial as the light of heaven, 
 and Justice, which rewards the virtuous and punishes 
 the vicious, accoi ding i those eternal principles of ree 
 
iO INTRODUCTOKT. 
 
 titude and equity, wrtich are the same yesterday, to-day 
 and for ever. This is, with us, the foundation of all 
 religious truth, the sure and steadfast corner-stone, on 
 which the whole superstructure of the christian temple 
 rests. The evidences of the existence of such a God, 
 meet us on every page of nature's ample volume, evei 
 open before us. We read his name, stamped with the 
 broad and legible impress of his own hand, on all the 
 surrounding glories of creation. We discover the won- 
 ders of his Power, in this " ponderous globe of earth, 
 self balanced on her centre hung," and in the distant 
 stars, that wheel their endless circles in awful majesty 
 through the infinity of space above and around us. We 
 trace the footsteps of his Wisdom, in the wonderful 
 order and harmony that pervade all the operations of 
 nature's vast, and complicated machinery. We see his 
 Goodness, in every "changing season, as it rolls;" and 
 the teeming earth and bending heavens around us bear 
 their testimony to his love. We mark the rules of his 
 Justice, in the infallible certainty with which punish- 
 ment, sooner or later, overtakes the guilty, and in the 
 rich and sweet reward, that comes down upon the virtu- 
 ous and the obedient. Thus we learn that there is a 
 God, and we count it no credulity, to say, and to believe, 
 in all its length and breadth, that the stupendous fabric 
 of the universe was reared by the hand of a wise and 
 powerful God; and we discover, neither reason, philoso- 
 phy nor truth, in the mind of that misguided man, who 
 hath " said in his heart, that there is no God." We are 
 content to say, in the language of the sacred penman, 
 "Lo! God hath made us, and not we ourselves:" and 
 we rejoice to know, that in him power never degeuerat<?s 
 into tyranny, wisdom into cunning, mercy into weak- 
 ness, nor justice into cruelty, but ail blend, centre and 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 11 
 
 Darmonize in cliangeless and immortal goodness. We 
 believe that this God has established a moral govern- 
 ment in the world — that he takes cognizance of human 
 conduct, rewards the virtuous and puni:?hes the vicious 
 — that he has made a revelation of himself and his 
 government to man — and that he has so arranged the 
 order of his providence, that all 
 
 " Conspires to his supreme control 
 To universal good." 
 
 I must not here omit to remark, that the Lord our 
 God, is one. Sole and supreme author, and governor of 
 all things, he has no equal to dispute his sway, no rivals 
 to claim a portion of the homage due to him alone. We 
 can acknowledge no other being as God, but him alone. 
 Hence with the sentiments of the Polytheisl who be- 
 lieves in many gods, the Pantheist who believes that 
 all is god, and the Trinitarian, who believes in three 
 Gods in one, and one in three — we have no fellowship 
 or communion. To us there is ONE GOD, the Father of 
 all, and besides him there is none else. Thus the Scrip- 
 lures teach and thus does reason decide. The heathen 
 indeed, had a multitude of gods, but the Apostles and 
 Prophets abjured the whole long catalogue of Pagan 
 divinities, and worshipped with singleness of heart, the 
 one and indivisible I AM ; and it would in our judgement 
 be as easy to prove, that these Patriarchs worship- 
 ped thirty thousand gods with the Romans, as that 
 they acknowledged three beings of equal power and 
 glory. 
 
 The doctrine of the simple and undivided unity of 
 God, IS no nexo or strange thing under the sun. It is as 
 old as that Gospel whose author bowed at the throne 
 of his Father in prayer, thereby acknowledging liim a^ 
 
12 INTRODUCTORr. 
 
 supreme, and whose tongue confessed, saying, "My 
 Father is greater than all." It is as old as the law, which 
 was given in the midst of the thunders of mount Sinai ; 
 for there, God proclaimed his name as the one only liv- 
 ing and true God. It is as old as Abraham, for to him, 
 God said, " I am God and there is none else." It is aa 
 old as Adam, for to him God manifested himself as the 
 one supreme. It is as old, yea older, than creation, for ere 
 the morning stars sang together, or even the spirit of 
 the Almighty walked forth upon the dark waters to 
 rouse this universe into being, even then, God undivided 
 and alone, dwelt in the changeless eternity of his own 
 presence, and angels and archangels bowed in ceaseless 
 wonder before him and worshipped him, as the sole and 
 only object of adoration and praise. It ought not there- 
 fore, to be considered as something new or strange, that 
 we should worship one God, and one alone. 
 
 But I pass this, for my object, in this discourse, is not 
 so much to prove the truth of our faith, as to tell you 
 what that faith is. The proof is reserved for our future 
 labors. 
 
 II. Our faith recognises, Jesus Christ as the son of 
 God, and the Saviour of the world. 
 . You will, of course, have concluded from the remarks 
 / already made, that however highly we may esteem the 
 I character of Jesus, we cannot recognise him as the self 
 I existent and supreme God. He himself claimed no 
 ^ such exaltation, but uniformly acknowledged the su- 
 premacy of God, not only in words, but in the fact that 
 he worshipped him, and prayed to him, as a superior 
 being. 
 
 He confessed, that he was sent of God, and he claimed 
 no power that he did not receive from God. "I can of 
 my own self do nothing," was his constant assertion. 
 
INTEODUCTORT. 13 
 
 He claimed no higher title than the humble one, "the 
 son of man," and if he claimed no more for himself, it 
 is a misguided disciple that claims it for him. Instead 
 therefore, of "giving the glory of God to another," we 
 maintain, that Jesus of Nazareth was a created, and a 
 dependent being, deriving all his wonderful powers from 
 God. We are content to view him as did Peter, when 
 he said, " he was a man approved of God, by signs and 
 miracles, and wonders which God did by him, in the 
 midst of the people;" or Paul, when he said, " Th^re 
 is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the 
 man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all, 
 to be testified in due time." And if you ask me if he 
 was no more than a man ? My answer is, in the lan- 
 guage of scripture, "He was made in all things, like unto 
 the brethren," but was " anointed with the oil of glad- 
 ness above his fellows," and endued with power greater 
 than any other man. " We see Jesus, who was made 
 a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death,. 
 crowned with glory and honor, that he by the grace of 
 God should taste death for every man." 
 
 Upon the nature of Christ's mission and work on earth,, 
 it is proper, that I should speak at some length, under 
 this head. Jesus came not to placate the wrath of in- 
 censed and outraged Omnipotence. The heathens wor- 
 shipped gods whose favor must be propitiated and 
 whose wrath must be appeased by sacrifices and blood. 
 But the radiant bow of heaven's immortal Lord and 
 King, was never yet ?,hrouded in a cloud so dark, that 
 his own mercy and love, could not shine with brightness 
 upon the world. The mission of Christ, is not presented 
 in the scriptures, as having originated in, or as having 
 been rendered necessary on account of the wrath of God. 
 On the contrary, it is uniformly set forth as originating. 
 2 
 
14 INTKODUCTORT. 
 
 ill God, and as being the highest testimony of his love. 
 "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten 
 son." " Herem is love, not that we loved God, but that 
 he loved us, and sent his son to di^* for us." These are 
 the teachings of the scriptures, and they certainly forbid 
 the idea that it was any part of the object of a Saviour's 
 mission, to save men from the unmerciful wrath of God. 
 Neither did ''"esus come to save from the just punish- 
 ment of sin, by satisfying the divine justice, and suffering 
 the penalty due the sinner in his room and stead. This 
 is evident from the fact, that God himself has declared 
 the principle of condemning the just, and justifying the 
 wicked, to be an abomination in his sight ; and of course, 
 he could not do the abominable thing. It is evident also, 
 from the consideration, that justice cannot be satisfied 
 with the sufferings of the innocent. When a law is 
 transgressed, it is out upon the transgressor, and ten 
 thousand rivers of innocent blood, can never satisfy the 
 claims of that law. It asks the blood of the guilty, and 
 of the guiJiv alone, and it is foul disgrace to the law of 
 God, to represent it, as a blind Juggernaut, thirsting for 
 blood, and equally well pleased whether that blood flows 
 from the veins of the guilty, or gushes from the heart' 
 of the innocent, so that the required quantum of blood 
 is shed. One of the clearest principles of justice, is that 
 which forbids the infliction of the punishment of the 
 guilty upon the head of the innocent, and there is no 
 justice in Heaven, or earth, that can be satisfied by the 
 ■sufferings of the innocent for the guilty. 
 
 The position assumed, is further evinced in the fact, 
 that God has said, "Every man shall suffer for his own 
 sins" and has and does still practice, upon the principle 
 of punishing the guilty, which he would have no right 
 to do, if justice had lost its c aims, in consequence of 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 15 
 
 having been fully satisfied by the death and sufferinga 
 of Christ. 
 
 I may at some future time take this matter up, at 
 large. At present I merely hint at it, in order to lead 
 your minds to a just view of another prominent and pe- 
 culiar principle of our faith which teaches, that "God 
 will by no means clear the guilty," but will inflict upon 
 every soul of man, the just punishment of his sins, and 
 there is no escape. Thus saith the scriptures, "He 
 that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong that he 
 hath done, and there is no respect of persons." " Though 
 hand join in hand, the wicked shall not go unpun- 
 ished." 
 
 Now, it is a remarkable fact, that while the ceaseless 
 cry is raised against us, that we deny all punishment 
 for sin, we are the onhj denomination who believe that 
 all sin will be punished. I know others believe, that 
 some sinners will be fully punished, but they also believe, 
 that many will escape the penalty of the law. They 
 do indeed tell us, that all men deserve an endless hell, 
 and would receive it, if justice v/ere done; but they 
 have all some spiritual insolvent act in the shape of an 
 atonement, or forgiveness, or repentance, by which the 
 vilest sinner may escape, and cheat justice of its dues. 
 Set it down, as one of the peculiar doctrines of Univer- 
 salism, that no man can, by any possibility, escape a 
 just punishment for his sins. We believe in the for- 
 giveness or removal o^sin^ not in the remission ot pun- 
 ishment, anJlieitTder forgiveness, nor atonement, nor re- 
 pentance, nor any thing else, can step in between the 
 sinner and the penalty of the violated law. 
 
 The dogma of endl'^ss wo, we reje<;t as unmerciful, 
 unjust and cruel, a penalty which a just God never did 
 and never can annex to his law. It was not therefore 
 
16 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 necessary lor Christ to come into the world to save men 
 from a future endless hell, as a penalty of the divine 
 law, for the good and sufficient reason* that no such 
 penalty was ever annexed to that law. I am not 
 speaking at random, but I know whereof I affirm, when 
 I say that no living man can take up the Bible, and find 
 a place where God gave man a law and annexed to it 
 the penalty of endless misery. Hence, I say, that man 
 needed not to be saved from such an evil, for the best of 
 all possible reasons, that in the economy of God, he 
 never was exposed to any such calamity. 
 
 I have now told you, what Christ did not come for; 
 will you hear from the blessed Saviour himself, what was 
 the object of his mission on earth ? He says, " To this 
 end was L born, and for this cause came 1 into the earth, 
 that I might bear "witness to the truth." Now the wit- 
 ness does not go into court to make truth. He goes 
 there, to testify to what is already true. So Jesus in 
 our view, came not to make any thing true, that was 
 not so before ; but he was the faithful and true witness, 
 who came to make known the truth, " as it was in the 
 beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end." 
 
 He came to reveal the character and the purpose of 
 God, and hence, near the close of his ministry he said, 
 " I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do, 
 I have declared thy name unto them which thou gavest 
 me out of the world." 
 
 The fact was, that man was ignorant without hope 
 and without God in the world. He was ignorant of 
 himself, of his own nature and destiny, ignorant of God, 
 and his purposes of grace, and devoid of confidence in 
 the care and protection of his heavenly father. He 
 bowed before stocks and stones, and said " these be my 
 gods." He tore his flesh — he tortured his body — he 
 
INTROD"JC» JKT. 17 
 
 cast himself in the flood— he devoted pimself to a liv- 
 ing martyrdom, and burned the bodies of his children in 
 the flame, to appease the wrath and secure the favor of 
 his gods, and was v/ell pleased, if by these rites he 
 secured a trembling hope of safety for a day or an hour. 
 The grave yawned at his feet and there was no light 
 to shine upon its darkness. Man shuddered as he 
 thought that he must go doAvn to feed the Avorm, and 
 sleep in eternal silence in the tomb — or if perchancej 
 the spirit survived the shock of death, there was dangei 
 that he would be the companion of demons and the 
 sport of fiends through a long eternity. Jesus came a 
 light into the world. He tore away the vail which had 
 so long obscured the face of the excellent glory, and 
 revealed to a wondering world the character of God, in 
 all its matchless beauty, as the friend and father^ who 
 fed the fowls of the air— decked the lillies of the field, 
 and watched the falling sparrow, and Avho would more 
 abundantly take care of man, the last and noblest work 
 of his hand. He also brought life and immortality to 
 light, and bore his testimony to the resurrection of the 
 dead; and to prove that his witness was true, descended 
 into the grave — rose from its power, and ascended on 
 high, to receive gifts for men, " yea for the rebellious 
 also that the Lord God might dwell among us." Thus, 
 he bore witness to the truth, and labored to save man 
 from ignorance, from sin, from doubt and fear, and from 
 death itself by the power of the resurrection. To this 
 end was he born, and for this cause came he into the 
 world, " that he might bear witness to the truth ;" and 
 because this truth is destined to prevail over all oppo- 
 sition, and save man universally, in prospect and fruition, 
 therefore, is he, what we believe him to be, " the ^aviour 
 of the world." This brings me to say that we believe, 
 2* 
 
18 INTRODUCTORT. 
 
 ni. In the resurrection of all men from the dead, and 
 in the uliimaie holiness and happiness of the whole 
 human family. 
 
 This is, with us, the crowning excellency of the Gos- 
 pel — a theme on which we ever dwell, with most lively 
 satisfaction and joy. To this grand consummation of the 
 divine government, all the attributes and perfections of 
 God, and all the principles of the divine government are 
 tending ; and the sentiment thus shadowed forth in these, 
 is repeated in clearer and more emphatic tones in the 
 revelation which God has made. 
 
 The difference between us and other denominations, 
 in regard to the resurrection of the dead is simply this. 
 Others believe that men will be raised from the dead 
 morally in the same state, or condition, in which they 
 left this world. Thus, if a man dies a sinner, they be- 
 lieve that he will be raised up from the dead a sinner, 
 with all his evil propensities and passions about him, 
 and he will then receive the reward of his doings. To 
 him the resurrection will be an endless and bitter curse, 
 inasmuch as it will introduce him to a state of untold 
 and immortal suffering. Our vieivs of the resurrection 
 of the dead difier from this. We think that God has a 
 higher, holier and better object in view, in the resur- 
 rection, than that of conferring an immortality upon sin 
 and suffering. We believe that the lusts of the flesh, and 
 all the evil passions that distract and torment man on 
 earth, will be left in the earth where they originated, 
 that God will not transplant them to another world to 
 nourish them there. We believe that man shall be raised 
 from the dead, as the apostle said he should be, " im- 
 mortal," "incorruptible," "glorious," and "heavenly," 
 and in the " image " of the ^isen Redeemer — that he 
 ehsU be, as the Saviour £aii he should be, in the resurrec* 
 
INTRODUCTOR / 19 
 
 tiou, "equal unto the angels," neither shall he die any 
 more, but be a child of God, as he is a child of the 
 resurrection, and that the future life, shall be to all, a 
 ceaseless blessing, coming from the fullness of a father's 
 grace. Tiiere, sin shall be finished and transgression 
 shall end — there, nc storms of passion shall rise, no wave 
 of sorrow disturb the waters of that peaceful river, 
 which flows pure as amber, and clear as crystal, from 
 the throne of God on high. The hand of a father's 
 love shall wipe the last tear from the eye of weeping 
 humanity, and his soothing voice hush to silence the 
 last sigh that shall escape from the pained heart of a 
 creature of God. There, all shall be holy, and happy 
 because they are holy ; and there shall be no note of 
 discord to mar the harmony of creation's jubilee. Such 
 is the consummation of the government of God as we 
 behold it. I ask you to compare these views of God 
 and his government, with a system which conducts us 
 on to the future world, and thus leaves us with a frag- 
 ment saved while countless millions mourn — a system 
 which makes the universe itself a huge reservoir of tears, 
 a theatre of endless rebellion, cursing and blasphemy— 
 and when you have made the comparison, tell me in the 
 name of reason, which is most worthy of a God of in- 
 finite goodness. 
 
 I have now given you an outline of a doctrine, which 
 to some of you maybe new; but new or old, so we be- 
 lieve, and so we preach. I have only to add, that this 
 doctrine is in reality nothing new under the sun. God 
 himself proclaimed it unto Abraham saying, "In thy * / 
 seed shall all nations be blessed." Paul says expressly, 
 that himself, and his faithful coadjutors in the ministry, 
 labored and suffered reproach, because they trusted in 
 the living God who was " the S'i riour o^ all men, especi- fy 
 
21 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 ally of them that believed," and Peter affiims, that 
 the "restitution of all things" had been spoken by 
 the mouth of all the holy prophets, since the world 
 began. Not one had failed of bearing testimony to this 
 truth. 
 
 Among the apostolic fathei^, John the bishop of 
 Jerusalem, Gregory Naziazen, Clement of Alexandria, 
 and the far famed Origen, were the open and avowed 
 advocates of this doctrine. In fact, it was proclaimed 
 with all boldness in the christian church, during the 
 firsi three hundred years of its existence, and it was 
 never found out to be a heresy, until about the year 550. 
 when it was gravely, and for the first time condemned 
 by a council of bishops and cardinals, who to say the 
 least, had as much of the wisdom of the world, as they 
 had of the spirit of Jesus. But in every age, from that 
 day to this, there have been those who have seen and 
 tesiified, that " the father sent the son to be the saviour 
 of the world." Among the reformers, Zuinglius believed 
 it, and it is thought that the illustrious Melancthon 
 himself was not far from the kingdom. In latter days, 
 and in the popular church many have believed. Arch- 
 bishop Tillotson, Burnet, Law, the author of that inesti- 
 mable work " A Serious Call," Dr. Samuel Clarke, the 
 Chevalier Ramsey, Dr. Phillip Doddridge, Bishop Thomas 
 Norton, John Prior Estlin, Thomas Belsham, Dr. Priestley, 
 Ann Letitia Barbauld, the inimitable poet, and a host of 
 others, whose names are illustrious in the church, have 
 been believers in this doctrine. 
 
 ' In our own country, it has had its advocate^ The 
 celebrated Dr. Rush believed it, and the sagf /itmklin 
 was not far Irora it. The beloved father of If 3 country, 
 was the friend of Murray, and Greene wl ; g-allantly 
 fought by his side, hung wi*b rapture upoi he pr«ach- 
 
INTRODUCTORT. 2] 
 
 ing of the only herald of a world's salvation, then in 
 America. 
 
 I name not these things because they prove aught, 
 one way or the other: but I do it, simply to show you, 
 that it is not, as some suppose, a new doctrine, invented 
 within the last half century, and believed only bv the 
 rash and inconsiderate. 
 
 But whether it be new or old I have given you a hasty 
 sketch of its most prominent features; and in my subse- 
 quent lectures, I intend to give you the proof of its truth. 
 Appealing to your candor and reason, and to the sacred 
 word of eternal truth, I will lav the matter before you, 
 and I only ask you to approve or reject, as your own 
 judgement, enlightened by revelation and unwarped by 
 prejudice or superstition, shall decide, and of the result 
 i. have n .> fears. 
 
22 UNITY OF GODU 
 
 SERMON II. 
 
 THE UNITY OF GOD. 
 
 " For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the ui*n 
 Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testiflel in due tjme. 
 
 I Timothy, ii. 5, 6. 
 
 In a previous lecture, I gave you a statement of the doc- 
 trine of Universal Salvation, and promised that I would 
 lay before you, in some subsequent discourses, the evi- 
 dence on which we rest the defence of our faith. In 
 prosecuting this work, it is proper for me to remark, in 
 the outset, that there are several things, which we hold 
 in common with all other denominations, and upon these 
 it is not necessary that I should dwell. So far as the 
 object of this discussion is concerned, these things may 
 as well be taken for granted, as I intend to insist mainly • 
 on those points, which are 'peculiar to us, or in which 
 we differ from others. 
 
 I gave you the existence of a God of infinite wisdom, 
 power, goodness, mercy, justice and truth, as the first 
 article in our faith, and the foundation of all religious 
 truth. I need not say, that this is a doctrine which is 
 advocated by all professors of Christianity of every 
 name, and it surely is not necessary for me to argue that 
 matter, before an assembly of Christians. 
 
 I take it for granted then, in this discussion, that there 
 is a God, and on that point I shall have no dispute with 
 any Christian. But when I come to say, that God is 
 one and undivided 'md that Jesus of Nazareth, was a 
 
UNITY OF GOD. 23 
 
 created beiug, dependent upon God for all his powers, 
 I shall be met by those who contend, that God is triune^ 
 in nature, and that Jesus was the rery God. The ob- 
 ject of this discourse is to examine this question, and 
 give you the reasojis, which induce us to believe that 
 there is one God, in one person, and that Jesus the medi- 
 ator, was what the apostle calls him in the text, the 
 man Christ Jesus. 
 
 In regard to the simple unity of God, the teachings 
 of nature are not as clear and explicit, as upon many 
 other points in theology. There is, however, a unity of 
 design and purpose, and an order and harmony of opera- 
 tion, in the works of creation, evidently at war with the 
 idea, that there are many superior beings to govern them. 
 From the wonderful order and harmony of nature, the 
 presumption is most unquestionable, that there is but 
 one supreme God ; but whether that God exists in a 
 unity or trinity of persons, nature and reason cannot 
 decide. The whole matter must rest upon revelation, 
 and that revelation must of course be examined, in the 
 light of that reason, which God has given us, and to 
 which a revelation alone could be made. It is proper 
 10 observe here, that according to the soundest principles 
 of reason, the question ought to be, whether there are 
 three Gods, or one? The trinitarian has no right to 
 assume, that there are both three Gods, and one; for 
 that is not possible. If he proves that the Father is 
 God, and that the Son is God, and that the Holy Ghost 
 is God, and that these are separate and distinct persons, 
 all equal in power and glory; then, I have an uncjues- 
 tionablc right to hold him to the position, that there are 
 three Gods._ If the scriptures teach this, then they teach 
 that there are three Gods ; and I cannot allow a man to 
 attempt an evasion of the difficulty, by saying, that 
 
 ^; 
 
S4 UNITY OF GOD. 
 
 these three are one ; and that there is but one God aftei 
 all. If it be meant, that Father, Son and Holy Ghost, 
 are only different names of the same being; that is 
 another matter, but if it be contended, that each of these, 
 is a separate and distinct person, and each verily God, 
 then I hold you to the position, that there are three 
 Gods. To say that the Father is God, and the Son is 
 God, and the Holy Ghost is God, and yet, there are not 
 three Gods, but one God, and then attempt to escape by 
 calling it a mystery, is but a miserable mode of argu- 
 ment. I maintain, that there is no mystery about it, 
 but it is a direct and palpable contradiction. The truth 
 is, there are either three Gods, or else, there is but one, 
 and no man has a right to claim that there are three 
 persons, separate and distinct, each very God of very 
 God, and yet, that there is but one God, and think to 
 escape, by taking a leap into the darkness of mystery , 
 for I insist, it is not a mystery, but a contradiction. 
 
 I hope these remarks may be borne in mind, and the 
 hearer will remember, that the true question is not, 
 whether there are three Gods, and yet one God, but it 
 is, whether there is more than one God, at all. 
 
 Now, for the law and the testimony upon that point 
 If we speak not according to the divine word, it is be- 
 cause there is no light in us. In the scriptures of the 
 old Testament, we read of many of the wonderful works 
 of God ; and we have presented to us the teachings of 
 the patriarchs and prophets. There we read of the 
 God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, and this same 
 being is represented as forbidding the people to worship 
 any other God but him, for he repeats frequently, and 
 with peculiar emphasis, "I am God and besides me, 
 there is none else." Now, I should like some man, 
 well skilled in the mystery of the trinity, as it is called, 
 
UNirr OF GOD. 25 
 
 CO infonn me lohich of the three persons it wss, iha- 
 spokethis? This is a very important matter, because 
 there is some being who speaks here, and claims to be 
 Ood, and not only does he claim to be God, but he de- 
 nies that there is any other God besides himself We 
 ask then, which of the three persons of the Trinity was 
 it, that claimed to be God alone ? If it was God the 
 eternal Father, why then, he is God, and neither of the 
 other two can be God. If it be said, that it was neither 
 of the persons of the Trinity, but the triune God, Father, 
 Son and Holy Ghost who spoke ; I beg to inquire how 
 we know that fact ? The book sayS; it was the God of 
 Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, who claimed to be the 
 only God, and it affirms further saying, "Hear oh ! Israel, 
 the Lord thy God is one Lord," and it is as silent as the 
 grave about a Trinity. But who was the God of Abra- 
 ham ? Was it Jesus of Nazareth ? Or was it the third 
 person of the Trmity ? Or was it the eternal Father 
 of all ? You know well enough, the answer that must 
 be given to this question. Abraham worshipped the 
 one only living and true God, and all the patriarchs and 
 prophets, bowed with singleness of heart before him, 
 as the one and indivisible I AM ; and from all their 
 writings and actions, it does not ?eem that they ever 
 dreamed of his having an equal in earth, or heaven. 
 During four thousand years, God was worshipped by 
 patriarchs and prophets, as one only living and true 
 God, and the name of a Trinity was unknown. 
 
 There is something inexplicable about this matter, 
 which the trinitarian would do well to consider. It is 
 admitted, on all hands, that the Jews worshipped the 
 true God, and yet, they never prayed to Jesus, nor to the 
 Holy Ghost, but always addressed all their prayers and 
 praises to God. One of two things must be true : either 
 3 
 
86 UNITY OF GOD. 
 
 they were right, an^ worshipped God as one and undi- 
 vided, or they were wrong and worshipped they knew 
 not what. If they were right, then Jesus of Nazareth 
 is not th^; very God, for they worshipped him not, and 
 there is no other God but him that tlie patriarchs adored. 
 If they were wrong, then God never made a revelation 
 to the Jews, and the whoLe of the Old Testament is a 
 fable, and the New, also, must fall, for Jesus built his 
 Gospel upon the foundation of the prophets, and taught 
 men to worship the same God that Abraham worshipped. 
 The trinitarian may take which horn of the dilemma 
 he chooses. One or the other he must have, for to prove 
 that either Jesus of Nazareth, or the Holy Ghost, was 
 worshipped by Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, is out of the 
 question. 
 
 The New Testament writers are as clear and explicit 
 upon this point, as they of the Old covenant. " There is 
 one God," saiih our text; and again says the Apostle, 
 " Unto us, there is one God, \he father of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ." Now I ask, who was this one God, the Father 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ ? Was it the Lord Jesus Christ 
 himself? Or was it the third person in the Trinity ? Or 
 was it a being composed of the three ? The answer to 
 these questions is too obvious to need repeating. The 
 God of the Apostle, was the God of Abraham, and he 
 knew no other God. This God, was the father of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, and hence could not be Jesus him- 
 self, unless a being can be his own father. 
 
 There is another remarkable fact, which should not be 
 forgotten. It is, that Jesus himself acknowledged this 
 same God and worshipped him, and prayed to him. 
 Now, if he had been the very God himself, he would 
 not have worshipped, or prayed, unless you suppose he 
 worshipped hil iself, and prayed to himself, which is 
 
UNITY OF GOD. 27 
 
 fcbsurd. I know men strive to evaJe thid by saying, 
 taat he was God and man both, and that it was the 
 human nature that prayed. But this is darkening coun- 
 sel by words without knowledge. If Jesus was God 
 and man both, and if sometimes the man spoke, and 
 sometimes the God, by what rule, I pray you, are we to 
 know when the man spoke, and when the God was 
 heard ? It is trifling with scripture to interpret it after 
 this manner. If when Jesus prayed he was merely 
 talking to himself, or if his human nature was praying 
 to his divine nature, why in the name of wonder did 
 not the historian say so, instead of informing us, that he 
 kneeled down and prayed to his God, just as any other 
 man would, and leading us from his words, and acts, to 
 the conclusion, that he was praying to a superior being, 
 whom he adored as his father and his God? If Jesus 
 was the very God why did he say, that he could do 
 nothing of himself, and tha.t his father was greater than 
 all? If he was the very God, and the equal of the All- 
 wise, why did he aflfn-m, that he, the Son, did not know 
 the day or the hour of the coming tribulation ? Yea, 
 why did he say he could pray to his Father and he 
 would give him twelve legions of angels? Or why did 
 he in the agony of the cross, say, "My God, why hast 
 thou forsaken me ?" Had he forsaken himself? These 
 are questions that the trinitarian would do well to 
 answer: and until he does so, and that satisfactorily, I 
 shall hold Aviih the apostle, that there is one God, and 
 that God is the father of our Lori Jesus Christ, and not 
 the Lord Jesus himself 
 
 I am aware, that there are certain passages of scrip- 
 ture, which are thought to teach, that Jesus claimed ta 
 be the very God. It would be impossible for me, in a 
 discourse, to go into an examination of all these pas- 
 
28 UNITY OF GOD. 
 
 sages. Tliis wcrk would require a volume, instead of 
 a sermon. The most I can do in the limits I have pre- 
 scribed for myself is, to select one or two of the strongest 
 of these passages, and if I show, that these fail of pro- 
 ving the point in hand, leave you to the reasonable con- 
 clusion, that the other and less important passages will 
 fail also. Among the passages quoted to prove the su- 
 preme divinity of Christ, I know of none which is relied 
 upon with more confidence, than the words of the Sa- 
 viour recorded in John x. 30, " I and ray Father are one." 
 [judge, however, that a little attention to the context, 
 will satisfy the hearer, that even this text, when properly 
 understood, falls far short of proving the absolute deity 
 of Jesus. I presume it will be admitted, that Jesus 
 knew as well the meaning of his own language as we 
 can know it, and that his explanation will be perfectly 
 satisfactory. It so happens, that he was called in ques- 
 tion for that very language, by those that heard it, on 
 the spot, and he explained his meaning in a manner that 
 would have been satisfactory to any but bigots, who 
 were determined at all hazards to condemn him. When 
 he said, " I and my Father are one," the Jews took up 
 stones again, and were about to stone him. But he said 
 unto them, many good works have I showed you from 
 my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me ? 
 " They answered and said, for a good work, we stone 
 thee not, but for blasphemy, and because that thou being 
 a man, makest thyself God." Now I wish you to ob- 
 serve, that the Jews understood this passage as men 
 now understand it. They thought he claimed to be God, 
 and therefore they accused him of blasphemy. Mark 
 the explanation that he gave. He answered them, " Is 
 it not written in your law, I said ye are Gods ? If he 
 called them gods untc ivhom the word of God came 
 
L-NITY OF GOD. 29 
 
 and the scriptures cannot be broken, say ye ol nim, 
 whom the Father hath sanctified ani sent into the 
 world, thou blasphemest, because I said, I am the son 
 of God?" The drift of the argument is this. He did 
 not say he was God. He only said he was the son of 
 God. In their law, those were called gods unto whom 
 the word of God came. When they read in their law, 
 " ye are gods," they understood it well enough ; and 
 Jesus wished them to do him the justice to understand 
 him in the same manner ; for he claimed to be God, only 
 in that subordinate sense, in which their law called those 
 gods to whom the word of God came. This was the 
 explanation that Jesus himself gave. It seems, how- 
 ever, that the Jews were not satisfied with it, but still 
 contended that he blasphemed. There are some people 
 now, who arc not satisfied with his explanation, but 
 they will have it that the Jews were right, when they 
 accused him of making himself a God. 
 
 Look at the subject in another light for a moment. 
 Jesus said, " I and my Father are one." The Jews took 
 up stones and were about to stone him ; and Avhen he 
 asked them, why they went about to stone him, they 
 said, " because thou, being a man makest thyself God." 
 Now if Jesus really was God, and meant so to teach the 
 people, why did he not assert the fact in the face of his 
 ibes? Why did he not tell them. Sirs, I am God ; and 
 if I have made myself God, I have only told the truth, 
 and claimed to be what I am? Was he awed by his 
 >nf.mies, so that he dared not maintain in their presence 
 the position that he had assumed? I will not believe 
 It. The truth was he did not claim to be God, and 
 when the Jews accused him of making himself God, he 
 showed them from their own scriptures, that he had 
 done no such thing. I ask again; did he prevaricate 
 3* 
 
30 UNIIY OF GOD. 
 
 here, and recede from his position ? or did he give the 
 true meaning ci" his words ? If he gave the true intent 
 of his words, then the Jews charged him falsely, when 
 they said, he made himself God ; and it is settled for ever 
 by his own authority, that m all his conversation with 
 the Jews, he claimed to be God in no other sense, than 
 that in which their laAV called those gods, to whom the 
 word of God came. 
 
 That he intended not to claim an absolute equality, 
 or identity with God when he said, "I and my Father 
 are one," is further evinced, in the fact, that he prayed 
 that his disciples might be one even as he and his Father 
 were one. " Holy Father keep through thine own name 
 those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, 
 as we are one." It is therefore evident, that he claimed 
 no other oneness with God, than that which it was pos- 
 sible for a number of men to possess with one another. 
 
 The believers could be one in spirit, one in purpose, 
 and one in heart. Jesus had no will but that of God. 
 His meat and his drink was to do the will of God, and 
 ihe spirit of the Lord dwelt richly in him. In this sense 
 and this only, he and his Father were one. I shall not 
 nave time, in this discourse, to examine any other pas- 
 sages of this kind, nor do I conceive such a work neces- 
 sary. If the passage I have had under consideration, does 
 not prove the identity of Jesus with God, I apprehend 
 it will be difficult to find one that does, and I therefore 
 rest it here. 
 
 We believe in one, and but one God, because the 
 eternal Father says he is God and there is none else — 
 because the patriarchs and prophets worshipped him, 
 as one and undivided, during a period of four thousand 
 years — because Jesus himself worshipped him, as the 
 Great Supreme, and confessed his supremacy by praying 
 
UNITY OF GOD. 31 
 
 to him as the only living God, and father of all — and 
 because the apostles and disciples of Jesus, acknow- 
 ledged but one God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 We believe, that Jesus of Nazareth was " a man ap- 
 proved of God, by signs and miracles and wonders, 
 which God did by him, in the midst of the people " — 
 because the apostles called him so — and because he 
 himself said he was the son of man, and prayed like 
 a man, spoke like a man, felt like a man, was tempted 
 like a man, and at last died like a man, and was raised 
 from the dead to prove that man Avould rise. His office 
 was that of mediator between God and man. 
 
 A mediator is a middle person, who stands between 
 two persons that are strangers to make them acquainted 
 with one another. Man was estranged from his God, 
 He had wandered far from his ways, and is described as 
 "having no hop€, and without God in the world." It 
 was the business of the mediator to reveal the true God. 
 and make man acquainted with his father, and thus 
 bring him back to that allegiance which he owed to him 
 as God over all, blessed and blessing for evermore. Bui 
 of this I may say more at another time. 
 
 The doctrine of the simple unity of God, is of great 
 importance- It has a vast influence upon the spirituality 
 and the sincerity of divine worship. The man who 
 looks upon God, as one and undivided, can bow in the 
 singleness of his heart before him, and worship in spirit 
 and in truth. 
 
 Not so the man who worships a God who is veiled 
 in an incomprehensible mystery. If he adores the jus- 
 tice of God, it is at the expense of a Saviour's mercy: 
 or if he magnifies the riches of a Saviour's compassion, 
 it is at the expense of a Father's justice, and thus the 
 mind is left to vascilate upon the question, which among 
 
32 UNIIY OF GOD. 
 
 the three is most worthy; and the affections are act 
 easily fixed supremely upon either. Thus the flame of 
 love supreme to God, which ought to burn with bright- 
 ness upon the altar of the heart, is quenched, and the 
 incense of praise is arrested in its upward course to 
 heaven. " No man can serve two masters," was the 
 doctrine of Jesus, and we do no violence to the spirit of 
 the passage if we say, that no man can in sincerity and 
 truth, worship supremely hvo, much less three Gods, and 
 the truth of the position is clearly demonstrated m the 
 case of believers in the Trinity. 
 
 I envy not that man his discernment, who has not 
 discovered, that although the believers in the Trinity 
 contend in words, for the strict identity, unity and per- 
 fect equality of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, yet in 
 their worship, they are far from making them one or 
 equa?y in point of power or worth. When they address 
 the Saviour, it is with the liveliest joy, ana it is easy to 
 perceive that he shares far more largely in their affec- 
 tions, than the Father or the Holy Ghost; and if there 
 was no God but him, they would trust him without a 
 doubt or a fear. But when they address the Father, it 
 is in a different strain entirely. He is an austere and 
 hard master, to Avhose goodness they are afraid to ap- 
 peal ; and hence, they rarely ask any thing of him for 
 his ovm g&odness^ sake ; but they ask him to heed the 
 intercessions and groans and blood, of his more compas- 
 sionate Son, and to spare and give for his sake. The 
 Holy Ghost is rarely directly addressed at all, but Jesus 
 and God the Father, are besought to send down the Holy 
 Ghost, thus making the third person in this professedly 
 equal trinity, a kind of subordinate, who does the bid- 
 ding of the first and second. "No man can serve two 
 masters, for either he will love the one and hate the 
 
UiMTY OF GOD. 33 
 
 Other, or else ne will hold to the one and despise the 
 other." For this reason the idea of a Trinity is destruc- 
 tive of real, pure, heartfelt devotion, to one only living 
 and true God. 
 
 Nor is the doctrine of the humanity of Jesus one of 
 small moment. In our judgement the name of Christ 
 ought not to be made a stumblingblock to the Jews, by 
 being presented as claiming equality with him who 
 claims to be God alone. Such a course does much to 
 strengthen the hands of the infidel and cause him to 
 glory in his rejection of the GospeL The deist says, "I 
 adore the God of nature. I see his name in characters of 
 livino- light and glory upon the broad canopy of heaven; 
 and in those worlds and systems of worlds, that throng 
 the immensity of space. I see his goodness upon the 
 earth, and in the order of his providence, and I love and 
 adore him. But look yonder, to the cross, and in the 
 agony of death you behold the christian's God. He died 
 like a man ! Nay," says he, " I cannot worship such a 
 God." If the trinitarian replies, that his God did not die, 
 but that it was the human nature only that died ; the an- 
 swer of the deist is ready. " Your system makes an m- 
 finite atonement necessary ; and if t"he man only died, 
 then you have no infinite atonement, and your whole 
 scherne of salvation is good for nothing." Thus reason* 
 the infidel, and what, I ask, have the whole host of 
 trinitarians ever done toward meeting the argument ? 
 Nothing, absolutely nothing. 
 
 But I meet the infidel here. I tell him he is wrong in 
 the very outset of his argument. Jesus of Naza'reih never 
 claimed to be the self existent God. He said he was 
 the son of man. When therefore, you point me to the 
 ■cross and tell me that my God died there, I say it is not 
 60. Jesus is mv Teacher, my Guide, my examplar, my 
 
54- UNITY if GOIX 
 
 Master and my Saviour, but he is not my God; ani all 
 your reasonings upon t lat supposition, go wide of the 
 truth, for your premises \re wrong. 
 
 Again, ihe influence of the example of Christ, is 
 greatly weakened upon those who view him as God. 
 We may point to his example, his patience, forbearance, 
 long-suffering, kindness, mercy and truth, and exhort our 
 fellows to be like him ; but the excuse will be ready. Oh ! 
 he is a God, and you cannot expect us to be like him. 
 Give me leave to say, with the apostle, that he is the 
 "man Christ Jesus, and tempted in all points like as we 
 are," and then I leave man without a cloak for his sins. 
 
 I present an illustrious example of human excellence, 
 and demonstrate the fact, that humanity can gain the 
 victory over every unhallowed lust and passion. I thus 
 fire the soul with emulation, by giving man to know 
 that there are in his own nature capabilities, to which 
 he was a stranger before, and the mind is filled with 
 gratitude when it sees that God has stooped from his 
 throne and raised man to the dignity of being the instru- 
 ment of Salvation to the world. 
 
 Still again, the resurrection of Christ from the dead 
 IS dependent for its interest and power, upon the fact, 
 that he was what the apostle called him, the man Christ 
 Jesus. His resurrection from the dead is given us, as 
 the proof that man shall rise also. Paul goes so far as 
 to rest it all here. " If Christ be not risen, your faith is 
 vain, ye are yet in your sins. Then they that are fallen 
 asleep in Christ, are perished." But the resurrection of 
 a God could give no assurance that man shall rise. But 
 when we are told that he is the ma/i Christ Jesus, and 
 understand that he is "bone of our bone, and flesh of 
 our flesh," and then view him in the brightness of his 
 risen glory, the conqueror of death, the truth bursts with 
 
UNi-'^V OI iOD. 35 
 
 full radiance upon the mind, for it is demonstrated, by 
 actual experiment, that Jmmanity is destined to burst 
 the bars of death, and rise triumphant from the spoil- 
 er's power. All this is dependent upon the fact, that he 
 is what the Apostle calls him in the text. 
 
 Let it not be said that these views are calculated to 
 degrade the Saviour in the estimation of the world, or 
 to undennine the foundations of confidence in his power 
 to save. His example and character are not the less 
 lovely because presented in the person of our elder 
 brother ; nor is his power less efficacious because he re- 
 ceived it from his Father and our Father, from his God 
 dnd our God. I love the Saviour, " as the brightness of 
 the Father's glory, and the express imageof his person." 
 I revere him, as the perfect pattern of virtue and holi- 
 ness. I respect him, as the being upon whom God has 
 conferred all power in heaven and earth; and I trust 
 him, as the conquering King of Zion, whose arm shall 
 not be shortened until it has rescued the last child of 
 sin from the power of the enemy, and established the 
 empire of holiness and bliss, on the ruins of sin and suf- 
 fering. Honour and glory be to Him who hath " saved 
 us, and washed us in the washing of regeneration," 
 Glory be to Him who hath loved us, and died, that he 
 might return us to God ; and who will not faint or grow 
 weary until a world shall be brought home to holiness 
 and bliss. I say, with the full heart, glory and honour 
 be to Jesus, the Saviour ; but I must say, " Glorv to 
 God in the highest," that, on earth, there is " peace and 
 goodwill to men." He is God and beside Him there is 
 none else ; and I cannot, I dare not, have any other God 
 before Him. I leave this subject with you, and I pray 
 you, remember that word which saith unto you, as it 
 said to Israel of old: "Thou shalt worship the Lord 
 thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve." 
 
\TONEMfiNT. 
 
 SERMON ] II. 
 ATONEMENT. 
 
 " He that justifleth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they 
 both are abomination to the Lord." Proverbs xvii. 15. 
 
 Invariable equity a-nd strict impartial justice are the 
 first principles of the divine government, and always 
 mark the ways of God to man. When a man sins, 
 justice req-uires that he should be punished, and accord- 
 ingly, we find that God has so arranged the order of his 
 government that punishment, sooner or later, comes 
 fearfully upon, the head of the guilty. On the other 
 hand, justice requires that the man who does good, 
 should be rewarded ; and, accordingly, we find, in our 
 experience, that there is a rich and sweet reward in the 
 practice of virtue. The scriptures everywhere teach 
 that God is just, and they promise us, with the most 
 solemn certainty, that the man who gives even a cup 
 of water to a famishing brother, shall in no case lose his 
 reward. In like manner, they assure us, with the same 
 certainty, that the man who does wrong shall receive 
 the reward of his doings, and, " though hand join in 
 hand, the wicked shall not go unpunished." There are 
 no principles in theology which are capable of exer- 
 cising a more controlling influence upon human conduct 
 than these. It is important, also, that there should be 
 a certainty and definiteness about them which shall 
 leave no room for a doubt, on either side. That man 
 labours with a strong hand and a cheerful mind, who 
 
ATO^•EME^'T. 37 
 
 reels that his reward is sure; and that man hesitates to 
 do an evil act, who knows that 1" e cannot escape the just 
 punishment of his sins. 
 
 In order to illustrate the influence of these things, let 
 us suppose that here is a man who has a number of 
 workmen in his employ. To the faithful and obedient, 
 he pays a liberal rewa.d for their labours; but he never 
 pays the man who does not labour. Every one in his 
 employ knows, perfectly well, that, if he performs his 
 duty, his reward is sure, and he will receive it, to the ut- 
 termost farthing. He also knows, with equal certainty, 
 that, in case he is unfaithful and disobedient, his punish.- 
 ment is sure and inevitable ; for his employer will iu nO' 
 case suffer with impunity an infraction of his orders^ It- 
 is easy for any one to see, that the efi'ect will be, a. 
 cheerful and willing obedience, and a faithful discharge 
 of duty. 
 
 But let us vary the figure. Let us suppose that this- 
 man refuses to pay the labourer his hire, and that he. 
 makes no difference between those that serve him well, 
 and those that serve him not. He even goes farther 
 than this. He bestows the wages of the faithful upon, 
 the unfaithful ; and when one labourer has transgressed,, 
 instead of punishing the transgressor, he chastises some 
 innocent man, and lets the guilty go free. The labour- 
 ers begin to reason in this way: "If I am faithful to 
 my duty, there is no certainty that I shall receive my 
 pay, for my employer would as soon give the reward of 
 my toil to the indolent as to me ; and if I transgress, he 
 will not punish me, but will inflict the penalty of my, 
 fault upon some innocent man." I need not name the 
 result of such a state of things; for the child can see at 
 a glance, that the strong arm would be unstrung, and. 
 the labourers would be perfectly indiff*erent whether- 
 4 
 
38 ATONEMENT. 
 
 they were faithful or unfaithful to their duty. If they 
 were faithful, there would be no certainty of reward ; 
 and they would be in constant danger of having visited 
 upon their heads, \.\e punishment due to the unfaithful. 
 If they were guilty, they would know that a«aother, and 
 not themselves, must suffer for their guilt. 
 
 This similitude, though homely, is a just representa 
 tion of the influence of men's views of the government 
 of God. The world needs confidence in the justice of 
 its God. Man wants to knov/ that the Great Governor 
 of the universe will do right — that he will render unto 
 every man according to his deeds. He needs to be con- 
 fident that, if he does right, his reward is certain, and 
 he is in no danger of being condemned for the sins of 
 another. He needs also to know, that, if he does 
 wrong, he shall suffer for the wrong that he has done, 
 and that God will not inflict the punishment for his guilt 
 upon the head of some innocent one, and suffer him to 
 escape. 
 
 I make these remarks, because there is extensively 
 prevalent, in the world, a doctrine which unsettles the 
 foundations of firm confidence in the justice of God, 
 and leads men to question the equity of his govern- 
 ment. It makes men fear that they will not find a re- 
 ward in Avell-doing : and hope to escape the punish- 
 ment of their evil deeds, and thus it discourages the 
 virtuous, and encourages the vicious. The doctrine to 
 which I allude, is known among theologians, under the 
 name of " Vicarious Atonement," and is as follows; It 
 supposes all men to be placed, by nature and practice, 
 •under the curse of a broken law, whose penalty is end- 
 less condemnation and death ; and, at the same time, 
 utterly unable, of themselves, to fulfil the divine re- 
 ^uip-jments, or make a particle of restitution for offences 
 
ATONEMENT. 39 
 
 already committed. God was indisposed to mitigate 
 he sentence he had passed, or abate a fraction from the 
 full penalty of the broken law ; but was fully deter- 
 mined to exact the last mite. The sinner had nothing 
 to pay, and could, of course, do nothing toward releas- 
 ing himself Fortunately, however, Jesus interposed 
 and took the payment of the debt upon himself, and 
 proposed to suffer in the room and stead of the sinner. 
 It was done, and, according to Dr. Watts, 
 
 " He quenched his father's flaming sword 
 In his own vital blood." 
 
 Atonement is therefore defined by Buck to be: "The 
 satisfying of divine justice, by Jesus Christ giving hin> 
 self a ransom for us, undergoing the penalty due to sm, 
 and thus releasing us from that punishment which God 
 might justly have inflicted upon us." This is the doc- 
 trine of atonement as it is generally held, and you will 
 recollect that I named it, in my first lecture, as a point 
 upon which we differ from the common opinion. I also 
 intimated that I should, at some future time, take it up at 
 large. In fulfilment of that pledge, I propose to make 
 it the principal topic of the present discourse. 
 
 In the definition of atonement, just quoted, you will 
 perceive we are told, with sufficient plainness, that 
 Christ actually suffered the punishment which was due 
 the sinner in his rooju and steady and thus released us 
 from the punishment justly our due. Now I ask, what 
 was the punishment which was due the sinner ? The 
 answer is, it was condemnation and death. And did 
 God condemn Christ as a sinner, and treat him as such ? 
 So says the doctrine in hand. And was Jesus in reality 
 a sinntr ? No, for he is called the just and holy one, 
 
40 ATONEMENT. 
 
 and no guile was found in his heart. And yet Gal con- 
 demned him, and punished him as a vile sinner ! ! If 
 this be so, then I say, it is as evident as mathematical 
 demonstration could make it, that God has " condemned 
 the just f'"* and what does our text say about condemn- 
 ing the just ? H.;ar it, and blush for that folly which 
 will thus traduce the name of a God of justice. " He 
 that condemneth the just is an abomination to the 
 Lord." There is no chance for an evasion here: for, if 
 it be true, that it is an abomination to God to condemn 
 the just, and yet he has condemned the just, then he 
 has done a thing which he abominates. But, if he has 
 not "condemned the just," then the doctrine of vicari- 
 ous atonement is a fable. 
 
 But this is not all. The doctrine in question teaches 
 that God not merely "condemns the just," but he also 
 justifies the wicked. It tells us that, in consequence of 
 Christ's suffering for us, God releases the sinner from 
 the punishment that is justly his due. If this be true, 
 it needs no argument to prove that God has done an- 
 other thing Avhich he abominates. He condemns the 
 just, in the first instance, and then he justifies and re- 
 ceives, as just and pure, the vilest trangressor of his law, 
 and suff'ers him to escape all punishment. What does 
 our text say of such things ? Hear it, yet once more, I 
 beseech you, and remember it for your good. " He that 
 condemneth the just, and he that justifieth the wicked, 
 even they both, are abomination to the Lord." 
 
 I ought not to leave this subject, without adverting to 
 another doctrine, which seems to have been invented on 
 purpose to hide the deformity of the one of which we 
 have been treating. 
 
 I allude to the do-!trine of " imputation." Buck de- 
 fines it thus: "God's most gracious donation of the 
 
ATONEMENT. 41 
 
 rigftteousness of Christ to believers, and nis accepianue 
 of their persons as righteous, on account thereof; their 
 sins, being imputed to him, and his righteousness being 
 imputed to them, they are, in virtue thereof, both ac- 
 quitted from guilt, and accepted as righteous." This 
 is the doctrine of imputation and it is thought to relieve 
 the doctrine of atonement from the charge of injustice. 
 Thus, it is said, that the sins of the whole world were 
 imputed to Christ, and, resting under this imputation, 
 he might justly be condemned as a sinner. So, on the 
 other hand, the righteousness of Christ is imputed lo 
 the sinner, and, therefore, there is no injustice in receiv- 
 ing him as a righteous man. 
 
 It must be confessed, that the inventors of this doc- 
 trine (for it is no more than invention of man) are enti- 
 tled to some credit for ingenuity in forming a sentiment 
 to get out of a difficulty. Unfortunately, however, the 
 doctrine has no foundation, either in scripture, reason, 
 or fact. The truth is, that righteousness is not a com- 
 modity that can be transferred from one to another, as a 
 piece of merchandize ; neither is guilt a thing that can 
 be passed from man to man. They are both personal 
 matters— things which pertain to individuals, and can- 
 not be separated from them. I cannot b€ virtuous foi 
 my friend, nor can he be virtuous for me. To our own 
 Master, we must stand or fall for ourselves. The same 
 is true of guilt. It is in the nature of things, and in the 
 government of God, as utterly impossible, for one man 
 to assume another's guilt, as it is to assume his righte- 
 ousness, and there is no more folly in one man's attempt- 
 mg to eat and drink and sleep for another, than in at- 
 tempting to be virtuous or sinful for another. Suppose, 
 for example, there is a foul murder committed in this 
 city. Is there a man among you who would allow that 
 4* 
 
42 ATONEMENT. 
 
 the guilt of that murder could be transferred to you, 
 and you be justly punished for a crime you did not com- 
 mit ? No, not one. And if any man should intimate 
 that you were guilty of the crime, you would hurl the 
 imputation from you as a foul and disgraceful libel. 
 Should he insist that the sin was imputed to you, and 
 your character imputed to the real murderer, you would 
 say at once, that the thing was impossible, and that hav- 
 ing committed no crime, you could not, upon any princi- 
 ple of justice, be counted guilty. Suppose our state 
 authority should arrest an innocent man, and execute 
 him, while the murderer went free — it would be pro- 
 nounced, by every man in community, a shameless and 
 graceless outrage upon every principle of justice, and a 
 disgrace to humanity. Men might plead as much as 
 they pleased, that the murder was imputed to the inno- 
 cent man and he was willing to assume it, and that the 
 state had made a "most gracious donation" of the good 
 man's character to the murderer : and the innocent man, 
 suffering in his stead, would release him from the pun- 
 ishment which the state had a right to inflict upon him, 
 and what would such pleas avail ? They would be 
 scouted from community, as the visions of a disordered 
 brain, and we should be told that our system of juris- 
 prudence recognized, as a first principle, that crime is 
 not transferable, that the guilty alone must suffer for 
 their guilt, and that it is a foul abomination in the sight 
 of God to condemn the just and punish them for the 
 sins of the wicked. We should be told, that the wise 
 and prudent have so strongly maintained this principle, 
 as to establish it as an axiom, that it is better for ten guil- 
 ty men to escape than for one innocent person to suffer. 
 Thus men reason, for they can reason well enough in 
 every thing else but religion. Eut the moment we turn 
 
ATONEMENl. 43 
 
 our attention to theology, all these principles are violated, 
 and we are presented as a first article of faith, a doc- 
 trine, which makes God do those very things which in 
 men we despise and condemn, and which he himself 
 pronounces an abomination in his sight. In the first 
 place, he is made to condemn Jesus, he just, and inllicl 
 upon his head the punishment of tae guilty, that he 
 may justify the wicked; and then, to shield him from 
 the charge of injustice, he is made to do what neither 
 God nor man ever could do, transfer the guilt of sin, as 
 well as its punishment, to the innocent, and the righte- 
 ousness of the righteous, to the wicked. Why, in the 
 name of reason, do men, who hold such views, find fault 
 with the Catholic for believing in works of supereroga- 
 tion ? It was long, you know, a favorite doctrine of the 
 Catholic church, that all the works done by the saints, 
 over and above what was strictly required, went into a 
 sort of general fund, from which others might make up the 
 deficiencies of their own virtue. Thus, a portion of this 
 righteousness could be imputed to others, and they re- 
 ceive its reward. Protestants have long since repudia- 
 ted that doctrine as unjust, false, and pernicious ; and 
 yet, it is difficult to perceive a fraction of dijSference be- 
 tween that and the common doctrine of atonement, 
 so far as the principle of the thmg is concerned. In 
 fact, it is the same doctrine carried out to its legitimate 
 results and tendencies. If the righteousness of Christ 
 can be transferred to me, so may that of Peter, or Paul, 
 or any other man: and, if the punishment of my sins 
 may be justly inflicted upon Jesus of Nazareth, by 
 the same rule, it may be inflicted upon any of my 
 hearers. The truth is, the whole system of vicarious 
 atonement is ^/rong — an outrage up.9u all justice and 
 right, and, as such, is pronounced by the voice oi 
 
§4 A-TOI^EJIENT. 
 
 inspiraiion, " an abomination in the sight Df the 
 Lord." 
 
 That Jesus died upon the cross is beyond all question; 
 that he died for the world, is equally certain, from the 
 divine testimony ; but that he died a vicarious sacrifice^ 
 to appease the wrath, satisfy the justice, or secure the 
 favor of God, and the escape of the guilty, is most un- 
 equivocally denied. God asks no blood of bulls or goats, 
 much less the blood of his own Son, to render him mer- 
 ciful or good. The sacrifice of a broken and contrite 
 heart is all that the Lord our God requires; and to sum 
 up the whole in a few words, my objections to the doc- 
 trine of vicarious atonement are — that it is unjust in 
 theory, impossible in fact, and pernicious in practice. 
 It is unjust, because it punishes the innocent for the 
 guilty, and suffers the wicked to escape on account of 
 the shedding of innocent blood; whereas, the rule of 
 heaven's justice is, that every man shall suffer for 
 his own sim, and that God will by no means clear the 
 guilty. It is impossible in fact, because righteousness 
 and guilt cannot be transferred from one to another 
 and the sufferings of the innocent cannot satisfy that 
 justice which requires that the guilty alone shall suffer. 
 It is pernicious in practice, because it encourages men 
 on in sin, by fostering the delusive hope that there is an 
 easy way to escape from the punishment threatened 
 against those who transgress. 
 
 It tells men, in effect, no matter how sinful they are. 
 Though wicked as Cain, and corrupt as Mary Magdalen, 
 with her seven devils, Jesus has paid the debt for them, 
 and they can, at any time, on application to him, obtain 
 a discharge from all the claims of the divine justice, and 
 an imputation of his righteousness, Avhich will enable 
 fhem to stand uncondemned in the sight of a pure and 
 
ATONLMEx\T. 46 
 
 holy G-od. The effect of such views can but be bad 
 upon the practice of men. 
 
 I have before said, that there is no question upon the 
 subject of the death of Christ for the world, so far as the 
 fact itself is concerned. The only dispute is upon the 
 nature and object of his death. At some future time I 
 purpose to make the sufferings and death of Christ the 
 subject of a discourse.* I cannot, therefore, dwell upon 
 that point now. For the present, it may suffice to say, 
 that Jesus found the world in darkness, sin, and igno- 
 rance, and his object was to enlighten, purify, and in- 
 struct them. He knew that his testimony would cost 
 him labor and suffering, and e\'^en his life. Yet he did 
 not hesitate, but gave himself and all his powers to the 
 work, and at last bowed his head and died upon the 
 cross, that he might seal his mission with his blood, and 
 in his resurrection prove it all divine. 
 
 But the hearer will inform me that he certainly reads 
 of an atonement in the Xew Testament, and he will de- 
 sire to know what we are to understand by that term. 
 I suspect, after all you have read about an atonement in 
 the G-ospel, you will find, on a moment's reflection, that 
 you have heard much more about it from the prea-cher 
 than you have read in the Bible. Will it surprise the 
 hearer if I tell him that the word atonement is not to be 
 found but once in all the writings of the New Testament ? 
 Such is the fact ; and I presume you will now agree 
 with me in saying that you were mistaken in the sup- 
 position, that you had read much upon that subject in 
 the sacred book. In the 5th chapter of the Epistle to 
 the Romans, at the ilth verse, you may find the word 
 atonement. It reads thus: "And not only so, but we 
 joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also 
 we have now received t.ie atonement." You have now 
 
46 ATONEMENT. 
 
 before you ihe only passage in the- New Testament m 
 which the word atonement is used; and much as you 
 thought you had read about it there, I pledge you my 
 truth that you have read just that one verse, and no 
 more. What is still more remarkable, is the fact, that 
 the atonement there mentioned is something that the 
 Apostle, and not God, had received. The common view 
 of atonement makes it a satisfactfon which God receives 
 for the breach of his law. But the Apostle says, "We 
 joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we 
 have now received the atonement." This is certainly 
 the very reverse of the popular manner of speaking of 
 an atonement. The atonement is thought to have been 
 made to God, and to be received and accepted by him. 
 But here the Aposile speaks of it as something that he 
 and his brethren had received. The whole difficulty, if 
 there is any in the case, will be removed when you are 
 informed, that although the word "atonement" occurs 
 but once in the Nev/ Testament, yet the same original 
 word occurs frequently, and, except in this instance, is 
 uniformly rendered " reconciliation ;" and it evidently 
 might better have been so rendered in this passage. " We 
 joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we 
 have now received the reconciliation." Here we have 
 opened before us a fall and correct view of the Scripture 
 doctrine of atonement. Its simple meaning is, reconcili- 
 ation, and I need not tell you that "reconciliation "to God 
 is the most important doctrine of the Gospel. It was to 
 reconcile man to his God, that Jesus came, and suffered, 
 and died, and rose again from ?he dead; and this, also, 
 was the end and object of all the labours, teachings, and 
 sufferings of the Apostles, who took their livec. in their 
 hands and went out to preach the Gospel of Jesus. For 
 this reason the Gospel is called the " word of reconcili- 
 
ATONEMENT. 47 
 
 atiou,'' and its ministry is called " the ministry of recon- 
 ciliatioa." Let patience have her perfect work among 
 you, for I have dwelt long upon a false and spurious 
 doctrine of atonement, Lnd I must dwell at some length 
 upon this, the true Gospel of Christ. " Be ye reconciled 
 to God," is the first and the last, the highest and the ho- 
 liest command of the Gospel; and it evidently indicates 
 that those to whom it was given were then in a state of 
 unreconciliation. Now, where there is unreconciliation, 
 there is always dissatisfaction or enmity; and this is in 
 perfect accordance with those Scriptures which speak of 
 the carnal mind as being "at enmity against God." 
 
 The important idea with which we must start, in our 
 investigation of this matter, is, that it is man who is dis- 
 satisfied, and at enmity with God, and not God who is 
 at enmity with his creatures. Here is the radical defect 
 of all the nameless systems of men. They start with 
 the position, that God is unreconciled to man, and they 
 labour to reconcile him to the world instead of the world 
 unto him. If you will examine the subject, you will see, 
 in a moment, that not only the false systems of Chris- 
 tian lands, but all others, err precisely upon this point. 
 The Heathen have a multitude of gods, and their vic- 
 tims bleed upon ten thousand altars. Their children 
 sink in the wave, their wives burn in the flame, and 
 their ov/n bodies are cast down to be crushed beneath 
 the wheels of an idol's car. And what is it all for ? 
 What power is that which puts this vast machine in 
 motion ? The answer is, They think the gods are un- 
 reconciled, and they hope to reconcile them by these 
 painful rites and heart-rending sacrifices. The very 
 foundation, the main spring of the whole system and 
 practice is, that the gods need a reconciliation. Chris- 
 tians wo, have departed from th; corner stone that God 
 
IS ATONEMENT. 
 
 liad laid in Zion, and have built upon this same heathen 
 foundation. Christians, too, can talk of an angry God, 
 and tell you that heaven's Lord and King is unreconciled, 
 and something must be done to reconcile him, or the 
 damnation of hell will testify to the extent and power 
 of his hatred. Now, this is all wrong. I lay the axe 
 at the root of the corrupt tree, and I testify unto you, 
 that God never was and never can be unreconciled to 
 the world ; but man is unreconciled to God, and needs a 
 reconciliation, or, if you please, an atonement. 
 
 The very nature of God is a full and sufficient proof 
 that he can never be unreconciled to man, or that if h( 
 were so, he could never be reconciled. He is all-wise 
 and immutable. He knew as well before he made man 
 what he would be, and what he would do, as afterward 
 When he put forth his power and called man into ex- 
 istence, his life and all its acts, his character and all its 
 shades of darkness and of light, were as present with 
 God as they are now. God saw it all, and in view of it 
 all, he was reconciled to man, and pronounced him good, 
 yea, very good. Now, as God was then reconciled, and 
 as with him there is no variableness, neither shadow of 
 turning, it must follow, that he is now, and ever will be, 
 reconciled to man. Neither can any changes of man's 
 character effect a change in God, or make him unrecon- 
 ciled ; because God knew all these changes from the be- 
 ginning, and had there been any power in them to work 
 unreconciliation in God, he would have been unrecon- 
 ciled from the beginning. 
 
 That God is not unreconciled to man, is further evi- 
 dent from the fact, that his blessings are scattered daily 
 dfound us, and the whole history of the world is a his- 
 tory of unearthly kindness on his part, and of ingrati- 
 tude, and suspicion on the part of man. It is evident. 
 
ATO>'EMENT. 49 
 
 also, from the Scriptures, which abound in the stronger- 
 expressions of love in God, and which represent the 
 whole work of reconciliation as having originated in God 
 and being of him. The mission of a Saviour is set forth 
 as originating in the love of God, and not as a system of 
 means for restoring that love after it had been lost. 
 Herein is love ; not that we loved God, but that he 
 loved us, and gave his son for us. Besides all this, 
 these same scriptures tell us, that God is reconciling the' 
 world unto himself, and they exhort us, saying : "Be 
 ye reconciled to God." But they never speak of recon- 
 ciling God to the world, nor ask us to do any thing to 
 that end, for the best of all possible reasons, that he 
 never was unreconciled, and, of course, no such work 
 was necessary. 
 
 But what is it to be reconciled to God? I answer, it 
 is to conform to the spirit of his law. " Thou shalt 
 love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all 
 thy soul, and with all thy mind, and Avith all thy 
 strength, and thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: 
 on these two commands hang all the law and the proph- 
 ets." Now, when a man conforms to this law, he is 
 reconciled to God; but, while there is hatred in the 
 mind, there must be unreconciliation. The reason is 
 perfectly obvious. " God is love.'' Hatred is the oppo- 
 site of love, and there never can be any concord or agree- 
 ment between the two. But, when all hatred is purged 
 out, and man learns to love God with the whole heart, 
 and his neighbour as himself, then he becomes like God, 
 and there is perfect concord between the two. Hence 
 the Apostle says: " He that dwelleth in love dwelleth 
 in God and God in him, for God is love.' This is recon- 
 ciliation. 
 
 But this is not all that the terra implies. It supposes 
 5 
 
50 ATONEIMENT. 
 
 aa entire submission to, and satisfaction with, God's 
 government, providence, and purposes. The man who 
 grudgingly submits to God's government, because he 
 cannot avoid it, while, at the same time, he wishes that 
 ihe reins of government were in his hands, cannot 
 properly be said to be reconciled to God. But when a 
 man comes to see that God is good, in all his works and 
 ways, and that all his purposes are gracious, and he 
 would not alter them if he could ; then he is reconciled 
 to God, and he can sentimentally rejoice that the gov- 
 ernment of the universe is vested in a being so wise, 
 so gracious, and so good. This is reconciliation, in its 
 full extent, and this is the true doctrine of atonement. 
 This was the atonement which Paul had received 
 through our Lord Jesus Christ. Before this he had 
 been dissatisfied that God should suffer many things, 
 and he breathed out threatening and slaughter. He had 
 embraced hard and ungracious views of God, and he 
 felt unreconciled to him and his ways. But Jesus re- 
 vealed to him the abundance of grace and truth, and 
 taught him better views of the economy of his Father's 
 grace, and by this word he was reconciled to God. His 
 soul was filled with love to God and man, and he con- 
 fided in the wisdom of his Father to do all things well. 
 This is the work of atonement, or reconciliation; and 
 I cannot dismiss the subject witho-ut the remark, that 
 this is one of the distinguishing doctrines of the Gospel. 
 It is a doctrine which marks the Gospel of Christ as 
 radically distinct from all other systems of religion. 
 Man never yet made a religion, the object of which 
 was not to have some influence upon the purposes or 
 disposition of God. Go the world over, and you will 
 find that all the systems of paganism liave this object 
 in vieV , and make it their first business, by rites and 
 
ATONEMENT. 51 
 
 sacrifices, to operate upon the divinity. Chrislianity 
 alone proclaims God in his goodness, and seeks only to 
 operate upon man. It is a remarkable fact, that pre- 
 cisely this point now separates Universalism. from the 
 popular systems of the day. They all have their vica- 
 rious sacrifices, by which they seek to operate upon 
 God, and make him more gracious than he would other- 
 wise have been. But we raise our feeble voices and 
 cry aloud, proclaiming to one and all, that God is good 
 enough as he is ; he needs no change to make him bet- 
 ter; but man, and man alone, needs to be brought up to 
 communion with God, and a iiearfrelt reconcilation tc 
 Hun. 
 
DEATH OF CHEIST. 
 
 SERMON IV. 
 DEATH OF CHRIST. 
 
 ■' But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for tha 
 suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour, that he, by the grace of 
 God, should taste death for every man. 
 
 " For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in 
 bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of our salvation perfect 
 through suffering." Hebrews ii. 9, 10. 
 
 In my last discourse, I spoke of the doctrine of " vi- 
 carious atonement," and endeavoured to show that it 
 was a sentiment unfounded in reason, scripture, or fact. 
 1 mentioned the sufferings and death of Christ, and at- 
 tempted to show that these were not designed to placate 
 the wrath, or satisfy the justice, of G-od. and thus open 
 a way for the guilty to escape the just punishment of 
 their sins. If these things are granted, then the ques- 
 tion will, very naturally, arise, in the mind of the hearer, 
 what were the true intent and meaning of the suffer- 
 mgs and death of Christ ? That he suffered much, that 
 he died upon the cross, at last, and that his death is 
 spoken of as having an important bearing upon the in- 
 terests of humanity, and in a very different manner from 
 that of any other individual — all this is unquestionable, 
 [f his death was not vicarious, the hearer will be ready 
 to conclude that he died merely as a martyr to the 
 cause which he had espoused ; and, as Stephen and 
 many others were martyrs, why should the death of 
 Christ be spoken of in a manner so different from the 
 rr.ode of speaking of other martyrs? 
 
DEATH OF CHRISf. 53 
 
 To investigate these points and to explain to you, as 
 clearly as I may be able, the precise nature and object 
 of the death and sufferings of Christ, shall be the busi- 
 ness of this discourse. I deem it proper to remark, that 
 a love of the marvellous and the wonderful has had no 
 small influence in magnifying the sufferings of Christ, 
 as they are presented in the common doctrines of the 
 day. It is thought that he suffered all that a world 
 could suffer; that, upon him, was the tremendous load 
 of the sins of a whole world, and that he was assault- 
 ed by all the powers of hell, at the same time; and, 
 worse than all, deserted of God. That the sufferings 
 of Jesus Avere great and severe, is unquestionably true; 
 but I am not aware that there is any good authority for 
 saying, that they were greater than would have been 
 experienced by any other benevolent and sensitive be- 
 ing, under similar circumstances. The death of the 
 cross is a cruel one, at best ; but it would seem, from the 
 historian, that the agonies of Christ were not prolonged 
 to the usual time; for we are told that the soldiers 
 "marvelled that he was so soon dead." Upon this, 
 however, it is unnecessary to dwell, at any considerable 
 'ength. He was beaten and scourged and finally nailed 
 to the cross, and bowed his head and died, and no man 
 can conceive that his sufferings could have been either 
 few or small. But the question before us relates to 
 the precise object of these sufferings. 
 
 Will it be said, that he died simply as a martyr ? My 
 answer is, that he Avas more than a martyr. Such was 
 the state of the world, when he came, that it was cer 
 tain he would be under the necessity of making hi 
 way through the most bitter and heartless persecutions 
 He knew, right well, that, if he preached efficiently th 
 truth of which he was made a witness, he must encoun 
 5* 
 
d4 DEATH OF CHRIST. 
 
 ter the inveterate hatred of the world, and that he 
 would be pursued even to the very death. The alterna- 
 vive was before him, either to abandon his mission, and 
 leave the world in darkness and vice, as he found it, or 
 to go on, and establish his truth in the hearts of the peo- 
 ple, at the expense of his life. He chose the latter; he 
 gave himself, his labours, and his life, that he might re- 
 store men to the knowledge and service of that God, 
 whom to know was life eternal. In this sense he was 
 a noble and an illustrious martyr to the cause of human 
 happiness; but even in this view, he differed from ordi- 
 nary martyrs; because his death was certainly known, 
 and on his part voluntary. There are many who have 
 engaged in the Christian cause, well knowing that it 
 would expose them to danger, and even put their lives 
 in jeopardy. They have gone on, using all precautions, 
 and endeavouring, by all honest means, to escape the 
 power of the persecutor, and have died at last, because 
 ihey could not avoid it. It was different with Jesus. 
 He knew, from the beginning, that his life would be 
 sought, and that his death would be certain. And he 
 yoluntarily undertook the work, with a full knowledge 
 of the certain consequences. He went up to the altar 
 with a firm and willing step, and said, " I will offer up 
 my life, and thus seal my ministry with my blood." In 
 this view, then, he differed from the mere martyr of ne- 
 cessity. 
 
 But if the death of Christ was not vicarious, or prt^ 
 pitiatory, why, it will be asked, was it necessary that he 
 should die at all ? My answer is, that the necessity of 
 his death grew out of the circumstances of the world, 
 and the benevolent purposes of God toward man, inas- 
 much as it was the only means by which those purposes 
 could be accomplished. 
 
DEATH OF CHRIST. 55 
 
 I. The sufferings and death of Christ were necessary, 
 in order to exhibit before the world a perfect example 
 for our imitation. 
 
 Before the days of Jesus, the question had been asked, 
 " who will show us any good ?" and various had been 
 the models of goodness presented for the imitation of 
 man. The sages of antiquity had taught morality, but 
 they had poorly practised upon their own teachings ; and 
 the experience of four thousand years had demonstrated 
 the fact, that it was not enough that man should have 
 rules of morality and virtue laid before him in theory : 
 it had shown that rules of ethics, however good, could 
 have but little influence upon human conduct, so long as 
 they were not exemplified in ^a-t. Man wanted not 
 only to be told what was good and right, but he needed 
 to see it exemplified tangibly before him. It was not 
 enough that the way through the wilderness should be 
 pointed out, for man needed a guide that should go be- 
 fore him, as a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, 
 to lead him on his way. Jesus came to be that guide; 
 and it was not enough that he should say, " this is the 
 way, walk ye in it ;" but it was necessary that he should 
 go before, and lead his people on. Now, what I wish 
 you to observe is, that this is a world of suffering. Sor- 
 rows, and temptations, and sufferings are the ills una- 
 voidably incident to humanity. Hence, sufferings are 
 necessary to draw out the perfections of the human char- 
 acter. In this light you will see that the sufferings of 
 Christ were necessary, inasmuch as without passing 
 through them he could not have been a pattern for our 
 imitation. Suppose, for example, the life of Christ had 
 been a continued scene of uninterrupted prosperity. You 
 might indeed have seen an illustrious example of virtue 
 in one aspect. But who can tell what virtue is until it 
 
56 DEATH OF CHRIST. 
 
 IS tried? To whom, under these circumstances, could 
 he have been an example of patience under suffering, of 
 meekness under insult, of forgiveness under injuries, and 
 of kindness even in death? He might indeed have 
 taught patience, and resignation, and meekness, and for- 
 giveness; but his teachings would have been compara- 
 tively powerless, because they would have been unac- 
 companied by a living example, illustrating their utility 
 and practicability. You see, then, that in order to give 
 efficacy and power to his teachings, it was necessary 
 that they should be accompanied by a living example 
 and in no other way could Jesus present an example for 
 man, but by passing through the temptations and suffer- 
 ings through which man must necessarily pass. In or- 
 der to give an example of patience under suffering, he 
 must first suffer. To exemplify the virtue of meekness 
 under insult, he must first be insulted, and to exhibit 
 forgiveness for injuries, he must first be injured. By 
 these sufferings, and these alone, could the amiable traits 
 of character and Godlike virtues of Jesus be exhibited 
 to the world. Hence, these sufferings were necessary ; 
 and hence also, the Apostle, in the text, gives us to un- 
 derstand, that the "Captain of our salvation was made 
 perfect through suffering." It was these sufferings that 
 drew out the perfections of his character, and but for 
 them, the world, to this day, would have been ignorant 
 of the perfection of human virtue. 
 
 There is still another view, in which the necessity ot 
 this example is seen in a still more striking aspect. It 
 was necessary to prepare his followers for tnose noble 
 and self-sacrificing exertions, without which his cause 
 would have languished and died. Had Christianity been 
 nurtured in luxury and earthly glory, and had its founder 
 been the pampered child of fortune and adulation, how 
 
DEATH OF CURIST. 57 
 
 would it have fared with liis followers and his religion 
 "when the storm gathered dark and black around, and 
 broke, " terrible as the voice of many waters" upon their 
 heads. Age after age the followers of Jesus waded 
 through seas of persecution, and "met destruction face 
 to face." Though dangers stood thick through all the 
 way, and fierce opposers met them at every step, yet 
 with an indomitable courage, that no power could awe, 
 and perseverance that paused not at death itself, they 
 went onward, glorying in tribulation, and rejoicing that 
 they were counted worthy to suffer for the name of 
 Jesus. These were the exertions that gave success to 
 the Master's cause, and but for these, Christianity would 
 have been exterminated. But where did the disciples 
 learn to manifest a spirit like this ? I answer, from the 
 self-sacrificing example of their Master. It was this 
 that kindled the same spirit in the Apostles, and taught 
 them to be faithful even unto death. And the united 
 example of the Master and his servants has exerted an 
 mfiuence that has been felt in every age, and in all cir- 
 cumstances where sufferings and dangers were lo be en- 
 countered in the cause of truth. From Calvary and 
 Gethsemane, and from every scene hallowed by the suf- 
 ferings of Jesus, there comes a voice, bidding the Chris- 
 tian " be faithful." That voice has been echoed from 
 generation to generation. In our own times it sounds full 
 and clear, and it shall not cease till its silver tones shall 
 mingle with the sound of the archangel's trumpet, when 
 time shall be no more. Take away, now, the sufferings 
 of Christ, and where would Christianity have been long 
 ago? It would have died the death. 
 
 There is still another aspect, in which we may see 
 the necessity of these sufferings, in their bearing upon 
 the permanent interests of the Gospel. Had the life of 
 
58 DEATH OF CIIBIST. 
 
 Christ been one of ease, and worldly prosperity, ana 
 honor, it is difficult to conceive of any amount of histor- 
 ical evidence that would have borne down, through 
 successive generations, the conviction of the truth of his 
 doctrine, and the authenticity of his mission. The cry 
 would have been raised, that he sought for worldly hon- 
 or and riches, and a thousand suspicions of collusion 
 and deception would have come up, and destroyed the 
 convincing power of the most clear and palpable evi- 
 dence. But when we see that the Saviour was " a man 
 of sorrow and acquainted with grief," that he met with 
 persecution, and lived in poverty, and endured the scorn 
 of the world, and at last died upon the cross; then we 
 see that there was an absence of all worldly motive, and 
 the conviciicn is forced upon the mind, that his mission 
 was divine. All these are illustrations of the truth con- 
 tained in the text, that " the Captain of our salvation 
 was made perfect," precisely what he should have been, 
 " through suffering." Much more I might say upon this 
 point, but I must pass on. 
 
 II. I observe, that the sufferings and death of Christ 
 were necessary to a full revelation of the character and 
 perfections of God to the world. 
 
 This was a great object of his mission on earth ; and 
 hence it was that he said, near its close, " I have finish- 
 ed the work which thou gavest me to do. I have de- 
 clared thy name unto them that thou gavest me out of 
 the world." It should be remembered, that a mere 
 vague description of the character of God could give but 
 a poor idea of its glory. It was necessary that it should 
 be tangibly manifested on earth. In Christ it was mani- 
 fested, and lience the Apostle says of him, that he is the 
 "brightness of the Father's glory, and the express image 
 of his person." As the rays of light- falling upon the 
 
DEATH OF CHRIST. ^^ 
 
 smooth waters reflect a perfect image of the sun in the 
 firmament, so the rays of divine light and truth, shining 
 upon the face of Jesus the anointed, reflect, a perfect 
 image of Gcd. He is the mirror in whom the Father's 
 face may be seen, and in him we may perceive an exact 
 likeness, a perfect transcript of the divine character. So 
 exact was the likeness, that the Apostle calls it " the 
 express image of his person." In this manner " God 
 was manifested in the flesh," and so perfect was the 
 manifestation that Jesus himself said, "He that hath 
 seen me hath seen the Father." The great beauty of 
 the character of God is, his goodness and love to the 
 children of men. One writer says, that " God is love." 
 He is not only lovely, but he is love itself, pure and una- 
 dulterated love. 
 
 Now, please bear in mind, that one great object of 
 the mission of Christ was to reveal God's name to the 
 children of men, and that he himself was the " bright- 
 ness of the Father's glory and the express image of°his 
 person." "Greater love hath no man than this, that a 
 man should lay down his life for his friend." Here is 
 the highest perfection of human love; it never can go 
 beyond it. But God's love rises far higher than this. 
 It extends even to his most bitter enemies. Do you ask 
 for proof of this ? Go to the cross of Calvary, and there 
 you shall behold it. There, in the agony and torture of 
 a cruel death, you behold Jesus laying down his life for 
 his enemies, and while they wag their heads and mock, 
 his prayer goes up for a blessing upon their heads. 
 There you see love stronger than death, which many 
 waters cannot quench, nor the floods drown. Love, not 
 for friends but for enemies and murderers— Xo ye which 
 paused not at persecution^ and failed not in the hour of 
 dissolving nature. Look hither ye doubting mortab 
 
GC DEATH OF CHRIST. 
 
 and behold the evidence of the love of God even to his 
 enemies. There is the brightness of the Father's glory, 
 and the express image of his person, and such as is 
 Jesus there, such is your God. 
 
 Now let me ask, by what other means could Jesus 
 have given such an evidence of strong and everlasting 
 love as this ? He might have professed great love, but 
 alas ! man would have been slow of heart to believe, foi 
 painful experience has taught him that such professions 
 are not always to be trusted, and we know not, who 
 among all our friends loves us, until the day of trial 
 comes. He might have told them again and again, that 
 their Father loved them, and pointed them as he had 
 done, to the fowls of the air and lillies of the field, to 
 the shining sun and falling rain, as evidence of the fact, 
 and he might thus have convinced them that God lov- 
 ed his friends ; but his business was to do more than 
 this. 
 
 It was to prove to the world, that the the love of God 
 extended far heyoyid all human love, and embraced even 
 his enemies. In his death he gave the demonstration 
 of the fact. He laid down his life for his enemies, and 
 in that tragedy of Calvary, the world saw, for the first 
 time, an exhibition of loving kindness, that could not be 
 overcome by all the guilt, sin, hatred and persecution of 
 man. I can imagine no other way, in Avhich so full an 
 exhibition of the perfections of the divine character could 
 have been made, and therefore I say, his death was 
 necessary to a full and perfect revelation of his Father's 
 name. The love of God was manifested in nature and 
 providence. It was testified in scripture, but it was de- 
 monstrated and proved by the death of Christ; tangibly 
 exhibited in his sufferings, and shone in full splendor 
 from Calvary and its cross. 
 
DEATH OF CHRIST. 61 
 
 For this reason the writers of the New Ttstament all 
 along, speak of the death of Christ, as the strongest 
 possible manifestation of the love of God. " God com- 
 mended his love toward us, in that while we were yet 
 sinners Christ died for us." 
 
 *' He that spared not his own son, how shall he not 
 also freely give us all things." These are the testimo- 
 nies of the apostles, in regard to the death of Christ. 
 They saw in it the most perfect manifestation of the 
 love of God : for in Christ himself they beheld the image 
 of the invisible God; and it is a remarkable fact, that 
 none of the inspired writers ever mention the death of 
 Christ, as being the effect of the wrath of God, or the 
 sacrifice offered to his justice. It is a commendation of 
 the deep and unfathomable ocean of a father's love, and 
 as such, they made it their hope and trust for the rich 
 graces of the spirit in this life, and the unborn glories of 
 a happy immortality. But I must leave this, and pass 
 to another view of the death of the blessed Redeemer. 
 
 III. The death of Christ was necessary to prove the 
 resurrection from the dead, and stamp the seal of eter- 
 nal truth upon the divinity of his mission. 
 
 Life and immortality are brought to light in the Gos- 
 pel, through the resurrection from the dead. Before the 
 Gospel came into the world, there was a thick veil of 
 impenetrable darkness suspended between the vision of 
 man and all beyond the grave. The question had been 
 asked with fearful anxiety, " If a man dieth shall he 
 live again ? " But it had not yet been answered. The 
 wise men of old had pondered long upon that question. 
 Sages and philosophers, and poets, had tasked their 
 mighty powers in search of proof, that man should live 
 again ; and in the end they confessed their ignorance, 
 and left the question where they found it, and sighed as 
 6 
 
62 DEATH :F CHRIST. 
 
 they said, "man dieth, )'ea, he giveth up the ghost, and 
 where is he ?" And echo answered, where ? 
 
 Now Jesus came into the world to throw light upon 
 the darkness of the grave, and teach man that he should 
 rise from the dead. How should that be done? It 
 would answer no good purpose to teach man that it 
 should be so, without giving the proof. Philosophers 
 had taught this long ago, and had indulged in long and 
 subtle trains of argumentation to prove that it should be 
 so. But yet the world was without hope in the future 
 Man needed not only the theory but the fact, and weep- 
 ing humanity cried aloud, not for speculations ; for they 
 had enough of these, but for a demonstration of the 
 truth by actual experiment. It was needful, therefore, 
 that Jesus should rise from the dead, and thus prove the 
 doctrine of the resurrection from the dead, and give man 
 a hope that should be as " an anchor of the soul, sure and 
 steadfast." But he could not rise from the dead, unless 
 he first died; and hence you will see that his death was 
 necessary to prove the truth of his mission, and to bring 
 life and immortality to light. Nor is there any other 
 imaginable way, in which such a hope could be given. 
 In this light then you will see, that the death of 
 Christ differs from the death of martyrs in another 
 important respect. Martyrdom in general, is no more 
 than a proof of the sincerity of the martyr. When a 
 man persists in his adhesion to certain doctrines in the 
 face of death, it is an evidence, and the highest evidence 
 that he is sincere in his belief of certain principles, but 
 it affords no proof of the truth of the principles them- 
 selves, for a man may be sincere in the belief of false- 
 hood. But in the case of Christ, you see his death was 
 necessary, not merely as a test of his sincerity, but as 
 the means of demonstrating the truth of his doctrines. 
 
DEATH OF CHRIST. 63 
 
 For this reason, when the Jews asked a si^r;, he «aid, 
 "destroy this body, and in three days I will raise it up.' 
 Henre, also, the Apostle rested the whole proof of future 
 life on the fact of the resurrection of Christ from the 
 dead. " If Christ be not risen," says he, " your faith is 
 vain, our preaching also is vain." But Christ could not 
 have risen from the dead, except he had first died, and 
 hence his death was a necessary part of his mission. 
 
 Take away, now, the death of Christ, and what do 
 you do ? Why, you just destroy the glorious fact of his 
 resurrection ; you make him an impostor, and destroy 
 the whole fabric of Christian hope. It is no wonder 
 then, that the death of Christ should be mentioned ir 
 different language, and as far more important than the 
 death of any other man. 
 
 It was not to be expected, that with such views the 
 divine writers should compare the death of martyrs with 
 this, for this had a bearing upon the hopes of a world, 
 and was inseparably connected with the very foundation 
 Gf all Christian hope. But for that death, and the con- 
 sequent resurrection from the dead, darkness and eter- 
 nal night would still have brooded over the grave; and 
 for aught that men or angels could tell, death would 
 have been the final end of man, wiih all his hopes and 
 joys. " For this purpose was the Son of God manifested, 
 that through death, he might destroy death, and him 
 that hath the power of death, that is the devil, and de- 
 liver those who through fear of death were all their life- 
 time subject to bondage." Mark you, it was through 
 death, that he destroyed death, and wrought the deliv- 
 erance of those Avho were subject to the bondage of 
 fear. Well, then, might the Apostle glory in the cross 
 of Christ. It was the cross that led to the tomb, and it 
 was the tomb that was consecrated by the presence of 
 
64 DEATH OF CHRIST. 
 
 Jesus, and enlightened by the glory of his resurrection. 
 Thus, through death, he shed the radiance of an eternal 
 morning upon the night of the grave, and illumined the 
 shadow of death with the dawn of a glorious and happy 
 immortality, wliere humanity, raised in the image of 
 Jesus, shall assimilate to its God, and live the eternal 
 monument of his faithfulness and love. 
 
 I have now given you my views of the nature and m- 
 tent of the death of Christ, and of their efficacy in the 
 great plan of redemption. Though I cannot allow that 
 his blood flowed to appease the wrath or satisfy the jus- 
 tice of God, and though I am positive that it was not 
 God's justice, but man's injustice and wickedness, that 
 made these sufferings and this death necessary, yet I 
 cannot allow the truth of the charge, that we deny the 
 efficacy and power of the Saviour's death. I praise my 
 God that he sent his Son, who laid down his life for our 
 sakes, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and 
 give us good hope and everlasting consolation through 
 faith. I thank heaven with a full heart, that Jesus was 
 faithful even unto death, and that he " died that those 
 who live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but 
 unto God." While I live may I cherish the remem- 
 brance and love of him, to whose labours and sufferings 
 I am indebted for all that I am above the pagan, who 
 bows to gods of wood and stone; and when at last the 
 solemn hour shall come, that shall call me hence to be 
 here no more, I pray that faith in the name of Jesus may 
 enable me to close my eyes in peace, with the triumphant 
 song upon my lips, " Oh, grave ! where is thy victory ? 
 Oh, death ! where is thy sting? The sting of death is 
 sin, and the strength of sin is the law, but thanks be 
 unto God, who giveth us the victory, through our Lord 
 lesus Chn st." 
 
PUNISHMENT. 85 
 
 SERMON V. 
 
 PUNISHMENT. 
 
 " If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments : if they 
 break my statutes and keep not my commandments ; then will 1 visit their 
 transgressions with the roJ.and their iniquities with stripes. Nevertheless, 
 my loving kindness will I not utterly take from them, nor suffer my faith- 
 ftjlness 10 fail." , Psalms Ixxxix. 30, 33. 
 
 In my introductory lecture, I gave it you as one of the 
 peculiar and distinguishing doctrines of Universalism, 
 that no man can, by any possibility, escape the just 
 punishment of his sins. In my subsequent lectures, I 
 have shown, that it was no part of the object, either of 
 the labo-urs, sufferings, or death of Christ, to open a way 
 by which the guilty could evade the rod of his Father's 
 justice. I purpose, in this discourse, to speak more at 
 large upon the certainly and the object of punishment. 
 I have more than once said, that no man can escape the 
 just punishment of his sins; and before I proceed with 
 the proof of the proposition, it will be necessary for me 
 to explain my ideas of a just punishment. 
 
 I commence with the position, that there is a vast 
 difference between justice and revenge ; a difference 
 which seems almost entirely to have been overlooked 
 by the theologians of this day. The difference is, that 
 revenge is vindictive, while justice is never so; revenge 
 is retrospective, while justice is prospective; revenge 
 looks upon the past, and seeks satisfaction for an injury 
 done; but justice looks to the future, and sejks the re- 
 6* 
 
66 PUNISH MEM'/. 
 
 formation of the offender. Hence, it is evident tha' lh». 
 "lex talionis," or liw of retaliation, has no found'tion 
 in justice. Let me illustrate. Your child transgresses 
 your commands, and you punish him severely. Now, it 
 depends entirely upon your object, in the act of punish- 
 ing, whether that punishment is justice or revenge. If 
 you inflicted the stripes in a fit of anger, looking only at 
 the offence, and seeking satisfaction to yourself for the 
 injury done, then it was sheer revenge. But if you did 
 it in the kindness of a father's love, because you though* 
 the good of the child demanded it. and with the purpose 
 of working out a reformation in the child, then, in you 
 it was justice, even though it might have been severe. 
 So it is in the government of God; I speak it with rev- 
 erence ; God himself has no right to punish in revenge, 
 or with a vindictive spirit. He brought us into existence 
 of his own good pleasure, and without our knowledge 
 or consent, and he is bound, by the principles of his own 
 nature, to do us justice; and he has no right, in the na- 
 ture of things, to do an injury. The right to punish for 
 sin, has its foundation in the fact, that sin is " an evil 
 and bitter thing," and its practice productive of evil to 
 man. For this reason alone, is it right to punish men 
 at all ; for, if sin were more conducive to human happi- 
 ness than virtue, it would not be right to prohibit its 
 practice. But sin being aa evil, justice looks to the re- 
 moval of that evil ; it is, ia fact, the remedy for it, and 
 looks continually to the good of the sufferer. Hence, 
 then, the conclusion is logical and irresistible, that a just 
 punishment can never be more severe than the evil of 
 sm ; for in that case, you would make the remedy worse 
 than the disease itself Again, you will see, from the 
 foregoing, that the true standard of justice cannot be 
 found in any precise quantity of punishment. I mean 
 
FtJNISmiENT. 67 
 
 to say, that it is impossible to fix upon a s.aiidard which 
 shall say, that so many degrees of guilt shall deserve 
 and receive so many degrees of punishment, for that 
 would destroy all distinction between justice and re- 
 venge. I am particular on this point, because it is here 
 that men fall into a most pernicious error. The com- 
 mon opinion seems to be, that an inflexible standard is 
 erected, and that so many pounds of punishment (for I 
 know no better illustration) must, at all hazards, follow 
 so many pounds of guilt. Hence, when we say that no 
 man can escape the just punishment of his sins, the cry 
 is raised, that there is no mercy, and that we destroy the 
 mercy of God ! Why, my dear sir, do you not see that 
 the very punishment itself is inflicted in mercy? The 
 sinner is sick ; " from the crown of his head to the sole 
 of the foot, there is no soundness in him," and God, in 
 his mercy, administers the medicine; bitter, indeed, it 
 may be, but it is administered by the hand of a Father's 
 kindness. Hence the Psalmist says, " Great is thy mer- 
 cy, Lord, for thou renderest unto every man according 
 to his works." But, to return to the point from which 
 we started, 
 
 The right to punish is, as I said, founded in the fact, 
 that sin is an evil, and punishment is the remedy of that 
 evil, its object being to enforce obedience to the law. 
 For this reason, it is impossible that there should be a 
 perfect rule prescribing the precise quantum of punish- 
 ment due to every degree of guilt; because, in the first 
 place, this would make punishment not just, but vindic- 
 tive ; and in the next place, it would, in some instances, 
 necessarily ail of its object, and in others go far beyond! 
 The object of jusiice is to enforce obedience, and effect 
 a reformation ; anil when that object is secured, when 
 th/3 a-ansgressoi is reformed, and the sinner made obe 
 
68 PUNISHMENT. 
 
 dient, then the end of justice is attained. Whetner it 
 takes one stripe or a thousand to accomplish that object, 
 is of no consequence ; in either case, the punishment is 
 just, and no more nor less than just. If it is attained by- 
 one stripe, then that one stripe is a full and just punish- 
 ment. If it takes a thousand stripes, then nothing less 
 than a thousand is just. When, therefore, I say, a just 
 punishment, I do not mean a vindictive or revengeful 
 one ; but I mean a punishment that is adequate to the 
 evil of sin, and effectual in enforcing obedience. From 
 such a punishment, my position is, that man cannot 
 escape, by any possibility ; and, I may add, that, wesre it 
 possible, the escape would be a curse, rather than a 
 blessing, and man's rejoicings over it would be as ill- 
 timed as those of a sick man, who should rejoice that 
 he had escaped the taking of a healing medicine, for- 
 getful of the truth that a deadly disease was left behind. 
 I repeat again : sin is an evil and punishment is a rem- 
 edy, and it is a poor cause of joy, that we have escaped 
 the Good Physician, " who healeth all our diseases." 
 Better, by far, submit to the caustic or the knife, if 
 necessary, than bear about with us a gangrene that eat- 
 eth to the vitals. I come, now, to give you the proof 
 that all sin must be punished. I prove it 
 
 I. From the very nature of man. 
 
 God has given to man a moral constitution, and this 
 constitution has its laws which must be obeyed, or we 
 must suffer, as a necessary and unavoidable conse- 
 quence. There is one course of ocnduct which will 
 lead to happiness, because it accords with those laws; 
 and there is another course which will as certainly lead 
 to misery, because it is contrary to those laAVS. 
 
 Let me illustrate this subject. AVe know that there 
 are physical la\rs which must be obeyed, if we wouH 
 
PUNISroiENT. G9 
 
 preserve the healtli of the hody. If we put our hand in 
 the fire, it will be burned. If we expose our bodies to 
 the cold, they will freeze ; and, if we eat or drink intem- 
 perately, disease will be engendered. The reason is, 
 that, in so doing, we violate the laws of our physical 
 constitution, and incur that penalty which the Creator 
 has annexed. So it is with the mind: it has its laws 
 written upon it by the finger of the Creator, and these 
 laws must be obeyed, or we must suffer. The idea to 
 which I desire to direct your attention is, that the moral 
 laws of God, presented in the Bible, are but revelations 
 of those sure and immutable laws, which were stamped 
 upon the human heart by the hand of God, long before 
 a Bible was kuown. 
 
 Look at it, in an extended view. All the law, so far 
 as our conduct toward others is concerned, is summed 
 up, by the Apostle, in one word : " Even this : thou 
 shalt love thy neighbour as thyself" Now, I say, that 
 man is so made that, if he would be happy, he must 
 love his fellow man, and pursue a corresponding course 
 of conduct. If we hate and devour one another, we vi 
 olate the laws of our moral nature, and must as infalli- 
 bly suffer, as the body must suffer, if exposed to the ac- 
 tion of fire, contrary to the natural law. I desire you 
 to look into your own hearts, and examine your own 
 experience, and see if this is not so. When did you 
 hate a fellow creature, or do him an injury, and did not 
 suffer misery as the consequence ? Or when did you do 
 an act of kindness, and not feel that you had a most 
 rich and abundant reward ? I will answer for you. 
 Never. No, never did you have cause to rejoice that 
 you had felt or acted wrong, and never did you regret 
 that you had loved a brother and done him good. I 
 care not who you are, or what may be your circum- 
 
70 PUNISHMENT. 
 
 Stances, love and kindness are the elements of ilje soul ; 
 but wrath and hatred will burn like fire in the bosom, 
 and destroy your peace ; for God himself has so made 
 man, the world over, that, if we would be ha^py, we 
 must love one another and be kind. I say, then, that 
 the very constitution of man is proof that there is no 
 escape from the punishment of our sins; and all our ex- 
 perience bears its testimony to this solemn truth. Ye 
 may as well attempt to stop the sun in the firmament, 
 or roll back the wheels of nature, as to interfere with 
 that eternal law which God has revealed in the Bible, 
 and written on our very souls, declaring that love only 
 is the delight of the soul, and that hatred will corrode 
 the moral powers, and pour a flood of moral poison 
 through all the channels of a healthful, moral existence. 
 
 II. I prove that no man can escape the just punish- 
 ment of his sins, from the clear and explicit testimonies 
 of scripture. 
 
 If there is one point more clearly established by the 
 concurrent and explicit testimony of all the divine wri- 
 ters than another, it is the truth that God will visit cer- 
 tain and inevitable punishment upon those who trans- 
 gress his laws. The very first prohibition that God 
 made, was sanctioned by this penalty. " In the day 
 that thou eatest thereof, thou shall surely die." In af- 
 ter times, God proclaimed himself as, " the Lord, the 
 Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and 
 abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for 
 thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin, and 
 that will by no means clear the guilty." "Though 
 hand join in hand, the wicked shall not go unpunished." 
 "The soul that sinneth it shall die;" and "he that 
 doeth wrong, shall receive for the wrong that he 
 has done, and there is no respect of persons." These 
 
PUNISHMENT. 71 
 
 are the teachings of the Bible upon the point in hand, 
 and it is remarkable that all these threatenings are 
 made without any proviso or conditions whatever ; but 
 are, in the strictest sense of the term, unconditional. 
 When God saj^s that he will, by "no means clear the 
 guilty," I cannot suppose he meant to be understood 
 that he himself had prepared the means by which the 
 vilest of the i-le might escape from all that punish- 
 ment to which their sins expose them. It were trifling 
 in God, to threaten men with punishments which he 
 never intended to inflict, and I dare not thus charge 
 falsehood and deception upon the Holy One of Israel. 
 I pray you, then, beloved, think not that God is a man, 
 that he should lie, or the son of man, that he should re- 
 pent. His words are faithful and true, and the thing 
 that he saith, even that will he do. The adversary, in 
 ten thousand shapes, may attempt to deceive you. He 
 may come in the garb of an angel of light, a minister 
 of the Gospel, and tell you to follow his directions, and 
 ye shall escape the justice of your God. I warn you, 
 heed it not. Lay not the flattering unction to your 
 soul ; it is an "ignis fatuus that leads to bewilder, and 
 dazzles to blmd." It leads ten thousand astray, and in- 
 volves them in many woes. It is this hope of an easy 
 escape, that urges men on and makes them bold in sin. 
 Oh ! fly from ii, as from the pestilence " that walketh in 
 darkness and wasteth at noonday ;" for God is true, he 
 will " by no means clear the guilty." You may lock 
 your crimes in the secret recesses of your own heart; 
 but God will find them out. You may flee to the dark- 
 ness, where the eye of man cannot penetrate ; but that 
 darkness is light before him, and even there will his 
 justice scourge you with a thong, that no vigilance can 
 elude, no fortitude endure. I pray you ther^bre, yef 
 
72 PUNISmiENT. 
 
 once more, think not that any man can sin with impuni* 
 ly, for it is an idle dream. 
 
 T suppose the hearer Avill, by this time, inquire if we 
 do not read in the Bible, of forgiveness and pardon, to the 
 penitent ? I answer, yes ; and, in my next discourse, J 
 intend to take that subject up at large, and show that 
 there is no incongruity between the idea of forgiveness, 
 or pardon, and a just and adequate punishment. At 
 present I have merely time to observe that the forgive- 
 ness of sin, of which we read in the scriptures, and the 
 forgiveness of punishment, of which we do not read, 
 are two distinct and different things which ought never 
 to be confounded. 
 
 Having shown, as I trust, that the first part of the 
 text is true, to wit : " If his children forsake my law, 
 and walk not in my judgments, if they break my stat- 
 utes, and keep not my commandments, I will visit their 
 transgressions with the rod, and their iniquities with 
 stripes;" I proceed to illustrate the latter clause: 
 ' Nevertheless my loving-kindness I will not utterly 
 take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail." The 
 position, I assume, is this : — 
 
 All the punishments that God lays upon men, are 
 the well intended chastisements of a merciful Father, 
 and so many testimonies of his parental faithfulness and 
 love. Now for the proof of that position. 
 
 The first argument in its favor is drawn from the na- 
 ture of God. We are informed by the beloved disciple, 
 that God is love. I have before made the remark, that 
 God is not said merely to be lovely, but he is love itself. 
 He is love now, love henceforth, and love for evermore. 
 Now it is impossible for the same fountain, to send forth 
 waiters both bitter and sweet. God is the fountain, and 
 all the streams from that fountain must of necessity. 
 
PUNISHMENT. 73 
 
 partake of its own divine nature. Whetner these 
 streams come to us in the form of chastisements, or of 
 undisguised mercies makes no difference. Whether 
 they silenll}^ and smoothly glide through the verdant 
 plain, and sweetly murmur in the valley, or rush down 
 the rugged mountain's side, with the noise and din of the 
 cataract, makes no difference; they all flow from the 
 same fountain: that fountam is /ore, and the streams 
 must be love also. As certainly, therefore, as you can 
 judge of a stream by knowing the fountain from which 
 it flows, so surely can you judge of the nature of chas- 
 tisements, by knowing the fountain from which they 
 proceed. If God is love, then all his punishments are 
 inflicted in love, and it is impossible that one particle of 
 hatred can flow from such a fountain. 
 
 Again, God is immutable, and knows no change. Men 
 may change, and they do all fade as a leaf; but God is 
 the same yesterday, to-day and for ever. He is not love 
 to-day and hatred to-morrow, nor can any change in his 
 creatures Avork a change in him. Now the scriptures 
 assert, that " God so loved the world, that he gave his 
 only begotten son to die for us." Here then you find, 
 that there was a time when God loved even an ungodly 
 world. If therefore, he is immutable he will ever con- 
 tinue to love them, and even the fact that he chastises 
 them, cannot be received as an evidence that his love has 
 turned to hate, for he changes not. 
 
 Another argument in favor of our position, we derive 
 from the fact that God has reveeded himself to us in the 
 relationship of a father. Now there are certain duties in- 
 dispensable to the parental character, and neither God. 
 nor man, nor any other being can truly sustain that 
 character without the performance of these duties.. 
 The most solemn duty of a father is to love his children,, 
 7 
 
74 PUNISHMENT. 
 
 under all circumstances and at all times. In no one act 
 does a father give more unequivocal evidence that he 
 loves his children, than in his chastisements for their 
 follies and sins. Suppose for instance, I should see one 
 of my hearers chastising his child. I would go away 
 and say, that man did not love his child; and if you 
 asked the reason why I thus judged, my reply should be, 
 that I saw him punishing the child. How quickly should 
 I hear from the accused the reply, that the {)unishment 
 proceeded not from hatred but from love. I love my 
 child, and for that very reason I chasten him. If I 
 cared not for his welfare I should take no notice of his 
 faults; but feeling as I do, my own happiness indisso- 
 lubly connected with that of the child, I am constrained 
 to use even the rod of reproof to save him from the 
 snares of the tempter; and the very fact that I chasten 
 him is the proof of my love. Dear to my heart as the 
 apple of my eye, is the image of my child; precious 
 as my own right hand itself, is the happiness of my 
 wayward boy. But he must be trained to virtue, that 
 he may grow up in usefulness and happiness. To this 
 ■end I chasten him ; for his good I sacrifice for the time 
 being, all the pleadings of a parent's tenderness, and 
 • cause pain to him for whose sake I would rush in the 
 midst of danger and death. Oh ! how little does that 
 mistaken child know of the feelings of a parent, who 
 supposes that he chastens him for his injury ! Just so 
 little does that man know of the character of his heav- 
 enly Father, who views his punishments in any other 
 'Ught but the kind administrations of a friend, who seeks 
 ■our permanent good, and who knoweth that although 
 '**no chastening seemeth joyous for the present, but 
 grievous, nevertheless, afterward, it yieldeth the peace- 
 ;able fruits of rghteousness unto those that are exer 
 
PUNISHMENT. 75 
 
 cised thereby." The man who will alJege these chas- 
 risements as evidence of God's hatred, is not less foolish 
 than he who should contend that a parent did not love 
 his child, because when the child was sick, he refused 
 it the food it loved, and gave a bitter medicine. The 
 fact is, this is the best evidence of his love. So Paul 
 makes the chastisements of God the proof, that he is a 
 father and we his children. 
 
 " If ye be partakers of chastisements, God dealeth 
 with you as children, for what child is he whom the 
 father chasteneth not. But if ye be without chastise- 
 ments whereof all are partakers, then are ye illegitimate 
 children and not sons." Here you see the Apostle al- 
 leges the fact that God chastises his creatures, as the 
 evidence that God was a father, and man a child. 
 
 I say then, the character of God as a father, is proof 
 that all his punishments are inflicted in love, and that 
 though he " visit our transgressions with the rod, and 
 our iniquities with stripes, nevertheless, his loving kind- 
 ness he will not utterly take from us, nor suffer his 
 faithfulness to fail." 
 
 The third argument that I offer in proof of the position 
 assumed, is, that it is clearly taught in scripture. "Whom 
 the Lord loveth he correcteth, and scourgeth every one 
 that he receiveth." " Whom the Lord loveth he correct- 
 eth, even as the father the son, in whom his soul delight- 
 eth." "Asmany as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Be zeal- 
 ous, therefore, and repent." " The Lord doth not afflict 
 willingly, nor grieve the children of men, but though he 
 cause grief yet will he have compassion, according to the 
 multitude of his tender mercies." These are the testimo- 
 nies of the divine word, and the,' certainly teach, if they 
 teach any thing, that the rod of punishment in God's hand, 
 is in the hand of a father who wields it only for our good. 
 
76 PUNISHMENT. 
 
 Here I pause, and I shall leave you to decide how far 
 I have succeeded in sustaining the several positions I 
 have assumed. I cannot leave this subject with a con- 
 sciousness of having fully discharged my duty, without 
 remarking that these views of the divine government, 
 cannot fail of being most salutary in their moral influ- 
 ence. It is the certainty, far more than the magnitude 
 of punishment, that has a restraining influence. Pun- 
 ishment to be eff'ectual in preventing crime, should be 
 near and inevitable. " Prompt pay is the life of busi- 
 ness," has grown to a proverb; and there is a great deal 
 of true human nature, and important instruction in the 
 case of the man who was caught in the act of stealing, 
 and on being reminded by the owner of the goods that 
 he would pay for them on the day of judgement, prompt- 
 ly replied, " If I had thought you would trust so long, I 
 would have taken more." It is a small thing, I know, 
 but it is not less instructing. Who does not know, that 
 when men can get long credit, they are apt to go in 
 debt ? The great difficulty with the common doctrines 
 of the day is, that these credits are too long, and the 
 ultimate payment too uncertain. They do indeed 
 xhreaten the sinner with a most severe and tremendous 
 punishment. But it is a great way off". It lies beyond 
 the curtain of death, whereas the temptation to sin is 
 present and real. 
 
 But worse than this, they give to every man the priv- 
 ilege of escaping even that distant punishment, on the 
 most easy terms. What avails it, to tell a man thai 
 God has threatened him with an endless hell, when in 
 the same breath you tell him, that there is no need of 
 his going there after all ? What avails it to tell a man 
 that justice has a long account against him, if at the 
 same time, you assur » him that a fit of repentance will 
 
PUNISHMENT. 77 
 
 it any time, settle that account in fu /, and give him a 
 free and perfect discharge ? " Quick as the thunder 
 follows the lightning, should punishment follow crime," 
 for in this way alone can its moral power be felt: and 
 it should be as inevitable as it is speedy. 
 
 Another idea that must not be forgotten, is that pun- 
 ishment in order to be effectual, should not be too severe. 
 If it is so severe that iis justice is not seen, or its kind- 
 ness appreciated, the weak and the timid will faint and 
 fail before it, and the stout-hearted and rebellious will 
 despise it, and brave it with a reckless spirit. Shall I 
 appeal to facts? Well then it is a fact, that in all ages, 
 and in ail countries, where the laws have been most 
 sanguinary, and the punishments most cruel, there has 
 crime most abounded. On the other hand, where the 
 laws have been most mild, and the punishments most 
 merciful, there have the laws been most respected and 
 best obeyed. The history of the world, from Adam to 
 the present day, will bear me out in these declarations, 
 and the present state of the world will bear witness to 
 the same truth. 
 
 In religious matters, the same principle will hold 
 good. Go to heathen lands, and mark the influence 
 that is there exerted upon the moral character of the 
 people by the different systems of religion that prevail. 
 Why is it, that crime, in every form, and in all its ag- 
 gravation and excess, stalks abroad unmasked in the 
 light of noonday ? Is it because the people do not be- 
 lieve in gods that will punish them? I tell you, nay; 
 for there the drear and dark dungeon of Pluto, with all 
 its infernal apparatus of torture, is constantly held up 
 before the mental vision of the people , and there the 
 seven blazing hells of Mohammed are heated seething 
 hot, as a terror to evil doers. Why, then, we ask, are 
 
78 PUNISHMENT. 
 
 not the people reformed ? The answer is, that their 
 punishments are cruel, and under their fear, the heart be- 
 comes callous and hard, and the mind desperate. But let 
 us come nearer home. Great are the exertions that are 
 made for the reform.ation of the people of this country, 
 and yet we not unfrequently hear that the people are 
 growing worse instead of better. May I ask what is 
 the reason of this? Why are not the men of our coun- 
 try better ? Is it because they do not believe in pun- 
 ishment enough ? In all conscience, are not the power 
 of the devil and the fear of hell preached enough to 
 content you ? This is the burden of the theme, in the 
 pulpit and in the prayer-meeting. The tremendous 
 wrath of an angry God, has been proclaimed, and one 
 continual blaze of damnation has been streaming from 
 the pulpit, for years past ; and every spectre, ghost and 
 devil, in the compass of the human imagination, has 
 been pressed into the work of frightening men into re- 
 ligion. And yet the world is wicked. If there is any 
 power in these systems, that power has been most 
 faithfully tried. They have been preached powerfully, 
 they have been listened to attentively, they have been 
 believed most faithfully ; and yet the world is not re- 
 formed, and we can scarcely say it is reforming. There 
 is no reforming power in them, for they lack the only 
 thing that can give efficacy to doctrines of punishment, 
 the conviction that God rules in everlasting kindness, 
 and, though he smite, in the equity of justice and judge- 
 ment, " nevertheless his loving-kindness he will not ut- 
 terly take from us, nor suffer his faithfulness to fail." 1 
 leave my subject with you, for the present, and I pray 
 you, yet again, think of these things. Let no serpent 
 whisper in your ears the seductive tale: "Ye shall not 
 surely die," for God hath said : " The soul that sinneth 
 
rUKlSIDIENT. 79 
 
 It shall die." At the same time forget it not, I pray you, 
 he is faithful, and, though he wounds, it is that he 
 may heal, and, though he kills, it is that he may make 
 alive. 
 
80 FORGirENXtHU 
 
 SERMON VI. 
 FORGIVENESS OF SIN 
 
 "Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people, saithyour God ; speak ye, comforta- 
 bly, to Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that 
 her iniquity is pardoned, for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for 
 all her sins. Isaiah xl. 1,2. 
 
 There are two propositions clearly established by the 
 language of this text. The first is, that the people of 
 Jerusalem had received a just and adequate punishment 
 for all their sins; and the second is, that these same 
 sins had been forgiven or pardoned. To those who are 
 in the habit of associating with the word pardon, an 
 idea of the remission of just punishment, it may appear 
 like a solecism, that any people should be both punished 
 and pardoned. But this is most plainly affirmed in the 
 text, of the people of Jerusalem ; and what may appear 
 still more singular, is the fact, that they are said to be 
 pardoned lecause they have been punished. The lan- 
 guage is, " her iniquity is pardoned, /or she hath receiv- 
 ed of the Lord's hand double for all her sins." The 
 hearer will recollect that; in this course of lectures, 
 hitherto, I have insisted, somewhat strenuously, upon 
 the doctrine that all sin shall most certainly be punish- 
 ed; and I have, more than once, denied, in the most 
 unequivocal manner, that there is a possibility of any 
 man escaping the reward of his. iniquities. In my last 
 discourse, I gave you the testimony of reason, scripture, 
 and experience, all harmonizing, as I suppose, in the 
 
FORGIVENESS. 81 
 
 declaration that the transgressor of God's laws must be 
 punished. 
 
 To this doctrine there are, in the minds of many, 
 some objectioijs; and, I may as well remark, that it is 
 not surprising that it should be so. From the day that 
 our first parents transgressed, down through all subse- 
 quent ages, I may safely say, that there has been no 
 one thing, upon which the ingenuity of man has been so 
 much exercised, as that of finding out some salvo for the 
 guilty conscience. Some hiding place from the storm — 
 some refuge from the arm of justice, has been the first 
 and highest object of the guilty children of men. It is 
 not, therefore, surprising that some of these "refuges of 
 lies," should still remain, and that a sinful world should 
 still cherish the hope that they can yet escape from that 
 justice they so much dread. Notwithstanding the 
 word of the Lord declares, as it always has done: — 
 " There is no darkness nor shadow of death where the 
 workers of iniquity may hide themselves;" yet the in- 
 genuity of man has never tired in devising, nor his hand 
 in executing, plans for eluding the vigilance of divine 
 justice. 
 
 In a former discourse I spoke of the doctrine of atone- 
 ment, which has long been thought to offer the means 
 of a sure escape for the guilty; and I come now to 
 speak of the doctrine of forgiveness and pardon, which 
 is much used for the same purpose ; and it shall be the 
 business of this discourse to lay before you the true 
 scripture doctrine of forgiveness, and show that it in no 
 way conflicts with the idea of a full and adequate pun- 
 ishment for sin. In pursuing this object it will be 
 necessary to consider, 
 
 I. The doctrine of punishment as set forth in the 
 scriptnres. 
 
SS FORGIVENESS. 
 
 This part of our subject has been in a great measure, 
 anticipated in my previous labours, and a few additional 
 remarks will be all that is necessary. The text says 
 that the inhabitants of Jerusalem had "received of the 
 Lord's hand double for all their sins." From this it is 
 evident, that the justice of God does not recognise the 
 principle of punishing some sins, and permitting others 
 to go " un^vhipt of justice;" for Jerusalem had received 
 for all her sins. 
 
 The expression that they had received double, ought 
 not to be understood in its most literal and strict ac- 
 ceptation. It is a strong mode of expression, frequently 
 used in Scripture, to denote a very exact reward, ac- 
 cording to the strict demands of justice. It is probable 
 that this form of expression originated in certain pro- 
 visions of the Mosaic law. Under that law, the man 
 who stole, or trespassed upon, his neighbour's goods, or 
 cattle, was required to restore double to the owner, and 
 this was considered a just and righteous punishment. 
 Out of this fact, most probably, grew the expression of 
 "rendering double," and it should not be understood as 
 intending to teach that any one had received twice the 
 amount deserved, but merely that he had received a just 
 and equitable punishment. 
 
 It is therefore obvious, from the text, that God not 
 only punished the people of Jerusalem for all their sins, 
 but that he had done it in this world. Whether all sin- 
 ners are fully punished in this world, I will not posi- 
 tively say ; but if the people of Jerusalem were as bad 
 as they are represented to have been, I think it would 
 be difficult to find any worse sinners than these ; and if 
 they were fully punished in this world, there is no diffi- 
 culty in the supposition, that all others may receive the 
 reward of their doings here also. 
 
FORGIVENESS. Kf 
 
 The popular notion of the demerit of sin is thus set 
 forth in the Westminster Catechism. '* Question. What 
 does each sin deserve? Answer. Each sin deserves 
 God's wrath and curse, both in this world and that which 
 is to come." I scarcely need remark, that such an opin- 
 ion of the just demerit of sin stands utterly irreconcilable 
 with the doctrine of the text ; for it destroys the possi- 
 bility of any man's ever receiving the just punishment 
 of even one sin. The punishment of a single sin is here 
 set forth as the wrath and curse of an infinite God ex- 
 tending through all time and eternity. It is easy to per- 
 ceive that, upon this ground, the time will never come, 
 when it can be said that any man has received a just pun- 
 ishment for one single sin. Suppose, for instance, a man 
 has been sent to hell, and has remained there ten 
 thousand times ten thousand years. Can it then be 
 said, according to this doctrine, that he hath received 
 for one sin ? to say nothing of all his sins. Most evi- 
 dently not ; and when ten thousand ages more shall have 
 passed, he will be just as far from having received his 
 punishment in full as when he first began. 
 
 But there is still another view of this matter. If one 
 sin deserves infinite and eternal wrath, will it please 
 some wise D. D. to inform us how much two sins de- 
 serve by the same rule ? This is a very important ques- 
 tion, and it ought to be answered; because if one sin 
 deserves a given amount of punishment, the common 
 sense of the matter would seem to be, that two sins 
 would deserve more. And if we are to understand that 
 one sin deserves so much that it will take an eternity to 
 satisfy the demand, we are anxious to know when the 
 time will come, that it can be said of those whose hands 
 are stained with ten thousand crimes, as the text says 
 of the people of Jerusalem, " they have received of the 
 
S4 FORGlVEJfESS. 
 
 Lord's hand double for all their sins." The truth is, that 
 all distinction between crimes is destroyed by this doc- 
 trine, and the child who for the first time transgresses 
 the law, becomes as guilty, and deserves a punishment 
 as severe and lasting, as the hardened offender upon 
 whose head is the guilt of twice ten thousand sins. 
 
 Again, the very nature of man is a sufficient refuta- 
 tion of the sentiment in question. Man is finite in all 
 his powers and capacities, and consequently in all his 
 acts, and of course an infinite punishment for any or all 
 his acts, is at war with every proper idea of justice. 
 
 Still again, there is no principle of justice more ob- 
 vious than this. The guilt of crime must, in all cases, 
 be measured by the knowledge and intention of the per- 
 petrator. Now, as man has but a limited and imperfect 
 knowledge of good and evil, it must follow, as a clear 
 and indubitable conclusion, that no man can commit a 
 crime which will justly deserve even ihe^ semblance of 
 an infinite punishment. But not to insist on arguments 
 of this kind, the Scriptures do not inform us that each 
 or all the sins of man deserve " God's wrath and curse 
 both in this world and that which is to come." It is the 
 Catechism, and not the Bible, that says this. 
 
 There are other instances, also, besides the text, where 
 we have an account of sinners and their punishment, 
 and they give us no intimation that the guilty received 
 a portion of their punishment in this world, and that the 
 remainder was reserved for a future state of existence. 
 When our first parents sinned, it is but reasonable to 
 suppose, that God would let them know the worst of the 
 case. But we do not find, in all the history of that af- 
 fair, the remotest intimation that they had rendered 
 themselves obnoxious to the wrath and curse of God in 
 a future world. The ground was cursed for man's sake; 
 
FORGIVENESS. 85 
 
 the woman was informed that her sorrows should be 
 multiplied, and the man, that he should eat his bread 
 in the sweat of his face, and that he should return to the 
 dust from which he was taken ; and there the curse 
 ends. The same is true in the case of Cain, who slew 
 his brother. The curse was, " Now art thou cursed 
 from the earth, which hath opened its mouth to receive 
 thy brother's blood from thy hand; when thou tillest 
 the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee its 
 strength ; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the 
 earth ;^^ and there is the end of the threatening. 
 
 Now, if it were true that Cain and our first parents 
 had exposed themselves to a state of future wo, in com- 
 parison with which all the miseries of this life were but 
 as a drop in the bucket, why, in the name of humanity 
 and truth, did not God tell them so ? Why was he so 
 careful to point out the little paltry evils, as they are 
 called, of this life, and say not one word to them of the 
 more awful and terrible woes to which they were ex- 
 posed in the eternal world ? Let this matter be satis- 
 factorily explained, and you will do more toward con- 
 vmcmg me that this cruel dogma of endless torments 
 may possibly be true, than has ever yet been done. 
 
 Let it be remembered, that our text also refers to the 
 case of a most wicked and rebellious people, and I think 
 it may be asserted that no people on earth ever deserved 
 a more severe punishment than these Jews. None ever 
 enjoyed greater advantages of knowing their duty, and 
 none ever departed more widely from it ; and yet the 
 text says that they had been fully punished for all their 
 sins. Now, one of two things must be true. Either this 
 people never deserved the wrath and curse of God in 
 another world, or the prophet was wrong in teaching 
 that they had been fully punished for all »heir sins ; loi 
 8 
 
86 FORGIVENESS. 
 
 they certainly had not yet been in another wcrld. But 
 if the prophet was right, and these most abominable 
 sinners had received a full and adequate punishment, 
 then that doctrine which consigns them to the intolera- 
 ble wrath and endless curse of God in another world, 
 is utterly without the countenance of the divine word. 
 This conclusion comes to us with all the force of the 
 clearest demonstration; and I imagine that the wisest 
 theologians of the day will find it no easy task to har- 
 monize the doctrine of endless punishment with the 
 statement of the text, that the wicked inhabitants of 
 Jerusalem had received a full and adequate punishment 
 for all their sins. I conclude, from what has been said, 
 that the idea of punishment for sin, does not necessarily 
 involve the notion of future torments. 
 
 11. I come now to speak of the doctrine of forgiveness, 
 or pardon, as it stands related to that of punishment. 
 
 " Her warfare is accomplished, her iniquity is pardon- 
 ed, for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for 
 all her sins." You will readily perceive that the com- 
 mon doctrine of pardon, which makes it mean a remis- 
 sion of just punishment, is at variance with the text; for 
 in that case it would be impossible that a sin could be 
 both punished and pardoned. Aside from the text, how- 
 aver, there are many and weighty reasons why such a 
 7iew of the doctrine cannot be allowed. Some of these 
 I may lay before you. 
 
 First of all, justice forbids t. When the law is trans- 
 gressed, justice requires tha the punishment should be 
 inflicted ; and it is an infringement upon the claims of 
 justice, to allow the transgressor to escape, under any 
 pretence or for any purpose. 
 
 It may be urged, as it frequently has been, that mercy 
 ^has claims, and thai if we deny tne possibility of an <»♦■ 
 
FORGIYEinSSS. 87 
 
 cape, we deny the mercy of God. Where is mercy, 
 says the objector, if this doctrine is true ? My reply is, 
 that mercy is not, as ye seem to suppose, a mere " ex 
 post facto" attribute of God, which had nothing to do, 
 or was not born until man had sinned, and the penalty 
 of the law was impending over his head. The fact is, 
 "the Lord was merciful in the beginning; and when he 
 made the law, he was as merciful as he is now, or ever 
 will be. You ask me where is mercy, if the penalty of 
 the law must be inflicted ? Suffer me, in my turn, to 
 ask a question. Where was mercy when that law was 
 made, and the penalty annexed, if she will not allow it 
 to be executed now that it is made ? You would do 
 well to remember that God was always merciful; and 
 when the law was made, and the penalty annexed, the 
 guardian, pitying angel was there, and saw and approved 
 both the laAv and the penalty ; and hence it is not pos- 
 sible that she will interfere with the execution of a law 
 which she once approved, for she knoweth that God 
 never annexed a penalty to his law greater than was 
 consistent Avith the tenderest mercy. If you ask me, 
 then, where is mercy ? my answer is, where she always 
 was; in God, in his law, in his penalty to the law, and 
 in all his works and ways. He is just, but his justice is 
 not unmerciful, neither does it, in any way, conflict with 
 his mercy. It is not mercy, but weakness and injustice, 
 that would refuse to execute a salutary, just, and mer- 
 ciful law. 
 
 I know it is frequently said, that the law knows no 
 mercy; and it is sometimes true of the laws ol man; for 
 they are conceived in sin and brought forth in iniquity. 
 But I tell you the law of God is like its author, full of 
 mercy and good llruits; and it is not less a dictate of 
 mercy than of justice, that it should be executed. When 
 
88 FORGIVENESS. 
 
 the law was made, the darling attribute was there, and 
 mingled her tears of pity in the law; and she never can 
 interfere with its execution without becoming weak and 
 unjust. 
 
 Again, the common doctrine of pardon, or forgiveness, 
 is opposed to the plainest and most positive declarations 
 of Scripture. The Scriptures, from the beginning to the 
 end, afford not the least possible encouragement for any 
 man to hope that he can sin with impunity. On the 
 other hand, it is plainly and most emphatically taught, 
 that " every man shall receive according to his works," 
 and not according as he may happen to be pardoned or 
 not. " He thai doeth wrong shall receive of the Lord 
 for the wrong that he hath done, and there is no respect 
 of persons." Such is the uniform testimony of the Scrip- 
 tures; and I have before shown that these threatenings 
 are made without the least shadow of a proviso what- 
 ever. I need not, therefore, go over that ground again. 
 I lay it down as a thing proved, by Scripture, reason, 
 and experience, that every man shall be punished for 
 his sms; and as the common doctrine would deny this 
 fact, and offer an easy escape from the punishment of 
 sm, I have a right to presume " a priori," that it is false. 
 
 But how, you ask, can it be true, that men are both 
 punished and pardoned ? I must remark, before I give 
 the answer, that it is as much your business to answer 
 that question as mine ; for it is not an objection aimed 
 at me alone, but it strikes at the veracity of the word of 
 the Lord. It is not my word alone, which says that 
 men may be both punished and pardoned ; and hence it 
 is not alone incumbent on me to explain the matter. 
 Here is the word of the testimony. It says, explicitly, 
 that the iniquity of Jerusalem was pardoned ; and yet i 
 declares, with equal plainness, that she had been pun 
 
FORGIVENESS. 89 
 
 ished for all her sins. It is, therefore, not fess the duty 
 of the objector, than it is my duty, to explain how these 
 things can be. 
 
 The great error of modern professors, upon this sub- 
 ject, originates in the fact, that they do not distinguish 
 between sin itself, and the punishment of sin. We 
 read much in the B".ble of the "pardon," "remission," 
 " forgiveness,'' " blotting out," and " taking away," of 
 sin; and these terms all mean one and the same thing. 
 Now, I wish you to observe, particularly, that it is sin 
 itself, and not the punishment of sin, which is said to be 
 " taken away," " blotted out," " forgiven," " pardoned," 
 or " remitted." We are taught in scripture that God is 
 " merciful and gracious, slow to anger, long-suffering, 
 and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for 
 thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin, and 
 that will by no means clear the guilty." Hence we are 
 taught to pray for the forgiveness of sin, not for release 
 from its punishment. 
 
 Hence also Solomon prayed God to forgive his people 
 all their sins; but we do not find him praying for their 
 escape from the puni^shment of their sins. Let the 
 hearer keep this distinction constantly in view ; let him 
 withdraw his attention from punishment entirely, and 
 fix the mind upon that " evil and bitter thing," sin itself, 
 as the evil from which Jesus came to save the world, 
 and remember that this is the accursed thing that needs 
 to be forgiven, pardoned, blotted out, or taken away. 
 
 Further light may be thrown upon our subject by a 
 moment's attention to the original meaning of the word 
 as it occurs in the language of scripture. The word, 
 translated forgiveness, pardon, &c., is aphcsis, from 
 aphemi, which means "to dismiss, to liberate, to take 
 away." But let me ask, to dismiss, to liberate, to take 
 8* 
 
90 FORGIVENESS. 
 
 aM a)', what ? The answer is, not punishment, but sin 
 itself. To pardon sin is not to take away the punish- 
 ment, but to remo/e the sin itself. Take a passage or 
 two: "Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the 
 sin of the world.'' Here the same word occurs, in an- 
 other form, which is rendered forgiveness, or pardon, 
 and the passage would as well have been translated : — 
 " Behold the Lamb of God which forgiveth the sin of 
 the world." Again, Christ was sent to preach deliver- 
 ance to the captives, and to set at liberty them that are 
 bound." Now this deliverance, or setting at liberty, is 
 the same as forgiveness or pardon; and, if you ask what 
 he delivers the captives from, the answer is, not punish- 
 ment, but from the galling chains of sin. Hence it is 
 that, in the Old Testament, God is represented as saying 
 that, in the New Covenant, he would cause it to come 
 to pass that " all should know the Lord from the least 
 even to the greatest, and he would be merciful to their 
 unrighteousness, and their sins and iniquities would he 
 remember no more." This is pardon, or the taking 
 away of sin. The man, who is pardoned, has his sins 
 removed — he becomes an obedient son of God, and his 
 sins and iniquities are remembered against him no 
 more, so that he stands before God in the same condi- 
 tion as if he had not s-inn«ed at all 
 
 Should it be urged that this is admitting an escape 
 from punishment, I answer, by no means; but it is 
 making punishment what it is represented to be in the 
 text, the means of bringing about a pardon or a remo- 
 val of sin. I have before shown that the object of 
 punishment is to put away sin, and secure obedience. 
 Justice is not vindictive. It seeks obedience alone, and 
 when the sinner becomes obedient, the end of justice is 
 answered ; inrl, whether the punishment has been little 
 
rORGIVENESS. 91 
 
 or great, it is a just punishment ; for justice can never ic 
 flict another stripe after obedience, the great end of 
 justice, is secured ; and hence you will see that pardon 
 is consummated precisely Avhere just punishment ends. 
 It was, therefore, perfectly consistent for Isaiah to say 
 that the iniquity of Jerusalem was pardoned, because 
 she had received of the Lord's hand double for all her 
 sins. 
 
 It is not improbable that these views may be, to many 
 of my hearers, new; and, for that reason, though I have 
 endeavoured to be as explicit as possible, I may not yet 
 be fully understood. I shall, therefore, beg your atten- 
 tion while I illustrate a little further. Take along with 
 you these two principles. 1. Justice requires all men to 
 be obedient. 2. Pardon, or forgiveness, is the removal 
 of sin. With these principles in view we will take a 
 single case, and by that we will illustrate our subject. 
 It shall be the case of Saul of Tarsus, of whose forgive- 
 ness, I presume, there will be no doubt. He was a most 
 violent and bitter enemy of the cross of Christ, and he 
 persecuted the Christians with the most unrelenting cru- 
 elty. In the full tide of his mad career, he was arrested 
 and converted to Christ. He became a willing and obe- 
 dient subject of the Redeemer's kingdom. He is no 
 longer a persecutor, for his persecuting spirit is taken 
 away, and the sin of persecution is blotted out, to be 
 remembered against him no more for ever. This re- 
 moval of the persecuting spirit, and this blotting out of 
 the sin of persecution, is forgiveness, pardon, or remis- 
 sion of sin, by whichever name you are pleased to call 
 it. That point, I presume, the hearer distinctly under- 
 stands. Yes, you say, you fully understand that marcer. 
 You see, well enough, how he was pardoned ; but you 
 do not see how the speaker can sav that he was fu-.y 
 
92 FORGIVENESS. 
 
 r 
 
 punished, according to the demands of justice. True, 
 he must have suffered intensely, for a short time, for he 
 was struck to the earth, and was made blind. But, 
 then, he was a per-secutor, and he pursued the victims of 
 his persecuting rage even unto strange cities; and you 
 cannot perceive how the speaker can think that this 
 was a just punishment. 
 
 I will, with your leave, attempt an explanation of 
 that matter. And first, I will observe, that I have no 
 doubt, if a man in the practice of crime, should be 
 smitten down, in the streets of this city, by power from 
 on high, and be taken up blind, we should hear it men- 
 tioned in every pulpit here as a signal display of the 
 divine justice. But let this pass. The question is, 
 why do I conceive that Saul was punished as much as 
 justice required ? The answer is, for the good reason 
 that the punishment was effectual in securing the end 
 of justice. The only object of punishing, at all, was to 
 make him obedient, and when he became obedient, the 
 end of justice was fully answered, and it had no more 
 claims upon him. I grant you that, in this case, the 
 end was speedily secured ; and T grant, also, that an- 
 other man might have deserved a much more severe 
 chastisement ; that is, it would have taken more to have 
 humbled him to obedience, and, in such a case, a far 
 more severe punishment would have been just. But, 
 m his case, his reformation came speedily about ; and, 
 when that was effected, it would have been wrong to 
 chasten him more. The idea that I wish to fix in your 
 minds is this : There is no rule which says that every 
 degree of guilt, shall have such or such a quantum of 
 punishment, without reference to its effect, for that 
 would be retaliation, and not justice. But the rule is 
 this .'—Justice claims obedience, and requires precisely as 
 
FORGIVENES?. 93 
 
 much punishment as is necessary to secure that end, no 
 more nor less. When that obedience is secured, whether 
 by ten stripes nor ten thousand, justice is satisfied, and 
 equally well satisfied with the ten, as with the ten thou- 
 sand, for the sin is removed and a just God will remem- 
 ber it no more. 
 
 Suppose you should take your objection to the Saviour, 
 and say to hi;:i, Lord, thou didst not punish Saul of 
 Tarsus enough. He was an abominable persecutor, and 
 thou oughtest in justice, to have scourged him more se- 
 verely. I pray thee Lord give him a just" punishment. 
 Methinks, I hear the reply from a just and merciful 
 Redeemer. Poor child of weakness, wbat do you know 
 of my justice ? Think you I would seek revenge as 
 you would of an enemy ? I saw Saul of Tarsus, and 
 verily it was hard for him to kick against the pricks, 
 but it was not hard for me. My only object was to make 
 him obedient, I smote him, and he fell prostrate before 
 me, and said, "Lord, wbat wilt thou have me to do." 
 My justice was satisfied, and I took away his sin. 
 
 I may observe further, that though this may be a new 
 view of justice in God, yet it is a kind of justice upon 
 which you all practise. Go into your families, and look 
 how it is there. Suppose one of your children trans- 
 gresses, and anon another is found following the per- 
 nicious way. You take the first and scourge him. For 
 what ? Not for your own pleasure, but for his profit, 
 that he may become an obedient child. You give him, 
 say five stripes; but he is stubborn, and it is not until 
 he has received twenty, that he submits. Your sense 
 of justice is satisfied the moment he submits and you 
 forgive him ; you remember his sin no more against him. 
 You now take the second child in hand, Avho is guilty 
 of precisely the same crime as the other. You inilicl 
 
04 FOKGrVENESS. 
 
 upon him five stripes, and by that he is hum bled to sub- 
 mission, and you forgive him. Now the point to which 
 I direct your attention, is, that in both of these instances 
 the punishment was just, and in both the sin was blot- 
 ted out. In the one case, the end of justice was obtained 
 by five stripes, and in the other by twenty, but in both, 
 the claims of justice were fully satisfied, because its end 
 was attained. Should some one tell you, that you had 
 not punished the last as much as the first, and that you 
 ought to punish him more — you Avould reply at once, 
 that your justice was not vindictive. You was not seek- 
 ing revenge of your child, but you seek only reformation, 
 and when that is accomplished your sense of justice is 
 satisfied, and you can freely forgive. 
 
 Precisely in this light, I look upon the government of 
 God. He is good, immensely good, and whether he 
 sweetly invites by the tenderness of his mercy, or in the 
 sterner features of justice he smites in the equity of 
 judgement, he is equally good; and when reformation is 
 efiected, whether by one or a thousand stripes, his justice 
 is satisfied and he freely forgives. That forgiveness 
 however, is not an omission of punishment, for the pun- 
 ishment has already been inflicted, and has wrought its 
 desired end. The sin is blotted out, and is remembered 
 no more. In this light, therefore, you may see that for- 
 giveness, so far from being opposed to the idea of a just 
 punishment, is frequently brought about by the punish- 
 ment itself. 
 
 I have already detained you beyond the time usually 
 allotted to a discourse ; and yet I must beg leave once 
 more, to warn you against that most pernicious of all 
 errors, Avhich promises an easy escape from the punish- 
 ment of sin. Terrible and certain are the scourgings of 
 guilt, and I pray you, be not deceived, for " There is no 
 
FORGIVENESS. 9f 
 
 darkness nor shadow of death where the workers of 
 iniquity may hide themselves, for the Lord will not lay 
 upon man more than is right." Let the young and in- 
 experienced take warning, and beware, for there is a 
 God that judgeth in the earth, and all hope of escape 
 from the misery of sin is vain. No matter from what 
 source it may come. Should it come from the pulpit 
 under the imposing name of forgiveness or pardon, or 
 proceed from the deceitful workings of a vain imagi- 
 nation ; in either case it is but the whispering of the 
 treacherous serpent, false as perjury, and deceitful as 
 sin itself The Lord God Almighty has spoken, and 
 the wicked shall not go unpunished. 
 
96 DURATION OF PUNISIBtENT, 
 
 SERMON VII. 
 DURATION OF PUNISHMENT. 
 
 " For I will not contend for ever : neither will I be always wroth ; Ibr tbe 
 spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made." 
 
 Isaiah Ivil. 16. 
 
 In my former discourses, I have spoken at large upon 
 the object, the justice, and the certainty, of punishment; 
 and it is my purpose, at this time, to discuss the ques- 
 tion of its duration. I take up this matter, because it 
 is a point in which we materially differ from nearly all 
 other denominations of professing Christians; and I am 
 anxious to lay before you, in as clear a manner as possi- 
 ble, the reasons of our dissent from the general voice of 
 the modern church upon this subject. 
 
 The popular sentiment is, that we are, in this world, 
 probationers for eternity, and that the punishment of 
 sin is reserved to another world, and will be endless in 
 duration. Our views are widely different from this. 
 We do not believe there is the least possible scripture 
 authority for saying that man is placed in this world as 
 a probationer for another ; and we are confident the ex- 
 perience of every man will prove the truth of that 
 scripture which saith : " There is no peace to the wick- 
 ed." The very fact that the sinner is, in a measure^ 
 punished in this world, proves that, instead of being a 
 probation, it is, in truth, a state of retribution. 
 
 Whether a full and complete punishment for all sin is 
 inflicted on every man, in this state of existence, or 
 
DURATION OF PUNrSHHIENT. 97 
 
 whether there is a limited punishment, in the future 
 world, is a subject on which Universalists, both clergy- 
 men and laymen, differ in opinion. Some believe that 
 all punishment is confined to this world ; and others 
 that it will extend into the future. In this, however, 
 they all agree : that punishment will come to an end, 
 and can in no case be endless. Candor compels me to 
 say that, for myself, as an individual, I have not suffi- 
 cient evidence to convince me, beyond a doubt, that there 
 is any sin or punishment beyond the grave. I do not be- 
 lieve that the scriptures teach the doctrine ot future pun- 
 ishment at all ; and, yet, I would not very positively af- 
 firm, that all punishment is confined to this life. In favour 
 of future punishment there are some plausible arguments, 
 which may be drawn from reason and analogy ; and as 
 a philosophical speculation, I would not strongly object 
 to that doctrine. Indeed, if I were allowed to deduce 
 ray principles from the philosophy of mind, and from 
 analogy^ I should, most probably, believe in the sen- 
 timent. But my view of the matter is this :— Neither 
 reason nor philosophy, could discover the fact of a fu- 
 ture existence, unless aided by revelation. It is by the 
 light of revelation alone, that we can discover the ex- 
 istence of a future state. Consequently, all we know of 
 the circumstances or condition of man, in that future 
 state, we must learn from revelation also. Now a man 
 may reason acutely upon that subject, and he may draw 
 his conclusions with great plausibility, in favour of fu- 
 ture punishment, and when he has done, I have only to 
 say to him : — Sir, you reason very well, and your argu- 
 ments are plausible ; it may all be true, but I do not 
 find it in the Bible, and therefore I cannot make it an 
 article of my faith. 
 
 I have no doubt that there are manv true things 
 9 
 
 t 
 
98 DURATION OF PUNISIBIENT. 
 
 1 -which are not in the Bible, and for aught I know, this 
 [doctrine may be true ; and if you hold it as a philosophi- 
 cal opinion of your own, I will not object. But when 
 you come to say that it is a doctrine of revelation, I am 
 bound by my convictions of truth, to say, I have not so 
 read my Bible. But upon this point I will not dwell, 
 for it is one of minor importance compared with the 
 great principle in which we all agree, that punishment, 
 whether inflicted here or hereafter, is designed for the 
 good of the punished, and will end in the subjugation 
 of all things to G .d. This is the great point at issue 
 between us and our opposers, and it is this that shall 
 be the subject of our present discussion. 
 
 From what I have said in my previous discourses 
 upon the nature and intent of punishment, you will 
 have concluded that I cannot allow it to be endless. If, 
 as I have shown, punishment is in its nature remedial, 
 and its object the reformation of the offender, then evi- 
 dently it cannot be endless, for in that case it would de- 
 feat its own object. 
 
 Again, if, as I have contended, the right to punish 
 orginates in the fact, that sin is an evil, which punish- 
 ment is designed to cure, then evidently a just punish- 
 ment cannot be endless ; for in that case the punishment 
 would be worse than the evil it ,vas intended to remedy, 
 and would of course be wrong in principle and practice. 
 
 Again, if, as I have said, punishment is founded upon 
 the principle of goodness, rather than that of revenge, 
 then of course it must end, otherwise it could do no 
 good. 
 
 Still once more : if punishment is inflicted by a mer- 
 ciful God, for the benevolent purpose of enforcing obe- 
 dience to salutary aws, then an endless punishment be- 
 comes a solecism, an absolute contradiction in terma 
 
DURATION OF PUNISHMENT. 99 
 
 We might properly talk of endless revenge, or endless 
 wrath ; but to speak of an endless punishment, is as ab- 
 surd as it would he to speak of an endless month or an 
 endless hour. We may properly say a severe punish- 
 ment, or a just punishment, but the moment you add the 
 idea of endless duration to punishment, it is stripped of 
 all those characteristics that give it the nature of pun- 
 ishment; and it is, in fact, no longer punishment, but dark 
 and cruel revenge. 
 
 Besides, if I was right, and if the Bible is right, in say 
 ing that every man shall receive the reward of his do- 
 ings; then punishment cannot be endless, because all 
 have sinned, and, in that case, all must suffer an endless 
 infliction of punishment. But not to insist upon these 
 points, I will proceed to give you some other reasons for 
 rejecting the doctrine of the endless duration of punish- 
 ment. I reject it, 
 
 I. Because it is useless, and I have no idea that an in- 
 finitely wise God would do a useless thing. 
 
 The infliction of endless wo upon a portion of the hu 
 man family, could never benefit any being in the uni- 
 verse. Let us examine a moment, and see if we are 
 correct in this position. Suppose I were to take you, in 
 imagination, forward to the future world. I would lead 
 you down to the brink of chat dismal hell, in which men 
 believe ; and as you gazed upon its dark waves of liquid 
 fire, rolling and dashing its shore, " mixed whh the 
 damned, like pebbles," and listened to the hideous 
 groans and yells of despair, rising upon the sulphurous 
 vapour that ascends and mingles with the songs of the 
 redeemed, and the incense from the altar of heaven, I 
 would ask you, what good would result from all this 
 world of torment ? Will it do God any good? Nay; 
 for he is infinitely above being benefited, even by the 
 
J 00 rUKATlON OF PUNISHMENT. 
 
 happiness of his creatures ; much less can their suffer- 
 ings make him more happy, or render more secure the 
 stable foundations of his throne. Will it do the angels 
 of heaven any good ? No ; for there is joy in heaven, 
 among the angels, when one sinner re[>enteth and lurn- 
 eth to God. How, then, can they be rendered happy by 
 the sins, the curses, and the blasphemies of hell? Will 
 it do the saints in glory any good ? Nay ; for their feli- 
 city is perfect ; and to say that their joys will be increas- 
 ed by the sufferings of their brethren, is to transform 
 them into demons of cruelly. Will it do the sufferers 
 themselves any good ? No; for it is to be endless, and 
 it cannot, of course make them, at any future time, either 
 better or happier. Well, will it do even the fabled 
 devils themselves any good ? Nay ; for we are told that 
 their case is as hopeless as that of the souls of the 
 damned. I ask, then, Cui bono ? In the name of rea- 
 son, what good do you expect to result from these un- 
 told miseries? And I say, no man ever has, and I may 
 safely assert that no man ever will, answer that question. 
 
 I insist, then, that the thing is useless, in the broadest 
 sense of the term; for neitherGod nor man, saints nor 
 angels, wicked men nor devils, can reap either pleasure, 
 profit, or advantage, from it. But it is not merely use- 
 less in itself, for the belief of it- is equally useless. Who 
 on earth was ever made happier by believing that half 
 the world must suffer indescribable and endless tor- 
 ments ? Is the mourner comforted, the widow or the 
 orphan made to rejoice, the poor supported, the sick and 
 afflicted strengthened, or the dying cheered, by faith in 
 a burning hell ? Nay ; but it wrings many hearts with 
 anguish, and mingles the bitterest dregs in the cup of 
 Borrow. 
 
 I may be told, perhaps, that it is not pretended that 
 
DURATION OF PUNISHMENT. 101 
 
 this is a happifying doctrine; but it claims to have a 
 most salutary moral influence. But I deny this position 
 entirely, and I give it you as the sober conviction of my 
 judgment, that no man on earth was ever made letter 
 by such a fluth. The Saviour laid the foundation of all 
 Christian virtue in love to God, to be rendered with the 
 whole heart, and to our neighbour as ourselves. I ap- 
 peal to you, if there is not a most palpable absurdity in 
 the thought, that a man should be brought to love God 
 through fear of hell, or that he should love his neigh- 
 bour because he believed that neighbour would °be 
 damned. The truth is, the influence of this faith, so far 
 as it has any moral influence, is in the opposite side of 
 the scale. The man who believes that God sustains 
 such a character, that he will, for no purpose, unless it 
 be to gratify a malignant spirit of revenge, torture the 
 helpless creatures of his creation and power, through the 
 ages of eternity, will find it difficult to love him'' with 
 the whole heart. But if he should love God, it is natu- 
 ral to suppose that he would partake of his spirit; and 
 if he believed that God hated his neighbour, it would 
 be natural for him to hate him also; and the more cor- 
 dially he hated him, the more would he be like his God. 
 I appeal to the history of the church, and it shall bear 
 me witness, that eff'ects similar to what the above prin- 
 ciples would lead us to anticipate, have followed this 
 sentiment in every age. Tertullian, in the third cen- 
 tury, was the first man, of whom we have any account, 
 who asserted the strict eternity of the punishment of the 
 wicked ; and that he partook largely of its spirit, is evi- 
 dent from the fact, that he exulted in the prospect of the 
 suflTerings of his fellows, and said he should " triumph 
 and laugh," and rejoice, as he saw the Gentiles writhing 
 in hell. . ^ 
 
 9* 
 
102 DURATION OF PUNISHMENT. 
 
 In the dark ages, this doctrine prevailed, and every 
 persecutor who raised the axe or lighted the faggot, 
 found his excuse in the assertion, that eternal conse- 
 quences were at stake, and it was better that he should 
 burn the body, than tliat God should burn the soul in an 
 endless fire. Its footsteps, in every age, have been 
 marked with the blood of victims immolated upon its 
 altars, and now, all reeking with gore, it has the auda- 
 city to come down to us, and claim to be the peaceable 
 and moralizing doctrine of the benevolent and compas- 
 sionate Son of God. But I object to the sentiment in 
 question, 
 
 11. Because it is unmerciful and unjust. 
 
 That there is no mercy in it, is most perfectly eviden 
 even to the superficial observer ; for it says, expressly, 
 that not one ray of mercy, or of hope, can ever gleam 
 upon the darkness and despair of hell; and though the 
 miserable sufferers shall plead with groans and cries, 
 enough to melt the solid rock, for some mitigation of 
 their torments, yet their cries will die away in the dis- 
 mal caverns of their prison, and God's ear will not hear, 
 nor his hand grant them a moment's respite or allevi- 
 ation. There is no mercy in such a doctrine, and though 
 men may dignify it with the name of justice, or give it 
 any other soft name, it is no more nor less than cruelty, 
 unmingled and unmitigated cruelty, red as blood and 
 black as hell, without one redeeming ray of pity, mercy, 
 or justice, to relieve its sombre shadowings. 
 
 But we shall be told, that God is just, as well as mer- 
 ciful, and that his justice requires the endless sufferings 
 of sinners. I know that God is just, and for that very 
 reason, the docmne cannot be true, for it subverts the 
 very foundations of justice. Pray, tell me what does 
 justice require ? I answer for you :— t requires all men 
 
rURATION OF PUNISHMENT. 103 
 
 to love, serve, and obey God. He says, to, ont and all, 
 "My son, give me thine heart." He clamis the affec- 
 tions and the obedience of all May I ask if that is a 
 just claim, or an unjust one ? Has God a just right to 
 the obedience and affections of man — of every man? or 
 does he claim something that is not properly his ? If 
 his claim is just, you can see,, as well as your speaker, 
 where justice tcill lead you. It would give to God, the 
 great Father of all, the obedience of a world; and its 
 claims will never be answered until all hearts are his, 
 and all knees bow to him. 
 
 But you say some men will not obey, nor love God as 
 they ought. Granted. But what then ? Must God 
 connive at their injustice, and put them in a place where 
 they can never, by any possibility, render him that obe- 
 dience which is his ? And will these two wrongs make 
 one right, think you ? I lay the axe here at the root of 
 the plea for endless misery, which is raised upon the 
 justice of God. I go back to the foundation of all jus- 
 tice. I commence with the claims of heaven upon man. 
 God claims the obedience of the world, and that claim 
 is founded upon the first and immutable principles of 
 justice. For this reason, and for this alone, God has a 
 right to punish men for their sins. If God had no right 
 to the obedience of men, he could have no right to pun- 
 ish them for their disobedience. 
 
 The right to punish, then, is founded upon God's pre^ 
 vious right to obedience, and must always be subservient 
 to -t. It IS, therefore, again evident, that the object of 
 punishment is not to simply do justice to man, but to 
 compel himio do justice to himself and his God. When 
 man transgresses, he does an act of injustice. In the 
 strong language of the sacred penman, " he robs God.** 
 Now, the ob'ect of punishment is to compel him to da 
 
104 DURATION OF PUNISHIVIENT. 
 
 justice, to serve God as he ought. Hence it is evident 
 that justice must for ever forbid the infliction of any 
 punishment which would defeat this object, as it for- 
 bade the injustice of the transgression in the outset. 
 
 Look at it in another light. The doctrine is, that in 
 hell men will transgress the laws of God througli all 
 eternity, and then the matter will stand thus: — When 
 man sins he does an act of injustice to God — he com- 
 mits robbery upon high heaven. For this cause, God 
 places him in hell, where he is compiled to sin eter- 
 nally ; and so by an eternal series of sms, he seeks to 
 satisfy the demands of that same justice which was 
 outraged by the same acts in the first instance ! ! 
 
 Singular justice this ! About such justice as would be 
 exercised in punishing a man who had committed one 
 act of robbery, by compelling him to rob every man he 
 meets. As if it was not enough that man had trampled 
 upon God's justice in this world, by his crimes, but in 
 the next he must needs be apprenticed to the devil, and 
 taught to bid stout defiance to the claims of justice 
 through a long eternity. And this is justice ! And this 
 the course pursued by an infinitely wise God, to enforce 
 the deman<is of that justice which saith, " Thou shah 
 worship and serve the Lord thy God, and him only shah 
 thou serve ! ! I " The thought is too absurd to need any 
 other refutation than the mere statement of it in its true 
 colors. 
 
 Talk of justice with an endless hell before you, where 
 countless millions mourn, and curse and blaspheme and 
 trample under foot every principle of justice, for ever 
 and ever ! You might as well talk of justice in Saul of 
 Tarsus, when he "breathed out threatening and slaugh- 
 ter, and compelled men to blaspheme," or ye might as 
 well look for it in the dungeons of the Inquisition, where 
 
DILATION OF rUNISHMENT. 106 
 
 lofturing racks and engines of torment were plied to 
 compel men to violate their consciences and sin against 
 God. Justice is no child of hell, whose residence is in 
 the dark dominions of sin and Satan. Her origin is ia 
 heaven, she is the first-born of the eternal, and her res- 
 idence is in these bright and peaceful realms where God 
 is obeyed, and all hearts render unto him that which is 
 most justly his, all honor and blessing, thanksgiving and 
 glory for ever and ever I 
 
 I repeat again, justice requires the obedience of all 
 men; all her acts are subservient to this, and justice will 
 never be done till a world of iniejligences is brought to 
 love, serve and obey that God whose they are, and on 
 whom they all depend. The doctrine of the endless 
 duration of punishment, denies that man will ever render 
 to God the homage and service which is his due. It 
 compels men to blaspheme, and crimsons the altar of 
 justice with the blood of cruelty and revenge. It is, 
 therefore unjust and consequently cannot be true. 
 
 There is another view of the subject, in which the 
 injustice of the doctrine is apparent. One of the plain- 
 est principles of justice is that which requires that there 
 should be some proportion between crime and its pun- 
 ishment. Hence a sentiment which annexes an infinite 
 punishment to the crimes of a finite being, violates one 
 of the first and clearest principles of justice, human and 
 divine. IMuch more I might say upon this point— less 
 I could not say. I have merely thrown out these hints 
 upon which you will do well to reflect at your leisure. 
 
 To me it is a matter of unspeakable joy, that God is 
 just, for I hail that fact as the certain pledge, that all 
 crime, rebelli<->n and injustice must one day cease. 
 
 I object to the docrine of the endless duration of 
 punishment. 
 
106 DURi\T10N OF PUNISHMENTc 
 
 III. Because it is unscriptural. 
 
 This is with me an insuperable barrier to a belief of 
 that sentiment. I could receive a doctrine against which 
 there were some afparent objections, if I found in its 
 favor a " Thus saith the Lord." But when T find a doc- 
 trine in itself unreasonable, unjust, cruel and useless, 
 and have added to this, the clear testimony of scripture 
 against it, I cannot receive it. Why the very language 
 of my text, if there was not another passage in the 
 Bible of the like import, would render it a hopeless task 
 to make the endless duration of punishment harmonize 
 with scripture. "I will not contend forever, neither 
 will I be always wroth, for the spirit should fail before 
 me and the souls that I have made." How can the doc- 
 trine of interminable and unquenchable wrath be made 
 to harmonize, for a moment, with such a passage as this. 
 Does not the doctrine assert, that the wrath of God will 
 abide upon the damned in hell as long as God himself 
 exists, and that he will never cease to contend against 
 them ? And does not the text, as if on purpose to con- 
 tradict such a sentiment, expressly and most emphati- 
 cally declare, that " he will not be always wroth, neither 
 will he contend for ever ! " 
 
 I need not pause here to give you a long explanation 
 of the term wrath as applied to God. "Anger resteth 
 in the bosom of fools," and as God is wise, we cannot 
 suppose for a moment, that he harbors such a feeling as 
 we call anger in man. He scourges men for their sins, 
 and speaking according to man's views of things, he is 
 said to be angry; but it is a remarkable circumstance 
 that wherever the anger of God is mentioned in the 
 Bible, it is represented as being but momentary, whereas 
 his mercy \z as uniformly said "to endure through all 
 generations." "In a little wrath, I hid my face from 
 
DURATION OF PUNISHJIENT. 107 
 
 thee for a small moment, but with everlasting kindness 
 will I revisit thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer." "Sing 
 unto the Lord, oh ! ye saints of his, and give thanks at 
 the remembrance of his holiness, for his anger endureth 
 but a moment, in his favor is life. Weeping may endure 
 for a night, but joy coraeth in the morning." " The 
 Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and plen- 
 teous in mercy, he will not always chide, neither will he 
 keep his anger for ever." "lam merciful, saith the 
 Lord, and I will not keep my anger for ever." 
 
 These are the uniform teachings of the scriptures m 
 regard to the duration of what they call the " anger of 
 the Lord." But how differently do they speak of his 
 mercy ! " The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting 
 to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his right- 
 eousness unto children's children." " Thy mercy, oh ! 
 Lord endureth for ever; let the redeemed of the Lord 
 say so, for his mercy endureth for ever." In these pas- 
 sages you will discover the truth of our position, that 
 the anger of the Lord is set forth as being but momen- 
 tary, while his mercy is enduring as his own throne. 
 I say, therefore, that a doctrine which reverses this prin- 
 ciple, which limits the mercy of God to a fragment of 
 time, and makes his anger endure through all eternity, 
 is most clearly and incontrovertibly unscriptural. The 
 Bible says, "God's mercy endureth for ever;" but this 
 doctrine asserts that the time will soon come when the 
 mercy of God shall be clear gone for ever. The Bible 
 asserts that " the anger of the Lord endureth but a 
 moment," and that " he will not cast off for ever;" but 
 this doctrine affirms that he will cast off for ever, and 
 that his merciless anger shall abide world without end. 
 
 The hearer may tell me that we read much in the 
 fiible about an everlasting punishment, and it must be 
 
108 DURATION OF PUNISHMENT. 
 
 endless, else such a term would not be applied to it. I 
 grant that you may have read of an everlasting punish- 
 ment in the Bible, but I apprehend you have not read 
 as much about it as you imagine. There is but one soli- 
 tary instance in the Bible where the term " everlasting'' 
 is applied to punishment, and that is in Mathew, xxv 
 46. " These shall go away into everlasting punishment.' 
 That is the only passage in the sacred book where the 
 phrase " everlasting punishment " occurs. But even if 
 the phrase occurred a thousand times, it would avail 
 nothing in the case, for no honest and just mode of in- 
 terpretation would allow such a construction of that 
 phrase, as to make it contradict those other and numer- 
 ous declarations of the limited duration of all that bears 
 the name of anger in God. Besides the terra " ever- 
 lasting " is not used in scripture to denote a strictly end- 
 less duration. 
 
 The priesthood of Aaron was called an " everlasting 
 priesthood." The possession of Canaan, by the Israel- 
 ites, was called an " everlasting possession," and many 
 other things are called " everlasting," which we know 
 have long since come to an end. Such being the use of 
 the word in the Old Testament, it is but reasonable to 
 suppose that it is used in the same sense in the New, 
 and no good or plausible reason can be given, why our 
 Saviour should mean more by the term than Moses and 
 the Prophets meant by it. Besides if you are not ac- 
 quainted with the original language of the scriptures, 
 go and consult those who are, and I care not what their 
 creeds may be, if they are honest men, they will tell you 
 that the word which is translated "everlasting" in that 
 passage is exceedingly ambiguous ; that it means a long 
 and indefinite period of time, and that the precise length 
 of time intended by it can never be ascertained by the 
 
DURATION OF PtTNISHMENT. 109 
 
 word itself, but must in all cases be determiued by the 
 nature of tJie subject to which it is applied. With this 
 principle in view, which was never disputed to my 
 knowledge, it appears to me that a candid and ingen- 
 uous mind more intent on learning truth than supporting 
 a favorite creed, would reason thus : — I find here a word 
 applied to punishment which is ambiguous; it may 
 mean an endless duration, or it may not ; and this must 
 be determined by the nature of the subject. Now in 
 this case, the subject is punishment, a thing which 
 from its very nature must be limited in duration, and 
 which, in the Old Testament, we are often told, can en- 
 dure comparatively for a moment only. Hence I con- 
 clude, that the word, in this instance, must be used in 
 the same limited sense, in which it is used in the Old 
 Testament. 
 
 Thus candor would reason ; but bigotry has for years 
 been clinging with the grasp of death to the cruel dog- 
 ma of endless punishment, and alleging this word as its 
 proof; reluctantly confessing, at the same time, that it 
 does not imply necessarily, an endless duration. It is 
 in vain, she is told, that the word is often used in a lim- 
 ited sense; that punishment becomes revenge, and not 
 punishment, as soon as it is m.ade endless. In vain, is 
 she told, that utility, mercy, justice, and reason ; nay, 
 even God himself, in his holy word, forbids the inflic- 
 tion of endless wo ; she has no head to reason, no heart 
 to feel, and she perseveres in her reckless determination 
 10 immolate the multitude of the human race upon her 
 altar of crnelty, blasphemously dedicated to a God of 
 justice. 
 
 From all that I have said, the conclusion is inevita- 
 ble, that the duration of punishment must be limited. 
 It is not an end in the divine government, but is em- 
 10 
 
110 DUBATIC^f OF PUNISHMENT. 
 
 ployed as the means of securing a glorious and blessed 
 result. The precise time of its continuance, no mortal 
 man can tell, for that matter God has not revealed. 
 Of this one thing, however, we may be certain — it will 
 continue no longer than a wise and merciful God sball 
 see that it is necessary for the good of its creatures. 
 Its end shall at last be accomplished, all things shall be 
 subdued unto God, and he snail be '* all in all." 
 
nJDGEMENT. HI 
 
 8ERM0N VIII. 
 .TUt GEMKNT. 
 
 "Poi the Son of Man shall come in the glory of his Father, with his an- 
 gels ; and then he shall reward everj' man according to his works. Verily 1 
 say unto you, there be some standing here which shall not taste death, till 
 they see the Son of Mail coming in his kingdom." Matthew xvi. 27, 28. 
 
 There is not, perhaps, in the whole range of Chris- 
 tian theology, a subject more worthy of our attention 
 than the doctrine of judgement. That man is an ac- 
 countable being, and that God will reward us for our 
 virtues and punish us for our vices, are truths that can- 
 not be disputed by any man who believes the Bible. 
 But when is the world to be judged, and what are the 
 rewards and punishments which God awards to the vir- 
 tuous and vicious, aro questions upon which there is a 
 wide difference of opinion. On one hand it is believed 
 that the throne of judgement is erected in the ear/A, and 
 that men stand before the bar of the judge of all here, 
 in time. On the other hand it is thought, that men are 
 probationers for eternity, that justice and judgement are 
 not executed on earth, but are reserved to a great and 
 fearful day beyond death, and the resurrection, when 
 slumbermg justice shall ai ise and slay her thousands, 
 and mete out endless rewards and punishments to those 
 who stand at her bar. While I avow myself as an ad- 
 vocate of the former of these opinions, I shall endeavcr 
 fairly to state, and candidly illustrate the latter. 
 
 By some ui7 accountable means the opinion has obtain- 
 
112 JUDGEBIENT. 
 
 ed, that we, as a denomination, deny the account Ability of 
 man altogether, and discard entirely the idea that man 
 is to be judged for his works. It therefore becomes a 
 duty, which I owe to myself, and the cause of truth, to 
 state, in the outset, that this is a gross mistake. None 
 believe, more fully than we do, in the accountability of 
 man, and none maintain with more constancy the grea 
 truth, that " the Lord is our Judge," and that he wil 
 reward every man according to his works. Let it 
 therefore be distinctly understood, that the question at 
 issue, is, not whether men are accountable beings; but 
 whether their accounts are to remain unsettled till an- 
 other world. It is not, whether men are to be judged 
 at all ; but whether their judgement shall linger to an- 
 other world ? 
 
 The doctrine of a day of future judgement, prevails so 
 generally, and is deemed so important, that I shall feel 
 myself warranted, in giving it a somewhat thorough 
 and searching examination. 
 
 The judgement-scene has been a favorite theme with 
 those w]io appear' more intent on exciting the passions 
 and alarming the fears, than enlightening the under- 
 standing. We have often heard the most vivid and 
 glowing descriptions of the horrors of that dreadful day 
 when a universe shall stand at the bar of God, and re- 
 ceive that dread sentence from which there is no ap- 
 peal ; and we have been exhorted to speak every word, 
 think every thought, and perform every act, in reference 
 to that tremendous day, for which all other days were 
 made. There, it is supposed, every thought, word and 
 act, will be brought into the account; and for this rea- 
 son, it is thought to be the best safeguard of virtue's 
 most holy cause, and to interpose the most salutary re- 
 straint upon the workings of the spirit of disobedience. 
 
JUDGEMENT. US 
 
 I doubt not that there are many sincere and honest 
 minds who really believe, that the rejection of this doc- 
 trine would greatly endanger the public morals, and it 
 is but just, that I should view it for a moment in that 
 light. 
 
 If we were to appeal to facts, they would give no 
 very favorable comment upon the moralizing influence 
 of the doctrine in question. Every persecutor that has 
 ever lived, has acted, as he said, in full view of his re- 
 sponsibility, and with a full determination to stand ac- 
 quitted in the great day of judgement. Instead of staying 
 the murderous hand, it has armed it with daggers and 
 strengthened it in the Avork of death. In Spain it rear- 
 ed an Inquisition, and murdered more than half a mil- 
 lion human beings. In our own countiy it whipped the 
 Baptists, and hung the witches and the Quakers; for be 
 it remembered, that all these enormities were commit- 
 ted by those who believed in the doctrine m question, 
 and they, every one of them, plead as their excuse, the 
 fact of their accountability to God, and their ardent de- 
 sire to stand acquitted m the great day of judgement. 
 These are facts, written for our instruction and admoni- 
 tion on the pages of history, and they certainly give us 
 no very strong evidence of the power of this doctrine to 
 cultivate and cherish the mild, tender, and peaceable 
 spirit of the Gospel. 
 
 Besides all this, if you will look around you, you will 
 see daily in this city, and all others, men who believe in 
 this doctrine, rushing into the depths of sin notwith- 
 standing their faith. The reason is obvious. Men al- 
 ways act under the influence of present motives, or 
 those that are near at hand. Parents could never main- 
 tain family government by teaching their children, that 
 they wo ild recKoo vith them at tl e age of forty, and 
 
114 JUDGEMENT. 
 
 reward or punish them at a subsequent period. No 
 civil government could exist and maintain its laws for a 
 single year, by acting upon the principle that it would 
 only, for the present, look on and mark down crimes to 
 be punished twenty y.-^ars from date. And if a law, 
 whose penalty was deferred for the short space of 
 twenty years, would be but a dead letter ; need wc 
 wonder that nren should transgress the laws of God, 
 when they are taught that its penalty is removed far 
 beyond theUne that divides time from eternity? 
 
 The fact is, when a man is about to commit an act, 
 he does not pause to consider what will be the remote 
 and possible consequences, some hundreds or thoifeand 
 years hence ; but he looks to the effects which, to him, 
 are present, certain and tangible. When the thief is 
 tempted to steal, I care not how strongly he may be- 
 lieve in a day of future judgement, I will venture to say, 
 that he thinks more of the present benefits of the prop- 
 erty, than of a future heaven, and is far more solicit- 
 ous to conceal his crime and escape the State's prison, 
 than to avoid the judgement. No man commits a 
 crime, under a full conviction that he will be speedily 
 and certainly punished. It is putting far away the evil 
 day, and a hope of escape, that encourages men on in sin. 
 Most unhappily, the doctrine under consideration is ex- 
 actly calculated to foster these delusive hopes. The 
 sinner is assured, in the outset, that he can contract 
 debts to any amount at the bar of justice; and get cred- 
 ited to the future world; and worse than this, that he 
 can at any time previous to death, take the benefit of 
 an insolvent act, under the name of repentance, and 
 cheat justice out of the whole debt. Such views can 
 never reform the vicious, nor restrain the spirit of sin. 
 M^Q must know, that the eye of the Lord is continually 
 
JUDGEMENT. 115 
 
 Upon them, and that their judgement of a long time lin- 
 gereth not, and their damnation slurabereth not, but in 
 the day they partake of the forbidden fruit, even in that 
 very day, they shall die, and that inevitably. 
 
 But I leave this view of the doctrine, and pass to of- 
 fer you some rea'=;on<5 which, in my mind, forbid the idea 
 of the truth of tnis doctrine. 
 
 I. It is like the doctrine of endless misery, a useless 
 doctrine. 
 
 The belief of it, as I have already shown, does no 
 good, but much positive injury, and the thing itself is as 
 utterly useless, as faith in its existence. What saith the 
 Scrip'tures upon the subject of judgement ? " Verily, he 
 is a God that judgeth in the c^rth." "Behold, the 
 righteous shall be recompensed in the earth, much more 
 the wicked and the sinner." Now, if it be a fact, that 
 God judges in the earth, and recompenses both the 
 righteous and the wicked, you can but perceive that a 
 day of future judgement, to judge and recompense them 
 again, is utterly useless. 
 
 But the doctrine is not only useless in fact ; it is 
 equally so when viewed in reference to the opinions of 
 its advocates. So far as I understand the opinions of 
 those who maintain this sentiment, they uniformly agree 
 that man has an immortal soul, which survives the shock 
 of death, and lives for ever. With the exception of the 
 Catholics, they also believe, that at the article of death, 
 this soul sinks to hell or rises to heaven, and its fate is 
 fixed for eternity, and it cannot be altered. Now, if this be 
 true, pray where is the utility cf this day of judgement? 
 
 If a sinner aied in the days ol Adam, according to the 
 popular doctrine he went immediately to hell, and his 
 case was fixed for eternity. Now, suppose one thousand 
 fears from this time ♦he judgement-day should arrive, 
 
116 JUD&EBIENT. 
 
 and that man should be brought up to be judged. You 
 will at once perceive that he will have been in hell near 
 seven thousand years, before judgement is pronounced 
 upon him. But what good will a trial do him at that 
 late hour? Will it alter his condition ? By no means, 
 for we are before informed that his state is fixed for eter- 
 nity. If so, then this form of a trial and judgement is a 
 perfect mockery, as much sj as it would be to disinter a 
 man who had been executed for murder without judge 
 or jury twenty years since, and give him a trial, and pass 
 sentence upon him. 
 
 In no way can I discover any utility in the thing, un- 
 less you turn Catholic, and believe that souls are detain- 
 ed in purgatory until the judgement; and even then it 
 would not seem perfectly just to detain a man, in some 
 cases thousands of years, without a trial. I have no fel- 
 lowship or communion at all with a principle which 
 would first hang a man, and then judge him ; and I hold 
 the common doctrine of a day of future judgement, when 
 viewed in the connexion I have named, as a perfect 
 practice upon that principle, and of course not only use- 
 less, but unjust and abominable. 
 
 I know it is said, that this judgement is necessary, to 
 vindicate the ways of God to man, and affords an oppor- 
 tunity for God to show to an assembled universe, that 
 he is a God of justice. But to me this looks like the 
 veriest subterfuge to cover a retreat from an absurd and 
 indefensible position. In this case, it is no longer man 
 that is judged, but it is an occasion where short-sighted 
 man sits as the judge upon the doings of God ! Are we 
 willing to admit, for a moment, that .he ways of God 
 are of so exceedingly doubtful a character that he must 
 needs assemble the universe in order to (^indicate him- 
 self from the suspicion of having done injustice to his 
 
JUDGEMENT. 117 
 
 creatures? The verj thought is akin tc the worst of 
 blasphemj', and the nan who entertains a notion thai 
 he is one among the number of those to whom God 
 will submit the decision of the question of the equity of 
 his ways, has need of the caution, that he beware and 
 not " raise himself above all that is called God on earth." 
 
 II. The second and greatest objection I have to the 
 doctrine, is, that it is unscriptural. 
 
 1 am free to admit, that the Scriptures speak not only 
 of a day of judgement, but of 7nany and different days of 
 judgement; and that the writers of the New Testament 
 speak of one of these days by way of eminence, as " the 
 day of judgement." But if you examine the subject, 
 you will find that all these days are in this world, and 
 that it is men in the flesh, and not immortal spirits in 
 the resurrection, that are to be judged. We hear much 
 said about an awful day of judgement, connected with 
 the resurrection, and coming after death, and I doub 
 not many suppose the Scriptures abound in such Ian 
 guage. But if you will take the trouble to examine the 
 Bible for that purpose, if you have never observed it be- 
 fore, you will be surprised to find how diiferent is the 
 language of Scripture from the usual mode of speaking 
 upon that subject. 
 
 The fact that the world is to be judged in the right- 
 eousness of heaven's justice, is uniformly set forth by the 
 inspired writers, as a. matter of most lively joy. Thus 
 the Psalmisi says, " Oh ! let the earth rejoice, and let the 
 earth be glad, and shout for joy, for the Lord is Judge. 
 Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof; the world, 
 and they that dwell therein. Let the floods clap their 
 hands; let the hills be joyful together before the Lord, 
 for he Cometh, he cometn to judge the earth with right- 
 eousness, and the people with equity." . Very different, 
 
il8 ."UDGEMENT. 
 
 indeed, 15 this from the terrors that are usual y thrown 
 around the judgement of God, in these latter days; and 
 I can account for it in no other way, than upon the sup- 
 position, that the divine writers had very different views 
 of the divine judgements from those that are now en- 
 tertained. 
 
 Equally explicit are the Scriptures in relation to the 
 time and p/ace of judgement. "Verily he is a God that 
 judgeth in the earth;'''* and "his judgements are abroad 
 in the earth ;'''' is the uniform word of the testimony, and 
 you will for ever search the Bible in vain, for proof that 
 he judges man any where else but in the earth, or at 
 any period subsequent to his existence here. In no sin- 
 gle instance in the Bible, is a judgement spoken of as 
 connected with the resurrection from the dead, nor is it 
 mentioned at all, as a thing which is to follow the death 
 of the body. I have, indeed, heard men quote Scripture 
 after this sort. "As the tree falls, so it lies; and as 
 death leaves us, so judgement will find us." " For it is 
 appointed unto all men once to die, and after death, to 
 come to judgement." These passages are doubtless 
 very pertinent to the point, and but for one slight cir- 
 cumstance, would unquestionably prove that there is a 
 judgement after the death of the body. There is one 
 circumstance, however, which, though it may be trifling 
 to some, is to me very important, and leads me to doubt 
 the clearness and authority of the proof I allude to the 
 fact, that neither of these passages, so often and so con- 
 fidently quoted, is in the Bible; but both of them are 
 manufactured by men, to support their creeds. 
 
 The first is probably intended as a quotation fro-m the 
 11th chapter of Ecclesiastes, where the preacher, in 
 speaking of deeds of charity, says, "cast liiy bread upon 
 the waters, and after many days ye shall find it. Give 
 
JTJDGLMENI. lid 
 
 a portion to se/en, and also to eight, for ye know not 
 wliat evil there may be in the world : fur if the clouds 
 be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth, 
 and if the tree fall toward the north, or toward the 
 south, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall 
 be." The other passage is an altered and garbled quo- 
 tation of a part of Heb. ix. 27, where the Apostle says, 
 "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, and after 
 this the judgement, so Christ was once offered, to bear 
 the sins of many, and unto them that look for him, shall 
 he appear the second time, without sin, unto salvation." 
 If you will compare the passage, as written by the Apos- 
 tle, with the common quotation, you will find it mate- 
 rially different, and even our common translation fails 
 of giving the true meaning of the original. For some ^ 
 reason unknown to me, our translators have left out one ^H 
 word, from the original, and have not translated it at all. 
 I allude to the article before the word men, and 1 have 
 no fear of contradiction, from any man who knows even 
 the alphabet of the language, and has read the Greek 
 Testament, when I say, that a faithful translation would 
 be, "And as it is appointed unto the men (or these men) 
 once to die, and after this the judgement," &c. 
 
 Appointed unto these men once to die. What men? 
 Look at the preceding context, and you will find the an- 
 swer. The Apostle was treating of the sacrificial death 
 of the High Priests under the law, as a type of the death 
 of Christ, and of the judgement of the children of Israel. 
 Immediately following this typical death of the High 
 Priest, and in this passage, he draws out the parallel 
 between the two cases: — As it was appointed (in the 
 Jewish law) unto these men once to die, (figuratively, 
 for the sins of the people,) so Christ was once offered, to 
 bear the sins of many • and as the High Priest came 
 
120 JUDGEMENT 
 
 forth from the holiest of holies, after his typical death, 
 to judge the people and pronounce them clean, even so, 
 should Christ come, not to condenan, but without sin, 
 unto salvation. All this falls far short of asserting that 
 there is to be a great day of general judgement subse- 
 quent to the death of the body ; and I appeal to you, if 
 the fact, that men are under the necessity of altering 
 the passage, in order to make it answer their purpose, 
 is not good proof, that it does not answer that purpose, 
 as it stands even in our translation. When men can 
 find a clear and explicit " Thus saith the Lord" for their 
 sentiments, they will never make scripture to prove 
 them. Inasmuch, therefore, as the scriptures nowhere 
 mention a day of judgement, as connected with the res- 
 urrection of the dead, or as an event subsequent to 
 death ; but uniformly represent judgement as a matter 
 executed in the earth, I maintain that the sentiment 
 which removes it to another world, is most clearly un- 
 scriptural. 
 
 There is one additional circumstance to be named, 
 and I shall proceed to give you what I suppose to be the 
 true doctrine of judgement. In all countries it is deem- 
 ed but just, that men should be tried by the laws they 
 transgress, and in the same realm, where the offence is 
 committed. Now the law of God, was given to man, 
 for the regulation of his conduct, here on earth, and I 
 iver most explicitly, and challenge contradiction, that 
 there is no law in the Bible, which assures man, that 
 the transgressor of its requirements shall be taken to 
 another world lo be judged for his transgression. On 
 the contrary, all subsequent enactments, and practice, are 
 in the spirit of the first prohibition, " in the day that thou 
 eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Adam was judged 
 in the cool of the evening of the very day he sinaed. 
 
judgemt:: r. 121 
 
 and Cain was called to the bar of judgement while yet 
 the blood of his brother was red, and warm upon his. 
 hands. So the law required, and hence I contend that 
 to judge men in another world, for the sins of this, is 
 unjust, because man was never made answerable to any- 
 such law. 
 
 If I remember aright, one of the grievances set forth 
 in the declaration of American independence, was, that 
 citizens of the colonies were taken across the waters to 
 a distant land to be tried for offences committed here. 
 Now every American citizen is ready to condemn such 
 a procedure, and will denounce the British government 
 as unjust, oppressive, and tyrannical in so doing ; and' 
 yet the great mass of them worship a God who trans- 
 ports men to another world, to be tried and judged foi 
 crimes committed in this, and in him they call it justice. 
 I indulge a hope, that the time is not far distant, when 
 men will discover that injustice and tyranny though ia 
 a God, would be injustice and tyranny still. 
 
 But I pass on ; and come now to speak of the true 
 scripture doctrine of judgement. 
 
 It is worthy of remark, that the doctrine of judge- 
 ment as set forth in the Old Testament, and as found in 
 the Gospel, are widely different ; not indeed in princi 
 pie, but in the mode of administration. In the Old 
 Testament "God is the judge, lawgiver and king;" and 
 in that dispensation he was the being who sat in the 
 judgement seat. But in the New Testament, we learn 
 that " the Father judgeth nc man, but hath committed 
 all judgement to the Son." Henceforth then we are to 
 look upon Jesus Christ as the divinely appointed judge 
 of all, and the question before us relates to the time and 
 the manner of his judgement. 
 
 The prophecies of the Old Testament would lead uf 
 11 
 
122 JUDGEMENT. 
 
 to expect, that although the work of judgemeui has 
 been given to the hands of the Son of God, yet it was 
 to be executed, as it ever had been, in the earth. Thus 
 Isaiah says, " Behold the days come saith the Lord, that 
 I will raise a righteous branch unto David, and a king 
 shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgement 
 and justice, in the earth, and his name shall be called 
 " the Lord our righteousness." In conformity with 
 this, when he came, he announced himself as the judge 
 of men, and there are two senses in Avhich he may be 
 said to be the judge. 
 
 In the first place, he came to execute upon the Jew- 
 ish nation, those severe and extraordinary judgements, 
 which had long since been threatened against them, 
 and which were at that time near at hand. The proph- 
 ets had warned the people, that the day was coming 
 when Jerusalem should be trodden down of the Gen- 
 tiles, and they should be scattered a proverb and a by- 
 word among all people, and the Saviour himself, had 
 informed them, that upon them, should come all luc 
 righteous blood, that had been shed upon the earth, 
 " from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zecharias, son 
 of Barachias, whom they slew between the temple and 
 the altar." He told them, when looking at the glory of 
 the temple, that the day was coming when there should 
 Qot be left one stone upon another that should not be 
 thrown down, and that there should be a time of 
 'trouble, such as had not been from the beginning of the 
 world to that same time, no, nor ever should be, and 
 that this day of sorrow should come upon them, as a 
 thief in the night. " Then should all the tribes of the 
 earth mourn, and they should see the Son of Man com- 
 ing in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glo- 
 ry, and ht shou d send his angels to gather together his 
 
JUDGEMENT. 123 
 
 elect from the four winds of heaven," and fhey should 
 dwell safely. He informed them moreover that though 
 he knew not the day nor the hour^ in which that judge- 
 ment should come, yet he could inform them, that that 
 ^'^ genera I ion should not pass away till all these things 
 should be fulfilled." Now Jesus was the executor of 
 these judgements, and in this sense he was the judge 
 of Israel. And as the day of this desolation was the 
 day of the most severe judgement that ever befel Israel, 
 or any other nation, therefore, it is called by way of em- 
 inence, above all other days of tribulation, " The Day 
 of Judgement^ To this day, most of those passages 
 allude, which speak of the day of judgement. To this 
 he alludes in the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew, 
 where the nations are represented as being gathered 
 before him, and separated from one another, as a shep- 
 herd divideth his sheep from tlie goats, the Gentiles en- 
 tering into that knowledge of God which is declared to 
 be " life eternal," and the Jews going away into a state 
 of perpetual chastisement, until the fulness of the Gentiles 
 should be come in, and then all Israel should be saved. 
 But there is another, and a wider sense, in which he 
 was judge. He came to establish a system of religion 
 for the world, a kingdom which though purely spiritual 
 in its nature, should embrace as its legitimate subjects, 
 all the ends of the earth. In that kingdom, his laws 
 were to be the rule of action, and his precepts the cri- 
 terion by which the actions of men were to be judged. 
 This kingdom was to endure through all subsequent 
 time, and by its laws all men were to be tried and con- 
 demned and justified. In this sense he is the judge of all, 
 and the day of the duration of that kingdom, is the day 
 of judgement. In this sense, we all stapd before the 
 judgement-seat of Christ, and give au account to him 
 of every thought, word, and deed. 
 
124: 
 
 JUDGEMENT. 
 
 Do you ask for proof of this ? I point you to the 
 words of mv text: — "For the son of man shall come in 
 the glory of nis Father, with his angels, and then he 
 shall reward every man according to his works. Veri- 
 ly I say unto you, th^^re be some standing here which 
 shall not taste death, till they see the Son of Man com- 
 ing in his kingdom." The hearer will perceive, that 
 the coming of the Son of Man " in his kingdom," in the 
 last part of the text, is used as synonymous with his 
 coming " in the glory of his Father to reward every 
 man according to his works," in the first, and they most 
 indubitably refer to one and the same time. 
 
 If we inquire when that time should be, the text is clear 
 and explicit upon that point : — " Verily I say unto you, 
 there be some standing here which shall not taste death, 
 till they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom." 
 There are numerous other passages, which might be 
 quoted to the same effect, but for this, I have no time at 
 present, and I dee-m this one fully sufficient to establish 
 the point in hand. Men may talk as they will, about a 
 future coming of Christ to judge the world and reward 
 men according to their works. If there is any confi- 
 dence to be placed in his own words, then it is settled 
 that his coming to judgement, and to reward every man 
 according to his works, was the very time when he 
 came to establish his kingdom, and we have his explicit 
 and positive assurance, that there were men living 
 eighteen hundred years ago, who should not taste death 
 till that event should occur. 
 
 I shall leave those who put far away this evil day, to 
 settle that controversy as best they can, with the words 
 of him who spake as never man spake, and said, " Be- 
 hold noic is fhe judgment of this world; now is the 
 prince of thi:j world cast out. 
 
TELE RESURRECTION. ]25 
 
 SERMON IX. 
 THE RESURRECTION. 
 
 •*For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." 
 
 I Corinthians xv. 21. 
 
 The resurrection of the dead is the crowning excel- 
 lency of the Gospel of Christ, so far as its doctrinal 
 teachings are concerned. The views it gives of the 
 pharacier and government of God, are valuable, and 
 worthy of being cherished in every heart ; but most 
 precious of all its holy and peace-giving truths, is that 
 which paints to another and a better world beyond the 
 dark valley of the shadow of death, and assures us that 
 there we shall live in the freshness of immortal youth 
 while eternity endures. 
 
 So far as this doctrine in itself is concerned, I shall ot 
 course have no controversy in these lectures. In a work* 
 already before the public, I have argued that point at 
 length against the skeptic, and given my reasons for be- 
 lieving that man shall rise from the dead. Those rea 
 sons it is not now necessary to repeat, as I am not now 
 arguing with the infidel. The resurrection from the 
 dead is a doctrine in the belief of which nearly all 
 christians agree, and I therefore take it for granted in 
 this discussion, without pausing upon its evidences. But 
 the object of the resurrection and the state and condi- 
 tion of those who shall be raised are subjects upon 
 
 •'■ An Argument for the Truth of Chrisiiaiihy.' 
 
126 THE RESURRECTION. 
 
 which there is a wide diflTerence of opinion between us 
 and the great mass of the christian world. Upon these 
 points I must therefore, dwell at length. 
 
 I suppose no man would feel disposed to contend, that 
 God will raise man from the dead without any design 
 in so doing. It is contrary to all our ideas of God, as 
 an intelligent being, to suppose that he would raise man 
 up from the dead for no purpose. 
 
 I suppose it will be admitted further, that the slate or 
 condition of man in the resurrection must be dependent 
 entirely upon the will of God. Man was born to die, 
 and I will, for the sake of illustration, suppose that all 
 the inhabitants of the earth are dead. Of all that now 
 live and breathe, there is not a living soul left. They have 
 all bowed before the destroyer, and their bodies hav$ 
 returned to the dust as they were. 
 
 Go now and gaze upon that great valley of dry bones, 
 and ask yourself, if man can do any thing toward mak- 
 ing them live ? You see at once, that he has no power 
 to make one hair black or white. Neither is God under 
 any obligations to breathe into them the breath of life. 
 All ranks and conditions of men are there, and the king 
 and the beggar are alike in this respect. They have all 
 been unprofitable servants, and not one among them has 
 done aught that can give him a claim upon a resurrec- 
 tion. God might let them all sleep on, and sleep on 
 for ever, and his throne would be free from the charge 
 of having done injustice to a single soul. It is clear, 
 therefore, that the resurrection from the dead must de- 
 pend upon the free grace or favour of God ; and if any 
 man is ever raised from the dead it will be because God 
 in his goodness, saw tit to raise him. 
 
 If, therefore, we are dependent upon God's free grace 
 for \h« resurrection from the dead, then of course, we 
 
THE RESiniKECTION. 127 
 
 are dependent upon him for the state and condition in 
 which we are to be raised. If we have done nothing 
 to merit a resurrection at all, much less can Ave claim 
 any thing at the hands of God, in regard to the circum- 
 stances of that resurrection which he gives us. 
 
 This then is the sum of the matter:— When a man 
 dies, no matter who he mav be, it is for God to say, 
 whether he sha.l live again and having decided, that 
 he will raise him from the dead, it is for God, and God 
 alone, to say what shall be his condition ; and man has 
 injustice, no right to a voice in that matter at all. 
 
 It is reasonable, however, as before hinted, to suppose 
 that God would have some object in view, in raising 
 man from the dead ; and that object, whether good or 
 bad, must depend entirely upon the nature of God. If 
 he is a cruel being, delighting in misery, why then it is 
 reasonable to suppose that he would raise man from the 
 dead on purpose to torment him. 
 
 But if he is, what scripture and nature declare him to 
 be, good, supremely and invariably good, then of course 
 he can have no had object in the resurrection. Such a 
 being looking upon man sleeping quietly in the grave, 
 would not be likely to disturb that sleep, unless some 
 good was to be effected by it, for if he could not do man 
 any further good he would be sure and not do him any 
 harm. I come now to the direct inquiry into the state 
 of man in the resurrection, as dependent entirely upon 
 the will of God. There is one, and but one out of three 
 possible answers to this query, that can be true. 
 
 First, God intends to raise all men from the dead, and 
 make them miserable, or 
 
 Secondly, He intends to make a part miserable, and«a 
 part haf py, or 
 
 Thirdly, He intends to make them all happy. 
 
128 THE RESURRECTION. 
 
 Now one of these three propositions must be true, for 
 besides these there is no other possible answer; and it 
 is equally certain, that but one of them can be true, for 
 if either one is true, the others are false ; and if two 
 are proved false, the other must be true. Let us, there- 
 fore, with all candor and soberness examine and see 
 which of these is true. 
 
 I. God intends to raise all men from the dead, and his 
 object in so doing, is to render them all hopelessly and 
 intolerably miserable. 
 
 Is there any need of my saying one word more than 
 barely to state the proposition, in order to bring out from 
 this congregation an unanimous expression of dissent 
 from its truth ? I am persuaded, that it is not, for there 
 is no man among you, who would not agree with me in 
 saying, that the admission of such a doctrine would rob 
 God of every attribute that makes his character lovely, 
 and transform him into a cruel and malicious fiend. 
 What ! God put forth the energies of his power, breathe 
 upon the dry bones, and raise a world from the sleep of 
 death, and confer upon them immortality for no other 
 reason, than that he may torment them and make them 
 all as miserable as their natures can endure ! Away 
 with the impious thought ! It is a graceless libel upon 
 the character of the God of all. To say nothing of 
 scripture, all nature around us rises up and contradicts a 
 sentiment so utterly at war with every just idea of a 
 benevolent and good creator and governor. 
 
 There is much on earth calculated to render the so- 
 journ of man here, not only comfortable, but positively 
 happy. Much as is said about the miseries of the world, 
 yet, if any man will examine his own system, and its nice 
 adaptation to the circumstances that sur *ound it, he will 
 find evidence abundant and clear, that he was fashioned 
 
THE RESURRECTION. 129 
 
 oy the hand of a good being, who took great care so to 
 make him that he might be happy. The light of the 
 sun, the air that we breathe, the fruits of the earth, the 
 changes of the seasons, the silence of the night, the dews 
 of heaven, and the waters that gush from the fountain are 
 all precisely such as are calculated to minister to our com- 
 fort, and I might safely defy any man to lay his finger 
 upon one of these arrangements of nature, which his 
 wisdom could so alter as on the whole, to be a benefit 
 to himself 
 
 Now if God had made the earth in such a manner, 
 as to render man necessarily and unavoidably miserable; 
 if he had placed us on a barren rock, thirsting for water 
 and given us none; or hungering for food, which the 
 earth would not yield; if he had made our senses con- 
 ducive to pain alone, our necessary food bitter, and wate 
 loathsome, and kept us all our life long in utter misery, 
 why then we might have concluded that he was a ma- 
 lignant being, and having brought us into this world 
 only to torment us, it was probable that he would raise 
 us from the dead for a similar purpose. But when we 
 look around us and behold how completely the reverse 
 of this is the fact ; when we see all nature pouring her 
 treasures at our feet and inviting us to partake and be 
 happy ; then we feel that God is good, and the truth is 
 forced irresistibly upon our minds, that the same God 
 who has given us one life for a good object, will never 
 give us another for a bad purpose. But I need not dwell 
 here, for I presume there is no man in his senses who 
 will contend that God intends to raise all men from the 
 dead for the purpose of rendering them the subjects of 
 perpetual and hopeless misery. I therefore pass on. 
 
 II. God intends to raise all men from the dead, for the 
 purpose of rendering a part miserable and a /irt happy. 
 
130 THE RESURRECTION. 
 
 This position does not bear upon its face the g/aring 
 and palpable absurdity of the other, and yet, I appre- 
 hend that an examination of the matter will show you, 
 that it is scarcely less opposed to reason and Scripture. 
 There is something a little remarkable in the manner in 
 whi'^h men look upon this subject. When I say that 
 God will raise all men up and make them miserable, 
 you start at it as a monstrous thing. You say it is an 
 insult to the majesty of heaven, and that it charges God 
 with the worst of cruelty. But when I say that he will 
 raise them from the dead for the purpose of making a 
 part miserable and a part happy, you call it a good doc- 
 trine, just as if the number of the miserable could affect 
 the principle on which they are made so. The truth is, 
 cruelty is cruelty, find it where you will, and whether it 
 is exercised upon one or ten thousand, is of no manner 
 of consequence, so far as the thing itself is concerned. 
 
 If a man has seven children, and burns them all alive 
 m a furnace, you would call him a cruel wretch. But 
 suppose he burned only four out of the seven, what would 
 you call him then ? You ought to call him a very good 
 man, if you abide by the principle you adopt in religious 
 matters. But no; you say, in this case, though he de- 
 stroyed but four instead of seven children, he is not the 
 less detestable on that account. So here, if it were cruel 
 in God to raise all men up from the dead on purpose to 
 torment them, then is it equally cruel to do so in the 
 case of one single individual. 
 
 I must be allowed to i^'ustraiv: this matter a little fur- 
 ther, for it is a subject up. n 'vhich men are slow of hear- 
 ing. There are on earth I suppose, about eight hun- 
 dred millions of human beings. Of these only about 
 two hundred millions are nominally Christians. That 
 is, they live in Christian countries, and profess to believe 
 
THE RESURRECIION. 131 
 
 in the Chrislian reMgion. One half of these, at least, 
 are destitute of what men call a saving faith. They be- 
 long to the class called " world's people." Now, adopt- 
 ing the popular doctrine, that without faith and repent- 
 ance no man can be saved, it will follow, that there 
 are only about ane hundred millions of the present gen- 
 eration to be saved, Avhile at least seven hundred mil- 
 lions must sink in an endless hell ! Now, you come to 
 me and ask me what I think God intends to do with the 
 present generation of the world, consisthig, as it does, of 
 about eight hundred millions of human beings? I an- 
 swer, I believe he intends to raise them all up from the 
 dead. So you also believe. But you ask again, what 
 do you think he intends to raise them up from the dead 
 for ? What will he do with them after the resurrection? 
 I answer, I suppose he intends to give them all over to 
 the devil, and let him ^orment them in fire and brim- 
 stone, through eternii . Oh ! you say, that cannot be 
 so. But why can it not be so ? Because God is good, 
 and he would rather let them all sleep for ever in the 
 grave, than raise them up for such a purpose. It makes 
 God the most cruel of all beings, and it cannot be true. 
 Well, I reply, I am not sure that he intends to torment 
 them all. I suppose he will make a part happy, and 
 torment the remainder. With this you are satisfied, 
 and can see no impeachment of the divine goodness in 
 such a sentiment. But how so ? AVhy, just because 
 you have found out, that instead of tormenting eight 
 hundred million souls, he only intends to burn seven 
 hundred millions ; the former would be very cruel, but 
 the latter is a very small affair, of no consequence one 
 way or the other. God may be very good for all that. 
 Why, my dear sir, what is the difference whether there 
 are sev^a or eight hundred millions to be tormented ? It 
 
132 THE RESURRECTION- 
 
 is the principle of the thing, that I am talking al>out» 
 and it was this that you contended for but a moment 
 since; and how is it that you have made the wonderful 
 discovery, that a course of action you yourself condemn 
 as cruel, when applied to all, is merciful when applied 
 to a part. I call on you to look at the myriads who 
 you believe are to be damned, and tell me, if you are 
 able, what good object there could be in raising them 
 from the dead ? I ask you to go down by the gulf of 
 endless ruin in which you believe, and as you gaze upon 
 the writhings and contortions of the countless millions 
 whose fate is there fixed for eternity, tell me if it would 
 not have been better to let them sleep in the grave, than 
 to raise them up for such a purpose ? This striving tc 
 evade the difficulty, by reducing the number of the suf- 
 ferers, is of no avail. If it is cruel to raise one thousand 
 souls up for the purpose of tormenting them, every prin- 
 ciple of reason declares, that it is equally cruel to do the 
 same to a single individual. I tell you, what you al- 
 ready know, that if a good being can do a man no good, 
 he will at least do him no harm ; and when God sees a 
 world sleeping quietly in the arms of death, if a resur- 
 rection can do them no good, he would let them sleep 
 on, in preference to raising them up for ceaseless wo. 
 To raise man from the dead, for no other purpose but to 
 torment him, would be an act of wanton cruelty ; and 
 whether the whole world or a part are to be thus rais- 
 ed, is of no consequence; for in either case, it is an act 
 of unpitying malice, worthy only of a fiend of darkness, 
 and as such, you may for ever rest assured that it cannot 
 he done by a God of infinite goodness. 
 
 But let me ask, what is there in all the works of cre- 
 ation, or the providence of God, which could lead us to 
 suppose that he intends to raise some men up for end* 
 
THE RESURRECTION. 133 
 
 fess bliss, and others for immortal pain t If I should see 
 the sun shining upon some men, and refusing his rays to 
 others; or the showers of rain coming down upon some 
 and passing by others; or if I should find the earth 
 yielding the fruits and flowers to some and refusing her 
 increase to others; why, then I might conclude that 
 God had some favourites to bless, and that being partial 
 in this world, he might be so in the next. But so long 
 as I can look out upon the works of God, where his 
 footsteps are clearly impressed, and see the sun rising 
 upon the evil and the good, and the rain falling upon 
 the just and the unjust, and the earih yielding her fruits 
 with unsparing impartiality, to reward the labours of all, 
 I must remain of my present opinion, that (^od is good 
 unto all, and his tender mercies are over all his works, 
 and that being impartial here, he will be equally so in 
 another world. 
 
 But Ave may go even further than this. It is a fact, 
 which can neither be disguised nor disputed, that the 
 circumstances which surround man in the present ex- 
 istence, are such that the amount of happiness he en- 
 joys is far greater than the misery he suifers. I know 
 that much complaint is made of the miseries of the 
 world, and we hear much of the sufferings of man. But 
 I am satisfied that our joys are underrated in the esti- 
 mate of those who complain, and the evils of life magni- 
 fied far beyond what they are in reality. Unnumbered 
 sources of enjoyment are opened, and innumerable mer- 
 cies throng around us, in every avenue of life. The 
 causes that conspire to make us happy, are more nu- 
 merous than the hairs of our heads, and rivers of plea- 
 sure flow down the earth, while our miseries are "few 
 and far between." In all the diversified fornos of human 
 life, the great Creator has so ordered, that the joy shall 
 12 
 
134 THE RESURRECTION. 
 
 triumph over the pain. You may go the wide earth 
 over, and you will lind happiness in every nation, tribe, 
 tongue, grade and condition of humanity. You may 
 walk the streets of the thronged city, where man 
 dwells in the blessedness of civilization ; or you may 
 roam the desolate wilds of the wilderness, where the 
 swarthy savage seeks his food with his quiver and his 
 bow ; you may wander over the bleak mountains of 
 Lapland, whose pale children shiver in the midst of 
 storms, and frosts, and snows, or traverse the sands of 
 Ethiopia, where the sable African melts beneath the 
 rays of a vertical sun, and you will find happiness 
 among them all. I pledge you my truth, that for every 
 tear of anguish that meets your eye, you shall see a thou- 
 sand smiles of joy, and for every sigh of sorrow that 
 greets your ear, you shall hear ten thousand joyous 
 notes of happiness. 
 
 Talk as you will of the sorrows of this miserable 
 world; sorrows there may be, but it is a good world and 
 a happy one after all, and all our observation and expe- 
 rience bears testimony, that though weeping may en- 
 dure for a night, joy cometh in the mornmg. Now, I 
 ask, what meaneth this? What meaneth this rolling 
 river of peace, which pours its wondrous ilood over all 
 that live, and move, and breathe the viial air ? What 
 mean these untold and unsearchable treasures of love 
 and mercy ? I answer. They mean that God is good, 
 and declare in a voice that cannot be misunderstood, 
 that when God calls beings into existence, it is that he 
 may bless them and make them happy. They lay 
 open a rule of the divine government, as immutable as 
 God himself, by which he has hitherto walked with 
 undeviating steps in all time that has past. The rule 
 is, that whenever God puts forth the energies of his 
 
THE RESURRECTION. 135 
 
 power, and gives life to any being, he confers a blessing 
 and not a curse. 
 
 Six thousand years has the earth rolled upon its axis, 
 and generation has trod close upon the heel of genera- 
 tion, and more beings have been brought into existence, 
 than there are stars in the firmament or sands upon 
 the shore of the sea. Go, doubting mortal, and bring 
 them all up before you ; assemble in one vast congrega- 
 tion, the myriads of those that have lived ; and I chal- 
 lenge you to show me one to whom life has not, on the 
 whole, been a blessing. God has been good to them 
 all, and of every one, it may be said, when his head 
 was laid in the grave, greater was the amount of his 
 enjoyments than his sufferings. By what rule, tlien, I 
 demand, do you arrive at the conclusion, that the same 
 God, who has never yet called a being into existence, 
 but to bless him, will, in the future, bestow another ex- 
 istence upon millions, only that he may curse them ? 
 Where, in the history of six thousand years, do you find 
 your precedent ? Where the fact that will warrant such 
 a conclusion ? 
 
 You may search the record of ages, and it is 
 dumb; you may call upon the dead, and if they could 
 answer, there would come up a voice from the sepulchres 
 of the past, saying, that their tenants had all been bles- 
 sed of God, and v/arning you against that black ingrat- 
 itude, and high absurdity, which would subvert the 
 principles which have marked the government of God, 
 from creation's morning, and make him do that, which 
 he has never done, and which he never can do, without 
 belieing himself. 
 
 You may call upon the living, and they will rise up 
 against you, and tell you, that God has blessed them; 
 and their very love of life will tell vou, that they deem 
 
136 THE RESURRECTION. 
 
 it a blessing, and reproach you with hard and ungra- 
 cious views of God, when you believe that he is but 
 fattening them as beasts for the slaughter, and intends 
 to give you another life that shall prove an endless, bit- 
 ter curs<=!. T!ius reason teaches upon the point in hand, 
 and her voice is echoed by the scriptures of divine 
 truth. 
 
 It is a rennarkable fact, that whenever any of the di- 
 vine writers speak of tho resurrection from the dead, 
 they mention it as a matrer of most lively joy to all; 
 nor do any of them intimate, that in the resurrection 
 men are to be divided, and some raised up for one pur- 
 pose, and some for another. Paul says : " I have hope 
 toward God which they themselves also allow, that 
 there shall be a resurrection of the dead both of the just 
 and the unjust." Now please to observe, that the resur- 
 rection even of the unjust, was, with the apostle, an ob- 
 ject of hope. If he had believed that the unjust were 
 to be raised up to be tormented, he would not have 
 said that he hoped for it. He might indeed have said, 
 as men now often say, he was afraid that it would be 
 so; but, as a feeling man, he could not have hoped for 
 it. So with all the divine writers; they set forth the 
 resurrection as a matter of lively hope, and whenever 
 they mention it they break out in expressions of extatic 
 joy. This single circumstance is sufficient of itself to 
 prove that they regarded the resurrection state as a bles- 
 sing; for had they looked upon it as the means of intro- 
 ducing a greater part of the human family into a life, 
 worse by far than non-existence, they would have 
 mourned over it, as a calamity, rather than rejoiced at 
 it as the richest and most valuable of blessings. But 1 
 have not f!me to dwell longer on this point. 
 
 III. Our bird proposition is, that God intends to raise 
 
THE RESUKr»ECTION. J 37 
 
 all men up from the dead for the purpase of miking 
 them holy and happy. 
 
 If I have shown that the other propositions are un- 
 true, then it follows that this, the only one that remains, 
 must be true. That it harmonizes with the voice of 
 nature, the character of God, and the experience of a 
 world, no man can doubt after a moment's reflection 
 upon the subject. Nature teaches the impartial good- 
 ness of God, reason ascribes to him every possibly great 
 and glorious attribute and perfection, that can command 
 our love or invite our praise, and there is no man living 
 who has not experienced enough to satisfy a reasonable 
 being that God is his friend ; and from all these sources 
 the presumption, a priori, is strong, yea, incontestible, 
 that if God raises all men from the dead at all, it will 
 be for the purpose of doing them good — not evil. 
 
 But the scriptures are most clear and explicit upon 
 this point. It is true, that there is not much said in the 
 Bible about the precise state or condition of man, in the 
 resurrection, for the controversy between Christians and 
 their opposers, in those days, was rather upon the truth 
 or falsity of the resurrection itself, than upon any cir- 
 cumstances that might attend it. With them, death 
 was the last enemy, and if they proved that God would 
 destroy death, it does not seem to have entered their 
 minds that they would also be required to prove that 
 there would not remain other and far mor « dreadful en- 
 emies. Hence they argued that man should rise from 
 the dead, and preached Jesus and the resurrection, and 
 having established that truth, they seem to have taken 
 it for granted that the future life, conferred as it was by 
 a merciful God, would be one of blessedness and joy. 
 Nor does it seem that they thought it necessary to go 
 into an argument to prove that God intended the future 
 12-* 
 
138 THE RESURRECTION. 
 
 State as a most valuable blessing to those who should 
 receive k. 
 
 Take an illustration. In the 15th chapter of his 1st 
 Epistle to the Corinthians, the apostle gives a more 
 particular account of the state of man in the resurrec- 
 tion, than can be found in any other part of the Bible; 
 and yet this is introduced as an incidental circumstance, 
 rather than a legitimate part of his argument. He ar- 
 gues the doctrine of the resurrection with great power 
 against those who denied it, and proves, from principles 
 admitted by his opponents, the truth of the doctrine, 
 which he sums up in the words of our text : — " For as in 
 Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." 
 He continues by informing his hearers that Christ, hav- 
 ing subdued all things unto himself, and destroyed 
 death, the last enemy, should deliver up the kingdom to 
 God, even the Father, and God should be " all in all." 
 But he adds, some man will say, " How are the dead 
 raised up, and with what bodies do they come forth ?" 
 Mark his answer. " Thou fool." As much as to say, 
 that every man ought to understand that matter, and 
 none but an ignorant man would ask such a question. 
 He goes on, however, to answer it. He says there are 
 celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies, natural bodies 
 and spiritual bodies, differing in glory, and intimates 
 that they ought to know that man, when raised from 
 the dead, would be spiritual. "As is the earthy so 
 are they that are earthy, and as is the heavenly 
 so are they that are heavenly." And thus he con- 
 cludes :— " It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incor- 
 ruption ; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory ; it 
 is sown in weakness, it is raised in power ; it is sown a 
 natural body, it is raised a spiritual body." 
 
 Similar remarks will apj\y to the conversation of qui 
 
THE RESURRECTION. 13P 
 
 Saviour with the Sadducees. They had imagined a 
 resurrection stale altogether analogous to this world, and 
 came to him wilh an objection founded upon the case of 
 the woman who had seven husbands, desiring to know 
 whose wife she should be of the seven in the resurrec- 
 tion. He at once charged them with ignorance in pro- 
 posing such a question. " Ye do err not knowing the 
 scriptures, nor the power of God, for in the resurrection 
 they neither marry nor are given in marriage ; but are 
 as the a igels of God which are in heaven." 
 
 Here I rest upon this point; if there is truth in the 
 testimony of Paul, or in the words of the Saviour, then 
 is it settled, that the state of man, in the resurrection, 
 is one of immortality, ineorruption, glory, and power, 
 such as is enjoyed by the angels of God which are in 
 heaven; nor is there the least possible authority for say- 
 ing, that man shall be raised in two classes, one like 
 the angels of God in heaven, and the other like the 
 devils that are in heli ' 
 
14G DESTBUCTION OF DEATH. 
 
 SERMON X. 
 DESTRUCTION OF DEATH. 
 
 "And there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, nolthoB 
 shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away." 
 
 Revelation xxi. 4. 
 
 In my last lecture I spoke of the resurrection of the 
 dead, as the crowning excellency of the Gospel. I at- 
 tempted to show from reason, experience and all that 
 we know of the character and government of God, that 
 it was even more than probable, if he raised man from 
 the dead at all, it would be for the benevolent purpose 
 of making him holy and happy. I also showed you, 
 Tery briefly, that the scriptures in this respect harmo- 
 nize with reason and experience. 
 
 In the present discourse I intend to give you anothe? 
 view of the same subject, and I shall attempt to show 
 you that the resurrection state, as presented in the Gos- 
 pel, is one of immortal blessedness and felicity. In this 
 world, pain, sickness, sorrow and death are ills neces- 
 sarily incident to humanity ; but in that better and hap- 
 pier land, these things shall be no more. Pain, sorrow 
 and crying, and all that bears the name of death, shall 
 be done away, and shall be found no more for ever. 
 Such is the clear and explicit doctrine of my text, and 
 it is difficult for me to conceive how ingenuity or sophis^ 
 try can torture any thing else out of it. I will not there- 
 fore, consume time in discussing the question, whether 
 the text does or does not teach that doctrine ; for its 
 
DESTEUCTION OF DEATH. 14^ 
 
 language is too plain and positive to admit of a doubt 
 in the candid and honest mind, which is not warped by- 
 prejudice, or darkened by superstition. 
 
 I will rather give you some additional reasons for be- 
 lieving that a result so grand and glorious, is ordained 
 in the firm counsels of God, and must certainly be 
 realised. 
 
 I. The scriptures elsewhere affirm the same heart- 
 eheering and soul-reviving sentiment. 
 
 For myself it would not require a miracle, nor the oft 
 repeated testimony of the divine word, to produce in my 
 mind the conviction, that a doctrine so perfectly con- 
 sonant to all that I know of God is true. I see the 
 evidences of divine love so legibly written out upon the 
 face of nature and providence, and I have experienced 
 so much of the goodness of God, that I am prepared to 
 believe any thing good of him. The prophet asks, " Is 
 iuy thing too hard for the Almighty ?" The answer is, 
 no- I ask, is any thing too good for God to do ? And 
 my joyful spirit answers, nay. There is no good, how- 
 ever great, no blessing, however valuable, that we may 
 not anticipate from his hand. 
 
 If therefore, the final and immortal blessedness of the 
 world were only whispered from on high, in a solitary 
 instance, I would seize upon that whisper and hold it as a 
 precious and sure foundation of hope. But it unfortu- 
 nately happens, that an ungrateful world of mortals are 
 far more ready to believe evil than good of God. You 
 may depict before them a burning hell, filled with the 
 great multitude of the human race, writhing in the 
 flames of everlasting torments, and God sitting upon a 
 throne high and lifted up, mocking their dismal groans, 
 and laughing at the contortions of deathless pain. All 
 this you may say of your Fati er, and the public ear will 
 
142 DESTRUCTION OF DEATH, 
 
 be open to receive the perjured lie, and the neartscf the 
 people will willingly believe even this blackest, foulest 
 slander of heaven's gracious Lord and King ! 
 
 From Adam i. the present day, men have shown by 
 their conduct and iheir faith, that they are far more 
 ready to believe evil than good of God. They will 
 sooner believe that God will do them harm than bless 
 them. For this cause, it is that the Bible abounds 
 in " exceedingly great and precious promises," and gives 
 " line upon line and precept upon precept," for it know- 
 eth that men are slow of heart to believe, and prone to 
 stagger at the promises of God through unbelief. 
 
 Could I call back from the abc-des of the blessed on 
 high the great Apostle of the Gentiles, the master-spirit 
 of that band of worthies who took their lives in their 
 hands, and went forth to proclaim the great salvation, 
 he would point to Jesus, and say, as he said in the days 
 of his flesh, " he must reign." Aye, " he must reign 
 until he hath put all enemies under his feet, and the last 
 enemy death shall be destroyed." He would tell you 
 that " for this purpose the Son of God was manifested, 
 that he might destroy death, and him that had the power 
 of death, and deliver those who through fear of death 
 were all their lifetime subject to bondage;" that ''this 
 mortal shall put on immonality, and this corrupdhle 
 shall put on incorruption, and then shall be brought to 
 pass the saying, that is written, "death issAvallowed up 
 in victory ; " and he would close with the triumphant 
 doxology, " Oh grave where is thy victory ! oh death 
 where is thy sting ? " " Thirty long years did I preach 
 this doctrine, and labor and toil and suffer in its defence. 
 For it I was persecuted ; I breathed the noisome vapor 
 of the dungeon; I bore upon my limbs the galling chains; 
 I submitted my back to the scourge till it ran down 
 
DESTRUCTION OF DEATH. 143 
 
 with gore ; I bore the bruises of stones that were hurled 
 by my enemies ; and all that I might preach the un- 
 searchable riches of Christ. Therefore did I both labour 
 and suffer reproach, because I trusted in the living God, 
 who is the Saviour of all men, especially of them that 
 believe. 
 
 Could I call upon the spirit that touched Isaiah's hal- 
 lowed lips with a coal from the altar of truth in heaven, 
 I should hear repeated again, what is already written 
 for your instruction, " He will swallow up death in vic- 
 tory, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all 
 faces, and he will destroy the face of the covering cast 
 over all people, and the veil that is spread over all 
 nations, and the rebuke of his people shall he take away 
 from all the earth, for the Lord hath spoken it." " The 
 ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion, 
 with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads, they 
 shall find joy and gladness, and sighing and sorrowing 
 shall flee away." Indeed all the prophets have spoken 
 of these things, for an Apostle says, " God has spoken 
 of the times of the restitution of all things by the 
 mouth of all his holy prophets, since the world began." 
 Not one of them has failed, but they have all spoke of 
 these limes, and borne their testimony that there shall 
 come a lime when sin and sorrow, pain, crying and 
 death, shall be known no more. 
 
 I may as well pause here as any where, for there is 
 no end to testimony of this kind, and if the clear and 
 explicit word already quoted does not produce conviction, 
 no amount of evidence would be sufficient; for if men 
 will not believe Moses and the prophets, neither would 
 they be persuaded though one should rise from the dead. 
 I lay it down therefore, as a doctrine established by the 
 concurrent testimony of all God's holy prophets, since 
 
144 DESTRUCTION OF DEATH. 
 
 the world began, that all sorrow and crying shall cease; 
 and pain and death shall be no more. 
 
 I know the objection that will rise in the minds of my 
 hearers here. I shall be told that I quote only the 
 promises of the Gospel, but I pass by the ihreatenings 
 of the law. Though there are many great and precious 
 promises, there are also severe threatenings. But what 
 then ? Is the law against the promises ? I answer, as 
 the Apostle answered, " By no means," and I say as he 
 said, " The covenant which was before confirmed of God 
 in Christ, the law which came four hundred and thirty 
 years afterward, cannot disannul, that it should make 
 the promises of God of none effect." I know, as well 
 as you can know, that there are many threatenings in 
 the law, but I tell you that these are not against the 
 promises, and when you explain them in such a manner 
 as to make them conflict with the promises, you pervert 
 them. I care not how ingenious your reasoning, or how 
 plausible your conclusion, here is the rule laid down by 
 the Apostle, " The law is not against the promises," and 
 if you make it so by your explanation, your explanation 
 \ is wrong. This is a rule that you are bound to follow; 
 1 for I maintain you have no right to give such inter- 
 l pretations of the law as will set it against the promises. 
 '^Ve are frequently accused of explaining away and 
 perverting the threatenings, and I must illustrate this 
 matter, for by it we are frequently thrown into a false 
 position. Here is the covenant, it promises with the 
 most solemn certainty, that there shall come a time 
 when there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor 
 crying, neither shall there be any more pain. The ob- 
 jector brings up one of the threatenings, as for instance, 
 "These shall go away into everlasting punishment;'* 
 and he asks me, how I will explain it consistently with 
 
DESTRUCTION OF DEATH. 145 
 
 my views ? Now suppose I could not do so a id suppose 
 also, there were a hundred other passages of ihe same 
 kind, which I could not explain in accordance with mv 
 text ; why, the mass of community would cry out, that 
 the Universalist was confounded, and his doctrine false. 
 But stop a moment. This should be my answer:— I tell 
 you sir, frankly, that I do not know what that passage 
 or these passages mean. They are to me dark. But I 
 can tell you what they do not mean. They do not 
 mean any thing contrary to the covenant of eternal mer- 
 cy and truth ; for the law is not against the Gospel ; and 
 I think it more likely that you, sir, are mistaken than, 
 that God should contradict, in one part of his word, 
 what he has said in another. God has said there shall.' 
 be no more pain, sorrow, nor crying, and though I know 
 not the meaning of that passage, I do know that he 
 does not there contradict himself, and teach endless- 
 pain and sorrow. 
 
 Do you tell me that such is the obvious import of the 
 passage ? My answer is, then the two passages contra^ 
 diet themselves, and it is not my business, but yours^ Xo- 
 explain the matter. I am not willing to undertake, gra- 
 tuitously, the labour of extricating you from your own 
 contradictions ; and if I do so, I protest most seriously 
 that you shall not stand by and tauntingly accuse me of 
 explaining away the meaning of the Scriptures. I tell 
 you, yet once more, that the law is not against the- 
 promises, and if you, by your explanations, set them at 
 variance, it is your business to get out of the difficulty; 
 and if you will not allow me so to explain the law that 
 it shall agree v/ith the promises, I shall turn you over 
 to the infidel, whose mouth you fill with arguments, say- 
 ing, your Bible is a bundle of contradictions,, piomising, 
 in one place what it denies in another. 
 13 
 
146 DESTRUCTION OF DEATH. 
 
 I have made these remarks upon the supposition that 
 no man can so explain the threatenings, that they shall 
 clearly be seen to harmonize with the promises. But 
 this I am not willing to grant for truth. I will not say 
 what I can do, but I do say, that there is no threatening 
 of the law which is not susceptible of a reasonable and 
 consistent explanation, in perfect accordance with the 
 spirit of the promises. 
 
 It surely cannot be expected of me, that I shall take 
 up all the threatenings of the law, and explain them in 
 this discourse. I will take a single one, and that shall 
 be the one already quoted, " These shall go away into 
 everlasting punishment." If by the word everlasting, 
 here, you understand a strictly endless duration, it will 
 at once be seen that the passage contradicts that sacred 
 promise of the Gospel, which guarantees that the time 
 shall come when tears shall be wiped from all faces, and 
 there shall be no more pain, neither sorrow nor crying. 
 But is the law against the promises? The Apostle says, 
 No. Well, then, your exposition of the text is wrong. 
 What shall be done ? Why, just turn to the Old Testa- 
 ment, and see how the writers used the word ever- 
 lasting. There you read of an "everlasting priesthood," 
 of an " everlasting possession " of the land of Canaan by 
 the children of Israel ; and many other things are called 
 everlasting, which we know either have or must come 
 to an end. Why, then, may we not suppose that Jesus 
 i used the word in the same sense that it was used in the 
 Old Testament, and thus avoid the absurdity of making 
 the Scriptures contradict themselves? In this sense of 
 the word, there is perfect harmony between the threat- 
 enings and the promises; and though the penalty of thft 
 law is executed, it wii not prevent the fulfilment of the 
 promises. 
 
DESTRUCTION OF DEATH. 147 
 
 But I observe again, The very fact that Gcd thieatens 
 in the Bible to punish sin, is a proof that such a time as 
 is named in my text will come. Suppose, for instance, 
 our rulers should make laws, and annex to them no pen- 
 alties, and that the executors of the laws should take no 
 notice of transgression. Would not the inference be un- 
 avoidable, that our legislators cared not for obedience to 
 the laws ? But let them make laws, and guard them 
 by proper penalties, and then let us see the officers of 
 justice vigilant in seeking out and visiting the penalty 
 of the laws upon the guilty. Then may we conclude 
 that our rulers are opposed to crime, and determined to 
 suppress it. So in this case, if God did not threaten to 
 punish sin, we might conclude that obedience and dis- 
 obedience were alike to him. But when we see his law 
 guarded by a penalty, and read that " the wrath of Go'j 
 is revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness," 
 we hail it as a proof that God is the friend of virtue, 
 which is peace, and that he is opposed to all sin, and 
 determmed to suppress it; aye, to uproot it from the 
 universe. 
 
 Bring out, now, your threatenings of the law; array 
 them all before me, and shout in anticipation of victory. 
 Your triumph is short. You are proving the very thing 
 you would disprove. I allow there are many threaten- 
 ings in the Bible. But what then ? Are these threaten- 
 mgs against the promises ? Once more, I tell you nay. 
 They are the proof that God is the friend of order, law, 
 virtue, and happiness; that he is the enemy of sin and 
 misery, and that he will destroy them for ever, and ful- 
 fil his gracious promises in the estaUishment of univer- 
 sal holiness and felicity. 
 
 Thus much I have felt myself in duty boui\d to say, of 
 the threatenings of the law and I have done so, because 
 
148 DESTRUCTION OF DEATH. 
 
 it was impassible for me lo take up, one by one, these 
 threaienings, and explain them; and because these 
 principles of interpretation will put it in your power to 
 explain them for yourselves, so far as their bearing upon 
 the question before us is concerned. Take this rule 
 along with you, and you need not err. " The law is not 
 against the promises," and when you find any explana- 
 tion of a threatening of the law, which makes it contra- 
 dict the promises of God, be assured that explanation is 
 wrong. But I pass on and remark, 
 
 II. The very constitution of man i& proof of th"* truth 
 of our main position. 
 
 In all the ever-varied and changing circumstances of 
 human life, there may be found in man a firmly-seated 
 principle, which leads him onward, and bears him up- 
 ward, to immortality; a principle that yearns for future 
 life, and pants for deliverance from the grave. Now, 
 there is no other way in which I can account for this 
 fact, but upon the supposition that the same God who 
 has planted this seed in an earthly soil, has determined 
 that it shall spring up, and grow, and ripen, in a better 
 world. Otherwise, man would have been made like the 
 beasts, with no hope or wish extending into the future. 
 
 But there is another view to be taken of this matter. 
 The text points not only to the triumph over death, but 
 to the end of pain, sorrow, and crying. It is worthy of 
 some consideration, that none of these are elements of 
 the mind. We shrink from pain with instinctive dread, 
 and we would avoid all sorrow. Had it been the inten- 
 tion of the wise Creator that man should be eternally 
 the subject of pain and sorrow, he would have so made 
 him, that these should have been the elements of the 
 mind, and necessary to his comfoi table existence. This 
 he has not done, and hence W3 iifer, that they are not 
 
DESTRUCTION OF DEAIH. 149 
 
 ends in the divine government, but sin. ply the means 
 employed to promote other ends. In thi- imperfect 
 state, they may be necessary as a medicino, but they 
 are not food; and in that blessed land whose inhabitants 
 shall never say " I am sick," they will not be needful. 
 
 I might push the argument further, and show you, 
 from the very first principles of philosophy, that the 
 endless continuance of pain and sorrow is impossible. 
 The tendency of all pain is to corrode and destroy, and 
 if It preys continually upon the mind or body, it will de- 
 stroy it. If, therefore, man, in the other world, shall be 
 the subject of perpetual pain, he must also be the sub- 
 ject of death; and even then it could not be of endless 
 duration; because it would cease, for the same reason 
 *hal ure will go out when it has consumed the fuel upon 
 whicu it feeds. These are mere hints, thrown out with 
 a hope that my hearers will reflect upon them at their 
 leisure. 
 
 liL The character of God affords strong ground for 
 hope that mis text will be fulfilled. 
 
 'I'hat God is possessed of infinite wisdom, power, and 
 goodness, no man who believes the Bible can question 
 Now, it will not be disputed, that a God of infinite wis 
 dom could, if he were so disposed, devise a plan, which 
 if carried into effect, would result in the final and com- 
 plete happiness of all the creatures of his creation. There 
 is just as little doubt that infinite goodness would seek 
 this, ihe best of all possible objects. Neither can it be 
 doubled that almighty power could execute the plan 
 suggested by goodness and contrived by wisdom. It is 
 therefore evident, that the result of the combineu* action 
 of these admitted attributes of the Deity, is the very 
 thing for which we are contending, and this conclusion 
 cannot be avoided without denying the perfection of one, 
 13* 
 
150 DESTRUCTION OF DEATH. 
 
 or all these attributes of God. If we say he could not 
 do it, we limit his wisdom or power, and if we say he 
 would not, we deny his goodness; and in either case we 
 deny that God which the Bible sets forth, and all na- 
 ture teaches us to adore. 
 
 Still again, there is no conceivable good that could 
 result from the endless continuance of doath, pain, and 
 sorrow. Though we shudder at the thought of death, 
 yet sober reason will tell us, that in this world it is 
 needful that we should die. Viewed in the light of the 
 blessed Gospel, death is 
 
 " The door to everlasting bliss," 
 
 and it comes to man as a friend, and is 
 
 " But the voice that Jesus sends, 
 To call us to his arms." 
 
 In this light we can see how a wise and kind Father 
 could introduce death into the world. The mind thus 
 enlightened can sentimentally adopt the language oTthe 
 poet, and say, 
 
 " I would not live ahvay away from my God, 
 Away from yon heaven, that blissful abode. 
 Where the rivers of pleasure roll o'er the bright plains, 
 And the noontide of glory eternally reigns." 
 
 The same is true of all the pains, sorrows, and afflic- 
 tions of this life. Viewing them as means, and not 
 ends, of the divine government, we can say that they 
 are the well-intended chastisements of a faithful friend, 
 designed to train us for the skies, and wean our atfec- 
 tions from that world which we must shortly leave 
 In this view, we can see the goodness of God shining 
 out from ihi darknesf of the grave, and from every clouQ 
 
DESTRUCTION OF DEATH. 15] 
 
 oi sorrow, like a beautiful bow of promise, from ihe 
 lowering storm, which God has made the tokeu of his 
 steadfast covenant. 
 
 But once admit that death, and pain, and sorrow, are 
 to remain for ever, and the aspect of things is fearfully 
 changed. In vain may you then ask for any good result 
 from these existences, for neither God, nor man, nor 
 angels, nor demons, could reap either pleasure, ease, 
 profit, or advantage, from them. On the contrary, the 
 effect would be evil, and only evil, and that continually. 
 Hence I say, that the character of God, as a good being, 
 forbids their endless existence, and speaks eloquently in 
 favor of the doctrme of my text 
 
 IV. The fourth, and last reason I offer in support of the 
 position assumed, is found in the text itself. " For the 
 former things are passed away." I understand the rex e- 
 iator here to teach, that all the causes of death, pain, 
 sorrow, and crying, shall pass away, and this is a good 
 rea§on why the effect shall cease also. For if the foun- 
 tain is dried up, the streams must of course cease to flow. 
 
 What is the cause of death ? If you allude to natural 
 death, it is the necessary effect of nature's laws operat- 
 ing on a mortal body ; and if you allude to moral death, 
 it is the effect of sin. But these pass away. The word 
 of the testimony is, that "as we have borne the image 
 of the earthly, so we shall bear the image of the heavenly, 
 and as we were sown a mortal body, we shall be raised 
 a spiritual body." Here, then, you may see that man 
 shall leave mortality in the grave, and rise in the 
 strength of a new and immortal constitution, and thus, 
 the causes of death having passed away, " there shall 
 be no more death." 
 
 Look at it in another light. The cause of moral death 
 is sin. But the carnal mmd must pass away, and with 
 
.32 DESTRUCTION DF DEATH. 
 
 it all those lusts and passiois which lead men into sin. 
 There, in that better world, man shall be spiritual, im- 
 mortal, and incorruptible, and he shall sin no more foi 
 ever. All sorrow, crying, and pain, shall pass away, for 
 the same reason — the causes that produce them shall be 
 found no more to exist. 
 
 What are the causes of pain and sorrow ? I answer, 
 they are many. First upon the catalogue is sin, the 
 " prolific mother of all our woes." But this shall pass 
 away, for Jesus must reign until he hath subdued all 
 things unto himself, and God shall be all in all. Then 
 shall the deepest, darkest, bitterest fountain of human 
 wo be dried up, and man shall no more feel the pangs 
 of guilt, nor writhe under the scourgings of remorse and 
 fear, for holiness, and peace, shall reign in all the souls 
 that God has made. 
 
 But ignorance and error are causes of much sorrow 
 and crying. Man is ignorant, and he knows not the 
 God that made him, nor his own destuiy. He pictures 
 to himself a God of wrath and fury, and trembles like a 
 slave before him. On the wings of imagination he goes 
 forward to the future world, and superstition rears her 
 fabled hell, and peoples it with thronging millions of 
 the human race, and bids man behold there his possible, 
 nay, even probable home. Fathers mourn for their sons, 
 and mothers for their children ; not as Rachael, because 
 they are not; but because they fear that they are either 
 suffering, or in danger of suffering the torments of the 
 eternal pit. O ! who can tell how deep the tide, and 
 how awful the amount of sorrow that every day wit- 
 nesses, as the effect of this God-dishonoring and joy- 
 killing superstition of the world But these shall pass 
 away. The light of eternity shall unveil the king in 
 his beauty, and pour a flood of ijloryupon the vision of a 
 
DESTRUCTION OF DEATH. 153 
 
 risen, purified, and exalted world. Then shall the 
 things which prophets and patriarchs saw, through a 
 glass darkly, be seen face to face; and the fulfilment of 
 all that has been spoken, shall reveal to man the fact, 
 that God's grace has made him the heir of an inheri- 
 tance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away. 
 Then truth shall be victorious, and all error be lost in 
 eternal day, "and there shall be no more death, neither 
 sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, 
 for the former things are passed away." Such is the 
 final result of the divine government, and truly it is 
 worthy of a God! 
 
 I look around me on earth, and I see death riding 
 forth conquering and to conquer. He whets his glitter- 
 ing sword, and the young, and the strong, fall before 
 him. He bends his bow, and the arrow speeds for the 
 life of his fated victim. I look again, and my fellows 
 are falling, as leaves before the chilling blast, into the 
 grave. I look to the future, and I know that when a 
 few more years, at most, are passed, our heads will be 
 low, and the sad funeral knell shall be sounded over the 
 last of all that now live and breathe the vital air. I see 
 the tears falling fast and freely, from the eyes of the 
 afflicted, and the cast down, and I hear the sigh of the 
 widow, and the moan of the orphan, borne upon every 
 passing gale that blows. But I remember that these 
 thmgs are but for a season. Soon, very soon, all the 
 myriads of the human family shall be delivered, and 
 shall feel sorrow and pain no more for ever. 
 
 But I cannot pause here. I look to the heavens, and 
 ihey are garnished with stars, and I remember that 
 these stars, though but specks to us, are worlds so large, 
 that our earth is but an atom in the comparison. The 
 presumption is that God has peopled their solitudes, 
 
154 DESTRUCTION OF -jCATH. 
 
 and caused them to swarm with life and intelligence. 
 Whether the fair face of the moon, and the stars, is ever 
 wet with the tears of anguish, or whether death there 
 reigns, we have not been certified. But this one thing 
 we may conclude. If sympathizing natures now weep 
 in other worlds, or death now sways his sceptre over 
 other intelligences, or sin has reared his head in the distant 
 stars, it shall not be so always, for these things shall pass 
 away, and in all the universe of God, there shall be no 
 more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall 
 there be any more pain. While far, far beyond this 
 earthly sphere, system rolls on system, and world on 
 world, and distant ^planets wheel their endless circles 
 round their centres, and these again round one common 
 centre, God — so shall it be in the moral universe. Dis- 
 cord and strife shall cease. God's hand shall move on 
 his own undisturbed affairs in perfect harmony and 
 peace. The last tear shall fall from the eye of sorrow, 
 and the last sigh of anguish shall be hushed in the 
 silence of perpetual joy, nor shall weeping be heard 
 again while God's throne shall stand. 
 
 " No sigh, no murmur, the wide world shall hear, 
 From every face, he wipes off every tear, 
 In adamantine chains shall death Ve bound, 
 And hell's grim tyrant feel the eternal wound." 
 
 Such is the plan of God, and such the grand consum- 
 mation to Ayhich the text points the eye of faith! 
 
 Praise the Lord ! all the ends of the earth ! 
 
 Praise him ! sun, moon, and stars ! 
 
 Praise him ! ye heavens, and ve waters that are above 
 the heavens I 
 
 Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord ! 
 
 Oh ! speak good of his name, for he is good, and his 
 mercy endureth for ever. 
 
KATUBE OF SALVATION. 155 
 
 SERMON XI. 
 NATURE OF SALVATION. 
 
 " For therefore we both labor and suffer reproach , because we trust in the 
 living God, who is the Saviour of all men, especially those that believe." 
 
 1 Tim. iv. 10. 
 
 It is a lamentable truth, that in all ages and coun- 
 tries, those who have embraced opinions differing from 
 the popular doctrines of the day, have suffered reproach 
 in consequence of their faith. Man has forgotten the 
 great truth that his fellow-man has the same right to think 
 as himself, and that every one is accountable for himself, 
 and to God alone. For this reason he has persecuted 
 his fellow for his opinions' sake, and pointed to the man 
 whose faith did not exactly square with the populai 
 standard, as a proper object of reproach, and a mark at 
 which bigotry might hurl her arrows of wrath with 
 impunity. 
 
 Look for a moment at the life and ministry of Christ, 
 for an illustration of this remark. He taught a system 
 of faith and practice somewhat different from the pre- 
 vailing notions of the day. For this reason he suffered 
 reproach from the people to whom he came with his 
 message of grace and truth. They even followed hira 
 with the bloody sword of the persecutor, and paused not 
 until they heard his dying groan from an ignominious 
 cross. 
 
 So it was with his disciples. They had learned their 
 
i5(i NATUKE OF SAL VATIC If. 
 
 doctrines from Christ, and were preachers of that Gos- 
 pel, which carried the joys of salvation, not merely to 
 the Jews, but also to the Gentiles. The consequence 
 was, that the wrath of the people waxed exceedingly 
 liot against them, and the storm which had gathered 
 around their Master, broke with violence upon their 
 heads. Hence their lives were made, from the begin- 
 ning to the end, one continued scene of reproach and 
 suffering. 
 
 The text informs us, in a very explicit manner, what 
 was the obnoxious feature in their faith, which caused 
 all their sufferings. What think you, my hearers, it 
 was that excited the opposition and persecution of the 
 world? Was it their faith in an angry and cruel God, 
 a merciless devil, or an endless hell ? Did they curse 
 the people with endless wo, and while they saved a few 
 damn the great mass of community? Nay, nothing 
 like it. But they " trusted in the living God who was 
 the Saviour of all men, especially of those that believ- 
 sd," and for this cause they were met with all the powers 
 of reproach and persecution. To the narrow minds, 
 and selfish feelings of the people of that age, no senti- 
 ment was more obnoxious than this. 
 
 The Jews, as a people, had long considered them- 
 selves as the peculiar people of God, and the only ob- 
 jects of heaven's favorable regard. They were the 
 children of Abraham, and Abraham was the father of 
 the faithful, and they expected, in consequence of that 
 relationship, to be the favorites of heaven ; nor did they 
 imagine that the Gentiles could at all be included in the 
 covenant of eternal mercy. So thought the most liberal 
 among them ; but the greater part of them could not » 
 extend the mercies of God so far as to reach the case of 
 all the Jews. The Pharisee and the Sadducee, could 
 
NATURE OF SALVATION. Iff? 
 
 each claim for himself and his sect, a monopoly of the 
 divine mercy, and deny it to the other. 
 
 With such views and feelings, it is no matter of sur- 
 prise, that ihey should rise up in opposition to a system 
 which laid the axe at the root of all :heir selfish hopes, 
 and taught them to trust in God alone, whose goodness 
 was as rich and free for the Gentile as the Jew, and to 
 whom the distinctions of nations, tribes, and sects, were 
 all alike. It v/as not to be expected that those who had 
 considered themselves better than others, and who had 
 trusted themselves that they were righteous, should 
 come down upon a level with others, and willingly 
 trust in a God who would save their enemies as well as 
 themselves. 
 
 If Paul and his coadjutors had flattered the vanity of 
 the Jews, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and told them 
 that they should all be saved, and all the rest of the world 
 should be damned, they would have been well pleased 
 with such a sentiment, and we should never have heard 
 of the labors and sufferings of the apostles in the pro- 
 mulgation of such a faith. But when they told the 
 people that God was the Father of all, and informed the 
 proud and self-righteous Pharisees, that so far from 
 their being favorites of God, and exclusive heirs of the 
 kingdom, " even publicans and harlQts should enter into 
 the kingdom of heaven before them," then it was that 
 their pride was hurt, and they rose up to reproach and 
 condemn. 
 
 I cannot omit the remark here, that the same spirit 
 which reproached the apostles, still lives, and lifts the 
 few above the many, and hurls the thunders of deepest 
 damnation at those who venture to extend salvation be- 
 yond the landmark set up by the popular faith of the 
 day. The great mass of professors of Christianity, 
 U 
 
158 NATURE OF SALVATION. 
 
 however, have avoided the reproach of trusting in tho 
 living God who is the Saviour of all men, by ceasing to 
 trust in such a God. Where, among all the numerous 
 sects of Christians, will you find the one that trusts in 
 God, who is the Saviour of all men ? Is it the Calvin- 
 ist? Who ever heard of a man being reproached for 
 believing in the salvation of all, who adhered to the 
 creed which saith : " God out of his own mere good 
 pleasure, elected some to be redeemed and everlastingly 
 saved, and the remainder he was pleased to pass by, 
 and ordain to dishonor and wrath, to the praise of his 
 vindictive justice?" Does the Methodist labor and suf- 
 fer reproach for this cause ? I have indeed heard the en- 
 emies of that sect, charge them with holding to senti- 
 ments which would lead to the salvation of all ; but I 
 have just as often heard the charge repelled as a gross 
 slander, accompanied with a prompt denial that they 
 believe any such thing. Again then, I ask, who are 
 they who now both labor and suffer reproach, because 
 they trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all 
 men ? I leave you to answer the question, and I know 
 that you can, if you will, answer it correctly. 
 
 I may remark, in passing, that God is the Saviour of 
 no more than he saves or will save. If ten men are in 
 danger of upsetting in a boat, and I go out to save 
 them, you could not call me the saviour of ten, unless I 
 saved them. If you saw me launch out for their relief, 
 and knew perfectly well that I would save them, you 
 could with propriety call me the saviour of the ten, even 
 before the work was actually done; but if it should turn 
 out, in the end, that I should save but five, then it would 
 prove, that you was mistaken in saying that I was th« 
 saviDur of the ten. So here, God is not the Saviour of a 
 •oul more iha'i he ictually saves. True, that work ii 
 
NATURE OF SALVATION 159 
 
 not yet accomplished. But the apostle knew that he 
 had engaged ia the work, and that he could not fail of 
 success, and therefore he called him the Saviour of all 
 men. But should it turn out, in the end, that God 
 should save but a part, then would it be proved that the 
 apostle was wrong, when he called him the " Saviour 
 of all men." 
 
 I know it is said, that God offers salvation to all; but 
 it should be remembered that an offer of salvation is 
 one thing, and salvation itself is another. If I offer to 
 save a man who is drowning, thai does not save him, 
 neither does it make me his saviour from death. God 
 may offer salvation to man, but that does not save him, 
 neither does it make God his Saviour. He is the Saviour 
 only of as many as he saves. Should any man dispute 
 this, I ask him to go forward to the future world, and 
 as he looks down into that dismal hell, in which he be- 
 lieves, and beholds the multitude of its hopeless inhabi- 
 tants, let him tell me, if he will, in what sense God is 
 their Saviour ? It matters not what may have been 
 offered them, what have they received? is the question 
 on wnich your answer must depend. I care not what 
 means may have been put in operation for their salva- 
 tion. If these means were not effectual, and they are 
 not saved, then God is not their Saviour, and the apostle 
 labored and suffered reproach for a trust, that was vain 
 and futile in the extreme. 
 
 It is not my purpose, however, in this discourse, to 
 argue at great length the question of the extent of salva- 
 tion, but rather I propose to explain its nature. 
 
 The term salvation is used generally in a very vague 
 and indefinite sense, and much of the controversy about 
 the extent and conditions of salvation, arises from a 
 want of precision in the idea attached to this word. Tho 
 
160 NATURE OF SALVATION. 
 
 scriptures use it in various senses, according to the cir« 
 cunistances and situation of the person, or persons, who 
 are said to be saved. When Peter, sinking in the deep, 
 cried, ^'' Lord save ??2e," we understand that he wished 
 to be saved from drowning. When Paul said, " Except 
 these abide in the ship ye cannot be saved^^'' we suppose 
 he alluded to their salvation from death, which then 
 stared them in the face. Many other instances might 
 be noted of a similar character, but these are sufficient 
 to show, that there is need of much caution in regard to 
 the use of this word, and that we shall greatly err if 
 we apply this word always to a future and eternal sal- 
 vation. 
 
 There has been a great question in the Vv^orld, whether 
 gospel salvation is conditional or unconditional, limited 
 or universal; and it will appear in the course of this 
 discussion, that all this controversy originates in a want 
 of attention to the meaning of this word, and that, in 
 a sense, both parties have been right, and both wrong. 
 There are tioo kinds of salvation mentioned in the text, 
 and it will appear on examination, that one is limited 
 and conditional, and the other universal and uncon- 
 ditional. iSo that what may be affirmed of the one, 
 cannot be affirmed of the other. To illustrate these two 
 kinds of salvation is the work now before us. I notice 
 
 I. The special salvation of the believer. God is the 
 Saviour of all men, especia.Jy of those that believe. 
 
 It is often remarked by those who oppose the doc- 
 trine of universal salvation, that if God is the Saviour of 
 all men, then there is no difference between the saint 
 and the sinner, the believer and unbeliever. Those who 
 make this remark, seem to forget, that while God is de- 
 clared to be the Saviour of all men, he is also said to be 
 espicialli) the Saviour of the believer. Though it if 
 
NATURE OF SALVATIOW. 161 
 
 irue, that God is the Savioar of all, yet a little more 
 attention would teach you, that all along, in Scripture, 
 there is a salvation held forth as the special property of 
 the believer, in which the unbeliever can have no part 
 or lot; and though all shall be saved with an everlasting 
 salvation, yet the believer alone can enjoy this special 
 salvation. 
 
 1. The believer is saved from sin, " the direst foe of 
 man." 
 
 The prophet spoke truly when he said, " Know there- 
 fore and understand that it is an evil and bitter thing, 
 that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God." No man is 
 more to be pitied than the bold transgressor of the laws 
 of God. " There is no peace, sailh my God, to the 
 wicked." The path in which he walks is beset with 
 ills on every side, and if perchance he finds a flowery 
 spot, it is but the green sod beneath which slumbers the 
 earthquake and the storm; and if there are roses around 
 him, he may pluck them, indeed, but his limbs will be 
 torn and bleeding, with the thorns that hedge them round. 
 Such is sin, and to be saved from its power, is a boon more 
 desirable than all the riches of earth, or the honors of a 
 fading world. This salvation is wrought upon the be- 
 liever by faith. His name was " called Jesus, because he 
 should save his people from their sins." The doctrines 
 taught, and the examples presented in the gospel, are 
 such, that faith works by love, and purifies the heart, and 
 makes man holy as God is holy. "I say unto you, love 
 your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them 
 that hate you, and pray for them that despitefuUy use you 
 and persecute you," is the constant teaching of the doc- 
 trine, the precept, and the example of Christ. Hence it 
 is evident, that the man who receives into his heart this 
 fa'.vh, copies the examples, practices the precepts, and 
 14* 
 
i62 NATURE OF SALVATJON. 
 
 cherishes ,he spirit of Jesus, is saved from sin and atl its 
 woes. Tiiis is the special salvation of the believer. 
 And to this salvation, all that numerous class of pas- 
 sages refer, which speak of being washed and purified 
 by the faith of Christ. By this salvation, Christ came 
 " to purify to himself a peculiar people zealous of good 
 works." Salvation from sin, is the first item in the 
 special salvation of the believer, and this is a conditional 
 salvation, depending upon the condition of faith and re- 
 pentance ; and so far as this world is concerned, it is not 
 universal, but limited in extent. 
 
 2. The believer is saved from ignorance of God and 
 his character. 
 
 Men by nature know not God, and though to the 
 mind that has been enlightened with the knowledge of 
 Christ Jesus our Lord, " the invisible things of him from 
 the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being under- 
 stood by the things that are made," yet it was never in 
 the power of the unaided wisdom of this world, to ob- 
 tain that true knowledge of God which is life eternal. 
 Man, without a revelation, could see in the works of na- 
 ture around him evidences of a power more energetic 
 than the arm of mortals; but whether that power ex- 
 isted in the person of a faithful friend, or an implacable 
 enemy, was a question that he could not solve. True, 
 the sun shone, as now, upon the evil and the good, and 
 the rain descended upon the just and the unjust, as evi- 
 dence of the divine benignity; and when man looked at 
 these tokens of goodness, he hoped that God was good. 
 But when the thunder uttered its voice in the mountains, 
 or the earthquake rocked the plains, and the tempest 
 howled in fury around, and seemed ready to mingle, 
 " heaven, earth, and sea," then fear took the place of 
 hope, and dread forebodings came over the soul, and 
 
NATURE OF SALVATION. 163 
 
 destroyed its peace. Then it was, that " fear made her 
 devils, and weak hope her gods," and the elements be- 
 came invested with all the terrors that imagination 
 could invent. Then, false gods were created in every 
 grove, and mountain; and altars were reared in every 
 hill and dale, and besidi^ every stream that flowed. 
 Then, the fires of Tophet were kindled, and the altars 
 of Baal ran down with the gore of babes and sucklings, 
 which were slain to placate the wrath, or secure the 
 favor of some idol divinity, whose supposed existence 
 was a bitter curse, diffusing misery, deep and dreadful 
 misery through all the life of the worshipper. 
 
 Such was, and such is the effect of ignorance of God, 
 and from all this the believer in Christ is saved. It was 
 Jesus of Nazareth, who tore away the veil which had so 
 long obscured the face of the " excellent glory," and re- 
 vealed the " king m his beauty," as the kind friend, and 
 the everlasting Father of the human race. By faith, the 
 believer looks upward to God as the holiest and best of 
 all; and though storms and tempests may be around 
 about him, he knoweth that there is one, that rideth 
 upon the storm, and orders all things well. In him, he 
 sees his Father, and he believes that he will never leave 
 nor forsake him; but that his strong arm, which is 
 never shortened that it cannot save, will be made bare 
 in his defence, to deliver, to bless, and to save. Believ- 
 ing thus, the soul enters into rest, and the mind is filled 
 with joy unspeakable and full of glory. This is that 
 special salvation, in another of its items, which it is the 
 privilege of the believer in Christ alone to enjoy. 
 
 3. The believer is saved from the bondage of the 
 fear of death. 
 
 Without the gospel man knows nothing of the future. 
 Before /he advent of Christ, darkness shrouded in im- 
 
164 NATUEK OF SALVATION. 
 
 penetrable gloom all beyond the grave Death was 
 abroad in the earth, in "gorgon terrors clail,"and before 
 him all that was fair, and beautiful, and strong, in hu- 
 manity, withered and died as the flower that is cut 
 down and fadeth before the heat of the sun, and behind 
 him were the bones of nations that had died, and " be- 
 hold the sinews were wasted, and the bones were ex- 
 ceedingly dry." "If a man die shall he live again?" Avas 
 a question which no man could answer. Or if it was 
 answered at all by man, the very answer became a more 
 fruitful source of misery, than even the doubt and uncer- 
 tainty of the question itself Some of the heathen 
 philosophers invented and endeavored to support the 
 doctrine of the soul's immortality, but they soon coupled 
 il with doctrines of future wo, which made it worse by 
 far than the gloom of annihilation. They indeed taught 
 an immortal existence, but to the greater part of the 
 human family it was an existence of torment unutterable, 
 to be dreaded as a curse, rather than sought as a rich 
 and valuable blessing. 
 
 Christ came to open up a pathAvay through the dark 
 valley of the shadow of death, and to point the eye of 
 faith to that better and happier land, " where the wicked 
 cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest." He 
 brought life and immortality to light, and demonstrated 
 by his own resurrection from the dead, that man shall 
 rise triumphant from the spoiler's power, and bloom with 
 unfading youth in the paradise of his God. 
 
 Here the poor Pagan learns to cast his idols and his 
 temples to the moles and the bats, and to rejoice in that 
 truth which giveth life to the world. By faith in this, 
 the poor mortal that trembles in view of the dark gulf, 
 where the ashes of a universe are scattered by the winds 
 of time, and who weeps over the valley of dry bones; 
 
NATURE OF SALVATION. 165 
 
 is saved from all his fears, for he sees the spirit of the 
 Lord moving upon the valley, and believes that even the 
 dry bones shall live. By faith in this, the trembling 
 mortal who fanitly hopes for a heaven of joy, but more 
 dreadfully fears a burning hell of endless wo, for him- 
 self or his children, is saved from his doubts and fears, 
 and taught to look forward to the time when death and 
 hell shall be destroyed, and all created humanity shall 
 be redeemed froui sorrow, and ransomed from the grave, 
 and shall dwell in the fulness of eternal and unsullied 
 joy. This is the special salvation of the believer in 
 another of its items. 
 
 And here I leave this part of my subject, with the 
 simple remark, that the salvation of which I have been 
 speaking, is spoken of in the scripture all along as con- 
 ditional. This is the salvation which is spoken of as 
 dependent upon faith and repentance. This is the sal- 
 vation which man is exhorted to "work out," with 
 which he that believeth shall be saved, and which he 
 that believeth not cannot enjoy. It is confined alone to 
 the believer, and is set forth as a thing for which man 
 should labour perseveringly, as for a treasure more val- 
 uable than aught that the world can afford. The great 
 cause of error in the world is, that professors of Chris- 
 tianity do not bear in mind this special salvation ; but 
 they apply the term salvation almost exclusively to a 
 future world, and therefore contend that that is con- 
 ditional which depends alone upon the will, purpose and 
 power of God. Whereas the only salvation that de- 
 pends at all upon human agency, is, that special salva- 
 tion which is wrought in the believer here on earth. 
 
 11. I come to speak of that salvation which is for all 
 men. 
 
 And here I bej to remind you, that it is no more cer- 
 
166 NATURE OF SALVATION. 
 
 tain that God is especially the Saviour of the believer, 
 than that he is positively the Saviour of all men. Paul 
 trusted in the living God, who was the Saviour of all 
 men, and ihe fact that he is especially the Saviour of 
 the believer, does not abate one fraction from the truth, 
 that he is the Saviour of all. I notice this particularly 
 because the enemies of Universalism are frequently 
 heard insisting- upon the last clause of the text, as if it 
 had some magic power to limit or contradict the first 
 clause. When we say that God is the Saviour of all 
 men, the reply almost unifornaly is, yes, but you should 
 remember that the text says, that he is especially the 
 Saviour of those that believe. Very well, and what 
 then? Because the last pan of the text says, he is es- 
 pecially the Saviuur of the believer, are we to conclude 
 that ihe^r^^ part is false, and that he is not the Saviour 
 of all men, but only of believers ? This word especially 
 is so much pressed into the service of a partial faith, 
 that I must give it a passing notice, and if I borrow an 
 illustration it will not be the less useful. The idea is, 
 that this word limits the salvation of Gcd to believers 
 alone. Now Paul wrote to Timothy saying, " The cloak 
 that I left with thee at Troas, bring with thee when 
 thou comest, and the books, but especially the parch- 
 ment." There is precisely as much reason in saying, 
 that Paul did not want the cloak and the books, because 
 he said, ''■especially the parchment," as there is in say- 
 ing, that God is not the Saviour of any but believers, 
 because the text says especially of them that believe; 
 and if I tell y.^u, that Paul wanted both the cloak and 
 the books, you ought to object at once, and remind me 
 that he said he especially wanted the parchment. I 
 kntAV he said so, but what then? Does thai prove that 
 he wanted nothing else ? By no means. So in the text. 
 
NATURE OF SALVATION. J 67 
 
 The fact that God is said to be the Saviour, " especially 
 of those thai believe," has no effect at all upon the pre- 
 vious and positive assertion tha^ he is the Saviour of all 
 men. 
 
 But the question comes up, in what sense is God the 
 Saviour of all men ? Or what are the evils from which 
 he saves them ? I answer, from the power of death and 
 tne darkness of the grave, through the resurrection from 
 the dead. This salvation is for all, the saint and the 
 sinner, the believer and the unbeliever. So the Saviour 
 said, "Of all the Father hath given me I will lose 
 nothing, but will raise it up again at the last day." So 
 also the Apostle said, " As in Adam all die, even so in 
 Christ shall all be made alive." 
 
 This salvation is unconditional, and is uniformly sc 
 represented in the scriptures. Humau agency cannot 
 effect it, nor does it, or can it depend upon any thing 
 that man can do, or believe, or upon the strength of man 
 in any sense of the word. Go to the tombs, and ask 
 the sleeping dead if they can raise themselves from their 
 slumbers ? and there will come up a silent voice, saying 
 that there man's boasted strength is turned to weakness 
 and he can do no more. Go to the living, and ask them 
 if they have power to give life to the dead? and they 
 shall tell you that they have no such power. 
 
 Well, then, if man's resurrection from the dead depends 
 upon God alone, and no human power can effect it ; so 
 must the staie and condition of man depend equally upon 
 God, and be equally beyond the reach of human agency. 
 Suppose tor instance, a man should set himself to work 
 and attempt to get himself raised up from the dead 
 with four arms instead of two. We should smile at the 
 folly of the man, and call him a visionary enthusiast, 
 as a man dest/Lute oi common sense. But really, is 
 
\(JS NATURE OF SALVATION. 
 
 there any thing absolutely more absurd in the supposi- 
 tion, that we can by our works procure a couple of 
 bodily organs in the resurrection ; than that these same 
 works can procure us those mental qualifications there, 
 on which our eternal happiness shall depend ? Is there 
 in reality any thing more preposterous in the supposition 
 that God has made our corporeal organization in the re- 
 surrection, dependent upon our works, than in the idea, 
 that he has suspended our mental or moral organization 
 upon these works ? I judge not, and the only reason 
 why one appears more absurd than the other, may be 
 found in the fact, that one is the countenance of an old 
 acquaintance, while the other is that of a stranger. 
 
 The truth is, that man can by his faith and works do 
 something toward ameliorating his condition here ; but 
 he cannot procure his resurrection from the dead ; and 
 if he cannot procure the thing itself, much less can he 
 procure any modifications of it. All that man is, and 
 all that he ca7i he in the resurrection, he must owe to 
 God alone; his feeble works cannot reach one line be- 
 yond the grave, nor can they make one hair black or 
 white in the resurrection from the dead. That resur- 
 rection Itself is the free gift of God, upon which man 
 has no claim whatever, and all its blessings or joys, are 
 also as perfectly free on the part of God, and equally 
 unmerited on the part of man. " The trumpet shall 
 sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and 
 we shall be changed." " So when this mortal shall put 
 on immortality, and this corruptible shall put on incor- 
 ruption, then shall be brought to pass the saying that 
 is written, death is swallowed up in victory. Oh ! death 
 where is thy sting? Oh! grave where is thy victory! 
 The sting of death is sin; the strength of sin is the law. 
 But thanks be (not to us, or our faith or works) but unto 
 
NATURE OF SALVATION. J HO 
 
 God, who giveth us the victory through our Lurd Jesus 
 Chnst.'- 
 
 This IS the salvation which God has prepared for a 
 world, and in this sense God is the Saviour of all men. 
 Death the last enemy shall be destroyed, and man shall 
 be saved from his power. And it is a remarkable fact, 
 that this salvation is never spoken of as depending 
 upon the agency of man, or any thing else but the 
 power of God. " He shall change our vile body that it 
 may be fashioned like unto Christ's glorious body," and 
 this shall be done by " the working of that mighty 
 power whereby he is able to subdue all things unto 
 himself." 
 
 Brethren, '' be ye strong in the Lord, and in the 
 power of his might," and " think it not strange concern- 
 ing the fiery trials that are to try you ;" for if Paul and 
 the early disciples " labored and suffered reproach be- 
 cause they trusted in the living God, who was the Sa- 
 viour of all men, especially of them that believed," think 
 not that ye shall escape the reproach of the world, if ye 
 trust in the same God. But in the midst of all re- 
 proaches, hold fast the profession of your faith without 
 wavering, and the Lord make you perfect in every good 
 word and w^rk. 
 15 
 
i > REPENTANCE. 
 
 SERMON XII. 
 REPENTANCE. 
 
 *' And they went out, and preached that men should repent." Mark vl. !& 
 
 There is, perhaps, no subject which is more agitated 
 m the religious world than that of repentance. It is 
 not always the case, however, that the subject upon 
 which most is said, is best understood. " Conversion," 
 " regeneration," being " born again," " getting religion," 
 " obtaining a hope," " experiencing a change," are 
 phrases in common use, and they are, I believe, em- 
 ployed as about synonymous with repentance ; and yet^ 
 if you were to ask what precise, and definite idea is at- 
 tached to any of them, I imagine it would be somewhat 
 difficult to obtain a very satisfactory answer. They are 
 phrases, used in a vague and indefinite sense, to denote 
 something that can be felt, but cannot be explained. 
 Certain awful fears of the wrath and curse of God; 
 some horrible feelings of despair, succeeded by a sud- 
 den and mysterious burst of light and joy, would em- 
 brace the amount of the meaning of these terms as they 
 are generally employed. 
 
 That the doctrine of repentance is taught in the Bible, 
 no man can doubt for a moment ; and that the early 
 disciples made it a somewhat prominent theme of their 
 ministry, is evident from the text; for when they were 
 sent out on their mission of love and mercy, the histori- 
 ttDL says, " they went out, and preached that men should 
 
REPENTANCE. 177i 
 
 repent." Such being the importance of the subject, 
 and such the general confusion of ideas in relation to it, 
 I sh-all make it the business of this discourse to explain 
 the nature and utility of repentance. 
 
 In relation to the first of these particulars, the nature 
 of repentance, it may be observed that it is not, as some 
 suppose, a mere sorrow for sin. The thief who is de- 
 tected, and is on his way to the penitentiary, may be, 
 and doubtless often is, very sorry that he committed the 
 crime; but that is not repentance. The murderer, on 
 the scaffold, is doubtless very sorry that he murdered ; 
 but that feeling of sorrow is very far from true repent- 
 ance. So a man may become alarmed at his condition 
 as a sinner. He may be told, and may believe, that he 
 is exposed to the curse of God, and that he is every mo- 
 ment in danger of the deep damnation of hell ; and from 
 these considerations he may be very sorry that he has 
 sinned; but such sorrow as this has little to do with 
 true evangelical repentance. There is another, and a 
 different kind of sorroAv, which is far more useful. In 
 these cases the sorrow is selfish, and proceeds from a 
 view of the real or supposed personal evils consequent 
 upon crime, rather than from a conviction of the ingrat- 
 itude and wrong of the crime itself. In such a casfe, 
 the thief or the murderer is more sorry that he has betn 
 detected, than that he has stolen or murdered, and ine 
 sinner regrets more that he must go to hell than that he 
 has sinned against heaven. 
 
 But there is a soi/ow which is concerned in repent- 
 ance, which ought to be exercised by us all. It pro- 
 ceeds from a sense of guilt itself, rather than from any 
 view of punishment, It results from a discovery of the 
 great and abundant goodness of God, the excellency of 
 his law, and the strong and immutable obligations we 
 
172 REPENTANCE. 
 
 aie under to ove, serve and obey God. The man who 
 exercises ihis sorrow, mourns for his«in, on account o\ 
 its own guilt and the wickedness of the thing itself. 
 He sees thai it is wrong, and though God has not 
 threatened to punish him at all for it, he would not 
 grieve the less on that account. This is called in the 
 scriptures " Godly sorrow." But even this is not re- 
 pentance. The apostle says, " Godly sorrow xoorketh 
 repentance," and of course even Godly sorrow cannot 
 be, of itself, that repentance which it worketh. It is 
 but one of the means which are useful in bringing about 
 repentance; but it is not repentance itself. 
 
 Repentance, as taught in the Bible, is no more nor less 
 than an actual turning from the love and practice of sin 
 to the love and practice of virtue. I have no faith at 
 all in a repentance which leaves a man as bad as it 
 found him, or which affects him only on the sabbath or 
 in the church. If a man has been unjust, and he learns 
 to hale injustice, and turns from its practice to follow 
 justice, in his intercourse with his fellow-men ; that man 
 has repented. If a man has been a drunkard, and turns 
 from his drunkenness to the love and practice of tem- 
 perance, that man has repented. And so of any and 
 all the vices that degrade humanity. To repent is to 
 turn from them, and commence and continue the prac- 
 tice of righteousness. It is to " break off our sins by 
 righteousness, and our iniquities by turning to the 
 Lord." This is the Bible doctrine of repentance, and 
 nothing short of this is worthy the name. 
 
 I regret to say that repentance, in the eyes of the 
 world, at this day, has little or no connexion with the 
 practice of man, in the every day business of life. It is 
 a matter for the sabbath and for the church, rather thao 
 for the store, the workshop, the counting-house, or the 
 
REPENTANCE. 173 
 
 market-place. ^ shall be best uncle rstood by taking a 
 single case, as an illustration. Here is a man who is 
 a, merchant, and though he is not an outrageous sinner, 
 yet he loves money like most men, and is not over and 
 above scrupulous about the means of obtaining it. He 
 will recommend an article, which he wishes to sell, 
 considerably above what truth will justify, and if he 
 can make a good bargain by using a little deception, he 
 does not hesitate to do so. He will overreach an igno- 
 rant customer, and take from him more than justice 
 would give. He sometimes grinds the face of the poor, 
 with whom he deals, and is not particular in regard to 
 the wants or rights of others. I have known this man 
 for some time, and finally in a lime of excitement a mu- 
 tual friend comes to me with much apparent satisfac- 
 tion, and informs me that this man has repented. My 
 reply is, I am glad of it, for he certainly needed repent- 
 ance, as much as some others of my acquaintance. 
 But really, sir, I have not seen the evidence of his re- 
 pentance. 1 have been in his store frequently and have 
 been acquainted with his practice, and truly I do not 
 see but he continues to do about the same that he has 
 done heretofore. He appears as anxious to make a 
 good bargain as ever, and all his operations are carried 
 on upon the same principles as formerly. True, I have 
 noticed that his countenance has appeared a little elon- 
 gated of late, and I thought perhaps he might have 
 met with some loss that troubled him a little. I have 
 also noticed, that he passed by me rather coolly ; and 
 in one or two instances, when a very large story was to 
 be told, I have known him step aside and let a clerk tell 
 It for him. But except a little more gloom of counte- 
 nance, and some reserve of manner, I have seen no. par- 
 ticular change in the man. Is it not possible that you 
 15* 
 
174 REPENTANCE. 
 
 arc m'.staken about the fact of his having repented 1 ' 
 Oh, no, He certainly has repented, for I was present 
 when he ^^ got religion.'''' He went to our church, and 
 during a powerful sermon he was struck " under con- 
 viction," came forward for the prayers of God's pecple, 
 and in due time was converted, and he is now a membei 
 of the oliurch. Very well, I grant all that, the man 
 might have been alarmed, and no doubt he felt much 
 better when the alarm had subsided; but the church is 
 the last place in the world any man should go, to ascer- 
 tain who has, and who has not repented. I should be 
 pleased to know what improvement you have seen in 
 the man's subsequent conduct which leads you to the 
 belief that he has repented 1 Why, he has been a 
 regular attendant upon the Gospel ordinances every sab- 
 bath. He has prayed in his family every day, and is 
 active in seeking the salvation of the souls of sinners 
 around him. All this he has done, and there can be no 
 doubt that he has repented. 
 
 All this may be very conclusive to some minds, but I 
 must have another and a different kind of evidence be- 
 fore I can say that all my doubts are removed. The 
 man may be very punctual at church, and very devout, 
 so far as appearances are concerned, while there; and 
 at the same time, be a very bad man when out of 
 church. He may pray to be seen of men, and his very 
 pfayers be designed as a cloak for iniquity. He may 
 manifest a great anxiety to save the souls of sinners^ 
 but I want to see him treat their bodies a little bettei 
 before I can allow that the genuineness of his repent, 
 ance is placed beyond ail question. Has he ever said., 
 as one of old, " Lo ! the half of ray goods I give to the ' 
 poor, and if I have taken any thing unlawfully from any 
 man, I res to/ e him fourfold." Where is the evidence 
 
REPENTANCE. 'l76 
 
 that lie either loves justice better, or practises it more 
 than formerly ? Where is the evidence that he is a bet- 
 ter husband and father ; a more kind friend or a better 
 "itizen, or even a more honest man ? Where is the man 
 who will say of him " behold this man has returned to 
 me the gold which he unjustly took from my purse 1"" 
 Where are the poor, the widows and the fatherless, that 
 have been benefited by his repentance, and can say 
 now what they never said of him before, " behold our 
 friend and benefactor, who fed us when we were hungry, 
 and clothed us when we were naked ?" Nay, where 
 are the men of business who will point to his store, and 
 say, " there lives the man who in former times would 
 cheat us in a trade, but he has repented and is now an 
 honest man. Let us turn in hither and buy, for he will 
 not deceive us; his words are faithful and true, and no 
 guile is found upon his tongue." 
 
 These are the evidences of repentance, and any thmg 
 short of this is but a spurious cheat, as far from the true 
 evangelical repentance of the Bible as the east is from 
 the west. I want a repentance which makes a man 
 honest in his dealings, faithful and true to his word, kind 
 and charitable to the poor, forgiving toward his enemies 
 and benevolent in his feelings and acts to alL Any thing 
 that falls short of these effects I must reject as unworthy 
 the name of repentance. 
 
 I may remark further, that repentance to be genuine 
 and lasting must proceed from proper motives. Of these 
 motives however, man cannot judge infallibly, for we 
 can see only the outward act, but cannot penetrate the 
 heart. A man may refrain from stealing because he is 
 afraid of the penitentiary, and still be a thief at heart, 
 and scarcely less guilty than if he had actually laid his 
 haid unlawfully upcn his neighbour's goods. So a maA 
 
176 REPENTANCE. 
 
 may correct some of the irre2:ulantics of his life because 
 he is afraid of hell or the Devil, and still remain as much 
 in love with sin as ever, but this is not genuine repent- 
 ance. . 
 
 The Apostle preached "repentance toward God," not 
 towards hell, or the prince of Darkness; and I confess 
 I have little confidence in a repentance which proceeds 
 from fear of punishment of any kind. The repentance 
 of the Gospel has God for its object, and the true peni- 
 tent thinks little or nothing of the punishment that is 
 due him for his sins. His eye is fixed on God and he 
 sees in him so much of purity and goodness that he ab- 
 hors himself, and repents in dust and ashes. He feels 
 that he has sinned against a Father's love, which has 
 followed him all his life long, and he loathes sin for its 
 own sake, and turns from it with disgust to run with 
 cheerful alacrity in the path of duty. 
 
 These are in brief, my views of repentance. Rela- 
 tive to the long agitated question, whether repentance is 
 the work of God's irresistible power, or of the agency 
 of man, or of both conjoined, I have but little to say. 
 It may suffice to remark, that repentance is as much the 
 work of the creature, as any other act of a man's life. 
 Man repents as he does every other act, under the influ- 
 ence of motives. Take away all motives from man and 
 he will neither repent nor do any thing else. 
 
 Suppose, for the sake of an illustration, a man sees a 
 quantity of gold in such a situation that he can steal it 
 and appropriate it to his own use. He is the creature 
 of infirmity, the temptation is strong, and he finally 
 lakes that which is not his own. Now in that act there 
 is evidently no need of a special and immediate inter- 
 position of the irresistible power of God. On the con- 
 trary the motives presented are fully sufficieat lo account 
 
REPENTANCE. 177 
 
 for the act. After he has obtained the gold he begins 
 to reflect seriously upon his ways. He sees that he has 
 violated one of those sacred principles on which the 
 happiness and even the existence of civil society depend. 
 He feels that he has perhaps beggared a friend, disgraced 
 himself and family, and above all that he has sinned 
 against God, and laid the foundation for years of remorse 
 and misery. All these things operate as motives and 
 press it heavily upon him, to return his ill gotten gain, 
 and forsake his sin. He finally resolves to return the 
 gold to its owner, and carries that resolution into effect, 
 and henceforward he walks in the way of honesty and 
 justice. That w^as repentance, and it was as much the 
 act of that man's agency as any other act of his life. 
 There was no more need of the special and irresistible 
 power of God to induce that man to return the money, 
 than there was to make him steal it in the first instance. 
 In both cases he acted as man always acts under the in- 
 fluence of motives, and these motives are in my judge- 
 ment fully suflScient to account for the whole matter, 
 without the necessity of bringing in a special interposi- 
 tion of the power of God. 
 
 I do not deny the agency of God in the work of re- 
 pentance nor in any thing else, for it is " in him we live 
 and move and have our being." I joyfully recognise the 
 evidence of hxs presence and power in every breath that 
 moves our heaving lungs ; and I know that without him 
 we can do nothing. But the idea I wish to impress upon 
 your minds is, that God in the economy of his grace, as 
 in every thing else, works by means. His gospel is the 
 instrument of working repentance, and when its vast 
 power is applied, it is able to do the work, and hence 
 there is no more need of a special interposition of his 
 power to produce repentance, than ill bringing about any 
 
78 RE^E^ tance. 
 
 other of Jhe plans of his gracious providence, the means 
 of which he has already appointed. 
 
 These being my views of that matter, I lay them be- 
 fore you in all frankness, because I would, if I could, per- 
 suade men to repent, and strip them of that excuse w hich 
 is so often heard, that they cannot repent, for repentance 
 must be wrought by the power of God, and they must 
 wait for him to work. I tell you that you have the same 
 ability to repent that you have to do any thing else, and 
 it is high time that every one of us should set about 
 that work in sober earnest, with a full determination 
 that depending upon God, as we should in all cases, we 
 will subdue every unhallowed passion, forsake every 
 known sin, and practice every known virtue. 
 
 I have already said that repentance consists not in 
 feelings alone, but in an actual turning from the practice 
 of sin to the practice of virtue. It may be proper to 
 show that this is a scriptural view of the subject. You 
 will doubtless recollect that our blessed Saviour intro- 
 duced the case of two servants as illustrations of the 
 duty of repentance. They were both commanded to 
 do a certain service. One said, I go, and went not. But 
 the other said, I go not, and afterward he repented and 
 went. He did not repent of what he had said and still 
 refused to obey, but he repented and went and performed 
 the work, and he was justified, while the other was con- 
 demned. Now this approval is good evidence that Jesus 
 considered that repentance, and that only as genuine, 
 which consisted in doing the works that God commanded. 
 
 But I need not dwell at greater length on this part 
 of the subject, for I presume I am already under- 
 stood. I say yet, once more, good works, of an un- 
 doubted and undying character ; works of justice, kind- 
 ness, benevolence, charity, and truth, are the only 
 
KEPENTANCl,. 179 
 
 evidence of genuine repentance ; and to these must the 
 appeal be nnade, if we would determine with any toler- 
 able degree of certainty, whether a man has, or has not 
 repented. 
 
 It may be said, as it has often been said, that men 
 may be good moral men, from interested motives ; trom 
 a love of popularity, or a good name. My answer is, 
 that the thing is possible, but that is not my business. 1 
 cannot judge men's motives in all cases. The Saviour 
 says, " ye shall know them by their fruits." " Grapes 
 do not grow on thorns, nor figs on thistles." Hence, 
 when I find the good fruit, I am bound to admit that the 
 tree is good also. 
 
 I come now to speak of the utility of repentance. 
 
 What benefits will result to us from an exercise of 
 true repentance ? Will repentance save us from endless 
 wo in another world ? I answer, no — for the best of all 
 possible reasons; that in the economy of God's govern- 
 ment and grace, man never stood exposed to any such 
 calamity; and it is idle to say that repentance, or any 
 thing else, can save us from something of which we 
 were never in danger. When it shall have been proved 
 that God has placed man in danger of such a fate, it 
 will be time enough to talk of being saved from it by 
 repentance. As that has not yet been proved, we will 
 not enter further upon a discussion of that matter. 
 
 Will repentance secure for us the joys of a blessed im- 
 mortality in heaven ? I answer, no — for that was secured 
 by the immutable promise of him that cannot lie, from 
 the foundation of the world, and is the free gift of God, 
 bestowed upon man, not as the reward of works, but as 
 the free bounty of a benevolent and good Creator. Does 
 any man hope for a state, of endless bliss on account of 
 his repentance or works ? If so, he may for ever rest 
 
180 llEFENTAXCK. 
 
 assured that his is any thing else but the hc/)e of a 
 Christian. God has laid in Zion a corner stone, tried 
 and precious, and upon thai our hopes must be reared, 
 or they will fail in the day of trial. That stone is Christ, 
 who rose triumphant over the power of death, and 
 brought life and immortality to light; thus giving us 
 hope that as he lives, so shall we live also. " Other 
 foundation can no man lay than that which is laid," and 
 he that rejects this foundation to build upon his own 
 works, will find to his cost, that he is building a totter- 
 ing Babel that cannot abide the wind or the storm. 
 
 But the objector is ever ready to ask, if your doctrine 
 is true, and we are all to be saved at last, what is the 
 use of repentance ? I answer plainly to the point. Re- 
 pentance will give to man, in all cases, 
 
 <' Th>e soul's calm sunshine, and the heartfelt joy." 
 
 It will make a man calm, contented, and happy in life, 
 resigned and joyful in sickness, and triumphant in death. 
 It will save a man here, from those dreadful miseries 
 that are always mingled in the cup of wickedness. 
 " There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked, but 
 they are as the troubled ocean, Avhose waters cast up 
 mire and dirt continually." He that repents of all sin, 
 and walks v/ith obedient footsteps in the way of righte- 
 ousness, is saved from these sorrows, and receives as the 
 rich reward of his labor that perfect peace which is the 
 inheritance of those, and those only, who keep the law 
 of God. Say what you will of the pleasures of the 
 wicked, with the Bible and the experience of the world 
 before me, I boldly declare, that there is no happy man 
 on earth, but the good man. He lives at peace with 
 himself, and the world. He enjoys communion with 
 God, and the spirits of the just. His ways are ways of 
 
REPENTANCE. 131 
 
 pleasantness, and all his paths are peace. He fears not 
 the pestilence that walketh in darkness, and wasteth af 
 noonday, for God is with him. He is humble in pros- 
 perity, peaceful and calm in adversity. The blessing of 
 him that was ready to perish comes upon him while 
 living, and at last, in a good old age, like a shock of com 
 fully ripe, he is gathered to his fathers; and as he stands 
 upon the brink of the grave, he looks back upon a life 
 well spent, without a sigji, or a tear, and peacefully 
 goes down to the tomb, with the blessings and the 
 benedictions of children and the community upon hiS: 
 memory. 
 
 Is there no good in all this ? Is there nothing in- 
 virtue itself that is desirable, that man should love it for 
 its own sake ? Or is man so far gone, that he must h& 
 considered incapable of appreciating that which is lovely 
 and good, and to be brought to virtue by the mercenary 
 hope of an extra reward in another world; or driven to 
 its practice by the slavish fear of hell ^nd the devil ? 
 Must the fear of that "hangman's whip," be constantly 
 before our eyes, to keep us in awe, that we curse not 
 God to his face ? 
 
 Lay another world altogether out of the question, and 
 see if you canot discover any motive to rej)entance. Go 
 to the drunkard, and mark the wreck of happiness over 
 which he mourns. Behold him reeling from his mid- 
 night carousals to his wretched abode. Mark him when 
 the effervescence of the glass is gone, and in moments 
 of calm reflection, he sits him down to contemplate his 
 ways. He sees the tears of a family falling around 
 him, and feels that he is the guilty cause of their woes; 
 and as for himself, he is comfortless and poor, and must 
 soon go down to that grave, ai which the hand of affec- 
 tion will rear no stone to tell of its mmate. He knows 
 16 
 
182 REPENTANCE. 
 
 that he is whirling with fearful haste, doAvn to the abodes 
 of death, and that for his wife and children naught but 
 poverty remains. Is there no motive for him to repent? 
 Would it do no good for him to dash the cup from his 
 lips, and live "soberly, righteously, and godly in this 
 world ?" Ah ! yes. It would change that abode of 
 wretchedness to a blooming paradise of joy. It would 
 dry up those falling tears, and give to the penitent him- 
 self, firmness of body, and peace of mind, that he can 
 never enjoy while engaged in the practice of sin. 
 
 The same, or similar remarks will apply to every 
 species and form of sin ; for though the effects of this 
 are more outward and visible than in some other cases, 
 they are not more bitter, certain, or sure. Disguise it 
 as you will, all sin is misery. There is sorrow jn every 
 cup that vice presents to her votaries. She may mingle 
 It as she will, to make it sweet to the taste ; death and 
 misery are there, and when drank, it will be worm- 
 wood, gall and iitterness in the system. God has bound 
 sin and misery together by a tie that no man can put 
 asunder, and he that practises the one must feel the 
 other. 
 
 There is still another idea, that should not be passed 
 over. The joys of hope in the Gospel are sweet, and 
 these can only be truly enjoyed by the man who repents 
 of sin with full purpose of heart. Men may speculate 
 and theorize as they will; but the truth is, there is such 
 a damning power in sin, that it will always prevent the 
 enjoyment of faith, however correctly it may be held in 
 .theory. Suspicion and doubt are always the companions 
 of guilt. " The wicked flee when no man pursueth, but 
 the righteous are as bold as a lion." Fearful forebodings 
 of the future, and dark and dreadful recollections of the 
 past» will crowd upon the mind of the guilty, and though 
 
REPENTANCE. 183 
 
 ne may lock his crimes in the secrecy of his own heart, 
 yet in the darkness of the silent night, they -j*^ill haunt 
 him as ghosts of despair, and plant thorns in the pillow 
 upon which he vainly strives to rest his weary head. 
 The light of truth may shine around him, but it has no 
 charms for him. He cannot live at ease — he cannot die 
 in peace, for there is a canker-worm gnawing at the 
 very root of the tree of happiness. " Repent, then, and 
 be converted every one of you, that your sins may be 
 blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come 
 from the presence of the Lord," and through all coming 
 life, 
 
 " Know then this truth, enough for man to know. 
 That virtue alone is happiness below.*' 
 
184 PAITB. 
 
 SERMON XIII. 
 
 FAITH. 
 
 •' For what If some did not believe 7 Shall their unbelief make thra faith of 
 God without effect 3" Romans iii. 3 
 
 The scriptures of the New Testament everywhere 
 insist upon the necessity of faith in the Lord Jesus 
 Christ. So frequently is faith urged upon the reader, 
 . that even the tyro in Christian knowledge would readi- 
 ly inform you that it is absolutely necessary to believe. 
 But the precise nature and utility of faith, and the con- 
 sequences of unbelief, are subjects not so generally nor 
 so well understood. To explain and illustrate these 
 points shall be the business of this discourse, and with- 
 out further introductory remarks, I come to that work. 
 
 I. What is the nature of Christian faith? 
 
 My reply is, that faith is the assent which the mind 
 gives to the truth of a proposition, from the force of real 
 or supposed evidence, presented to the understanding, 
 and it will always be weak or strong, in proportion as 
 the evidence appears to be conclusive or otherwise. 
 Christian faith is a belief in the mission and teachings 
 of the Lord Jesus Christ, and so far as the nature of the 
 thing itself is concerned, it differs not from faith in any 
 thing else. If I should inform you that I had recently 
 seen a friend of yours, you would be likely to believe 
 me. That belief is faith, and it will be weak or strong 
 in jroportion to > our confidence in my veracity. Th« 
 
rAiTH. 186 
 
 same in its nature is faith in Christ. The same, in 
 fact, is all faith, and the only imaginable difference in 
 different cases, is not in the thing itself, bus a the sub- 
 jects upon which it is employed. Christ claims to be 
 the Messiah, the Son of God, the divinely appointed 
 messenger of his Father's grace and truth, and the Sa- 
 viour of the world. He gives you, as proof that he is 
 what he professes to be, the fulfilment of the ancient 
 promises in him, and appealing to his works — to the 
 signs and miracles and wonders that God wrought by 
 him, in the midst of the people, and to his triumphant 
 resurrection from the dead — he shows that his mission 
 is divine, and that with him is the mighty power of 
 God. By this evidence the judgement is convinced, and 
 from its throne gives out the decision : " Thou art the 
 Christ, the Son of the living God." This is faith, and 
 it is produced by the same means, and is in its nature 
 tfie same as faith exercised upon any other subject. 
 The evidence of these miracles is conclusive; the rec- 
 ord is given us by men who were eye-witnesses, and 
 whose characters slander itself dare not assail. With 
 such evidence as this, men may believe with an un- 
 doubted faith, and there is no more need of a miracle 
 or of any supernatural agency to produce faith in Christ, 
 than to secure faith in any thing else, which you re- 
 ceive on the strength of evidence. 
 
 If your friend informs you that he saw a man perform 
 a certain act, you can believe him without any special 
 interposition of divine power. So, if you are informed 
 on good authority, that about eighteen hundred years ago, 
 there appeared in Judea a man called Jesus, who claim- 
 ed to be sent of God, and sustained his claims by signs 
 and miracles, and by his own resurrection from the 
 dead; if the historians inform you that they were with 
 16* 
 
i86 FAITH. 
 
 him, and saw the lame walk, the blind see, the deal 
 hear, and the dead come forth from the grave at his 
 word ; that they knew him well, and saw him expire 
 upon the cross, and were the eye-witnesses of his resur- 
 rection; you can believe that also; and there is no 
 more need of a special interposition of God's spirit to 
 produce faith in one case than the other. The one is 
 faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and the other is faith in 
 your friend, and both are produced by the force of evi- 
 dence. 
 
 I make these remarks, because it has long been fash- 
 ionable to mystify the subject of faith by involving it m 
 the mists of metaphysical subtleties, and logical nice- 
 ties. Hence we hear of " divine faith," and " human 
 faith," " historical faith," and " temporal faith," and I 
 know not what else ; and men have labored much in 
 drawing out nice hair-splitting distinctions between 
 these various kinds of faith. It is all " vanity and vex- 
 ation of spirit," a mere play upon words without profit. 
 All faith is one and indivisible in nature, differing only 
 in degree, and in the objects upon which it is employed. 
 
 The opinion that Christian faith is entirely different 
 from any other kind of faith, and beyond the reach of 
 human agency, is pernicious in the extreme. It induces 
 men to stand complaining of their want of faith, and 
 praying for more, and waiting for some strange and di- 
 vine afflatus to come like the shock of a galvanic bat- 
 tery, and give them all faith in a moment. This keeps* 
 men weak and sickly in the Christian life. If a man 
 wants more faith, let him work as well as pray. Let 
 him candidly and perseveringly gird himself to the work 
 of a patient examination of the evidences, on whicn 
 the Gospel rests its claims for our credence. He will 
 thus find that the Gospel has laid its foundation on the 
 
FAITH. 187 
 
 immovable rocks of eternal truth, he will know what 
 he believes, and xchy he believes, and with an enlighten- 
 ed mind he will drink in the waters of living faith, fresh 
 from the e\-erlasting spring, and rejoice that the found- 
 ation of God standeth sure and steadfast. Does any 
 man lack faith, I say again, let him work as well as 
 pray; for I am certain that calm and patient investiga- 
 tion of the evidences of revealed religion, is the best an- 
 tidote to skepticism. The spectres of infidelity will flee 
 before it as chaff" before the wind. 
 
 Let it be borne in mind then, that Christian faith takes 
 cognizance of the mission, death, resurrection, and teach- 
 ings of Jesus Christ, and is, in its nature, simply the as- 
 sent which the mind gives to the truth of these things 
 from the force of evidence, and will, in each case, bt 
 weak or strong, in proportion as the evidence is under- 
 stood and appreciated. I pass to inquire, 
 
 II. What is the utility of Christian faith ? 
 
 In answering this question, there are two extremes 
 into which men have run. On the one hand it is 
 thought that no man can be saved without faith, and 
 that the eternal destinies of the world are suspended 
 upon the conditions of faith or unbelief This is one 
 extreme. On the other hand, it is thought by some, 
 that Christian faith is entirely useless, and men are as 
 well off without as with it. This is another extreme, 
 and it will appear in the sequel, that the truth lies be- 
 tween the two. 
 
 The fallacy of the first of these positions is evident 
 from the single consideration that truth is immutable 
 and exists independent of the faith or unbelief of man. 
 If faith is what I have said it is, the assent of the mind 
 to the truth of the Gospel, then evidently the Gospel 
 TO'ist exist beforehand, and its r*uth or falsity can in no 
 
188 FAITH. 
 
 way be affected by faith, which is always ex* post 
 facto. 
 
 For instance : — It is either true that Christ came and 
 suffered, and labored, and died, and rose from the dead, 
 or it is not. If it is not true, then my faith cannot make 
 it so. But, if it be true that he thus came, then it 
 would be equally true even though the whole world 
 should refuse to belie v^e it. 
 
 Again. I suppose it is this day true, that you and I 
 will either be saved or lost. If it be true that we are to 
 be lost, then, surely, no faith can save us; and if it be 
 true that we are to be saved, then it is equally certain, 
 thatno want of faith in us can make it untrue. Hence then, 
 I conclude, that the sentiment which teaches that man 
 can make or unmake God's truth at pleasure, and that 
 men are to be saved in another world because they are 
 fortunate enough to believe it is so, or lost because they 
 believe it is not so, is grossly absurd and utterly unphi- 
 losophical. 
 
 Look at the subject in another light. Millions on 
 millions of the human family have never heard even the 
 name of Christ. They bow down before dumb idols 
 and worship the works of their own hands. They pay 
 their devotions in temples whose inmates never yet 
 dreamed that such a being as Jesus of Nazareth, ever 
 had an existence. Besides all this, even in Christian 
 countries there are many, very many, who go down to 
 the grave in infancy, or in the early morning of their ex- 
 istence, ere yet their minds are capable of exercising 
 faith in Christ, or of understanding his doctrines. All 
 these must be lost, if it be true that none but believers 
 can be saved ; for they all die without faith. 
 
 I ask you — Is there consistency or reason, or even hu- 
 manity, in a doctrine which teaches that God will curse 
 
FAITH. 189 
 
 with endless wo, "the distant islands of the sea," 
 merely because they did not believe on him, of whose 
 name tiiey have never heard, and of whose religion, the 
 very circumstances in which God has placed them, com- 
 pel them to be as profoundly ignorant as they are of the 
 inhabitants of the distant stars? Is it reasonable to 
 suppose, that a God of all perfection and goodness, will 
 curse all who die in infancy, merely because he saw 
 proper to take them out of the world before they were 
 capable of exercising faith in the Gospel ? These are 
 necessary and unavoidable conclusions from the position, 
 that God has made faith a condition of future salvation, 
 and I warn you not to embrace that position, unless you 
 are prepared to go the whole length, and damn all who 
 do not come up to the condition. « 
 
 But let us turn our attention to the Scriptures, and see 
 what light we can gather from them, upon the subject 
 in question. " What if some did not believe ? Shall 
 their unbelief make the faith of God without effect ? 
 God forbid ! Yea, let God be true and every man a liar." 
 I may remark, here, that the word rendered faith in the 
 last clause of the text, is the same that is often translat- 
 ed faithfulness, and that it should have been so trans- 
 lated in this instance, is evident from the consideration 
 that God cannot be said to have faith in the coramcm 
 acceptation of the term. To him all things are distinctly 
 and infallibly known, and hence nothing can be a matter 
 of faith with him. In the new and improved version of 
 the testament, the passage reads thus: "What if some 
 had not faith ? Shall their want of faith make the faith- 
 fulness of God of no effect ? By no means, rather let 
 God be true, though every man be a liar." 
 
 The doctrine of the text is, therefore, evidently this; — 
 ** That faith in man can have no effect upon the faith* 
 
190 FAITH. 
 
 fulness of God. Though some do not believe^ yei God 
 is faithful and true." The controversy ought then, in 
 reality, to be with the Apostle, and not with me, for 
 when I assert that a want of faith cannot cause God's 
 faithfulness to fail, I am but repeating the clear and un- 
 questionable doctrine of my text. 
 
 But there are on record some facts, that can be heard 
 upon this subject, and to them I will appeal for a further 
 illustration of the truth of my position. When God 
 speaks either a threatening or a promise, he is faithful to 
 his word, and I propose to look back for a moment and 
 inquire what effect faith or unbelief has had upon the 
 faithfulness of God, as manifested in the fulfilment of 
 his threaienings of punishment upon the guilty. 
 » Look at the years beyond the flood, and learn wisdom 
 from the fate of the Antediluvians. They had become 
 grossly corrupt and hopelessly wicked, and God threat- 
 ened to destroy them with a flood. He commissioned 
 Noah to make known this, his determination, and ac- 
 cordingly while the ark was in preparation he preached 
 righteousness to the people, and warned them, that God 
 had threatened to sweep them from the face of the earth 
 by a flood. But they heeded him not. His admonitions 
 passed as the idle wind, and his words were to them as 
 one that mocked. They believed not, but God was 
 faithful. The rushing orrents of water, the open win- 
 dows of heaven, the bioken fountains of the great deep, 
 and the desolated earth bore witness, that when God 
 speaks, he is faithful to the performance of his word, 
 though man believes not. 
 
 Take another illustration. The children of Jacob 
 lived in peace, for aught that would appear to the con- 
 trary, until there came an intimation that God would 
 raise Joseph above his brethren. The brethren would 
 
FAITH. 191 
 
 not believe that such a thing would be brought to pass, 
 and in order to make sure work of it, they sold him a 
 slave into Egypt. But mark the wonders of the divine 
 power. God's purpose was fulfilled, and even the very 
 means that they employed in their blindness to justify 
 their unbelief, were made the instruments of manifest- 
 ing the divine faithfulness, and proving that God is not 
 less true when men reject his truth than when they 
 receive it by faith. 
 
 The case of the Jews in the days of the Saviour, will 
 afford you another illustration of the point in hand. God 
 by the mouth of his prophets had threatened against 
 them, the most severe and extraordinary judgements. He 
 had forewarned them, that their city and their temple 
 should be destroyed, and the whole naiion should be 
 scattered, a proverb and a by-word among all people. 
 Jesus came and sounded the alarm, informing them that 
 the day of their downfall was drawing nigh ; that even 
 upon that generation, there should come a time of 
 trouble, such as had not been from the beginning of the 
 world to that same time, and upon their heads should 
 fall all the righteous blood that had been shed upon the 
 face of the earth. But they did not believe, and though 
 he wrought many mighty works in confirmation of his 
 mission, yet they rejected him and finally put him to 
 death. Yet God was faithful to his word. Jerusalem 
 was surrounded with armies, the glory of her temple 
 was laid low, and the nation itself rent in fragments and 
 scattered to the four winds of heaven. 
 
 Now in reference to all these instances, we may with 
 propriety ask, "What if some did not believe? Did 
 their unbelief make the faithfulness of God of no effect ?" 
 And the obvious answer is "By no means." Nor is 
 there any conceivable influence, that their unbelief ex- 
 
192 FAITh 
 
 erted upon the firm and immutaole counsels of God. 
 God spoke, and it was done ; he commanded, and it stood 
 fast, and though man refused to believe, yet was God 
 found to be faithful to his word. 
 
 But I need not dwell here, for the great mass of pro- 
 fessors are perfectly willing- to grant, and do in fact be- 
 lieve, that the faith or the unbelief of man, can have no 
 influence upon the faithfulness of God so far as the 
 thrcatenings of his law are concerned. Though the 
 whole world should refuse to believe, yet would God 
 execute them every one. And yet, strange as it may 
 appear, when we come to the ^' sure mercies of David,^^ 
 and the blessings promised iu the covenant of eternal 
 mercy and truth, we shall be told, that God will not be- 
 stow the blessings, because man, in his blindness, does 
 not believe that he intends to do so ! Will it please 
 some man well skilled in the mysteries of the day, to 
 inform us what good reason there is for supposing, that 
 God will be less faithful in the performance of his promises 
 of grace than in the execution of the thrcatenings of his 
 law ? The light of heaven never shone upon a darker in- 
 consistency than this. When God threatened to destroy 
 the old world, he was faithful and true, notwithstanding 
 their unbelief But when he promises to pour down the 
 waters of salvation like an overflowing stream from on 
 high, until they shall cover the earth as the waters cover 
 the face of the sea— Ah ! then we begin to hear of faith, 
 and of the power of unbelief to prevent the fulfilment of 
 the gracious word ! When God threatened to scatter the 
 Jews among all people, he was faithful, and the work 
 was done, though they believed not ; but when he 
 promises to gather them all together again and with 
 them the fulness of the Gentiles; yea, when he lifts his 
 immortal hand and swears by himself, because there is 
 
FAITH. 193 
 
 none greater, that in Christ, he will bless ' all nations 
 and kindreds, and families of the earth;" then we hear, 
 that it is all suspended upon the contingency of faith, and 
 that God cannot fulfil the promise, because man will 
 not believe. I pray you think of these things, and if in 
 all the threatenings of his word, God is faithful and true 
 though men do not believe, what wonderful sagacity is 
 this by which you have discovered, or by what rule of 
 logic have you come to the conclusion, that God is not 
 equally faithful in his promises of salvation even though 
 men do not believe? 
 
 Shall I be told, that these promises are conditional and 
 the condition is faith ? I appeal to the promises them- 
 selves, and they shall refute the assertion. The promise 
 to Abraham is called by the Apostle, the Gospel which 
 was preached to that Patriarch, and thus it reads: "By 
 myself have I sworn, for because thou hast done this, 
 and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, surely in 
 blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will mul- 
 tiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and he shall pos- 
 sess the gates of his enemies, and in thy seed shall all 
 nations be blessed." There is no intimation that this 
 promise depends for its fulfilment upon the faith of man. 
 The apostle speaks of its stability thus: "When God 
 made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by 
 none greater, he swore by himself, that by two immuta- 
 ble things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we 
 might have strong consolation who have fled for refuge 
 to lay hold on the hope set before us; which hope we 
 have as an anchor to the soul sure and steadfast^ 
 
 Again, hear the word of the Lord. " I have sworn by 
 myself, the word hath gone out of my mouth in righte- 
 ousness and shall not return, that unto me every knee 
 shall bow, and every tongue shall swear, surely shall 
 17 ^ 
 
194 FAITH. 
 
 say, in the Lord have I righteousness and strength." is 
 there aught in such language as this, to countenance the 
 idea, that 1 he promised blessing was made dependent 
 upon man's faith, or that it would be withheld if men 
 did not believe ? You know the answer that truth must 
 give, and I leave it with you, satisfied that you will 
 answer it correctly. 
 
 I have noAN told you what faith cannot do. It cannot 
 make God more faithful, nor a want of it cause his faith- 
 fulness to fail ; and I ^r^sume there are some of my 
 hearers who will be rea y to slide into the opposite ex- 
 treme, and say, that if I am right, then faith is of no use 
 at all. There are many who cannot see what on earth 
 should induce Universalists to preach, or exert them- 
 selves at all to make men believe. If, say they, your 
 doctrine be true, and God will bless and save all men in 
 another world, whether they believe or not, pray what 
 is the use of faith, or what difference does it make 
 whether a man believes or not ? This is a question 
 often asked, and it shall now be my business fairly and 
 fully to answer it. 
 
 I. Faith saves man from the darkness and gloom of 
 atheism. 
 
 I can hardly imagine a more miserable condition for 
 man than to be without hope and without God in the 
 world. The child whose parent has gone down to the 
 grave, and who is left an orphan, claims our pity. He 
 looks around him, and there is none to whom he can go 
 for protection and help. He looks to the future, and 
 knows that the path before him is beset with thorns on 
 every side, and " dangers stand thick through all the 
 way." He feels that he must tread that path alone, 
 and single-handed meet the ills of life, while doubt and 
 gloom brood over the result. As feels that orphan, so 
 
FAITH. 95 
 
 feels the man who looks up to heaven, and knows no 
 Father there. He sees chaos and confusion around hira, 
 and he knows that soon " life's busy day will be o'er," 
 and believes that the hour that lays his head in the dust, 
 will witness the eternal end of all his hopes and joys — 
 nay, of his existence itself 
 
 Now, Christian faith saves men from this darksome 
 gloom. It fills the throne of the universe with a God 
 of infinite wisdom and goodness, and sheds a halo of 
 glory over all the things of earth, for it presents them 
 all as under the direction and control of a being too wise 
 to err, and too good to do an injury to any of his creatures. 
 It plants in the heart a child-like confidence in God, and 
 makes man feel like the child that is encircled in the 
 arms of a merciful father. 
 
 11. It saves from the wretchedness, degradation and 
 misery of superstition and idolatry. 
 
 There are few men on earth, who have so far divested 
 themselves of those feelings of dependance, inherent in 
 human nature, as to deny the existence of a God. But 
 it unfortunately happens that many believe in, and wor- 
 ship gods worse than none, whose existpnce is to them 
 the most bitter curse they have to depiore. The gods 
 of the heathen are, for the most part, tyrants of the 
 worst stamp. Wrath that burns exceedingly hot, and 
 cruelty that sheds not a tear, and heaves not a sigh, over 
 the woes of humanity, are the most prominent featilres 
 of their character. Before them the slave cringos with 
 fear and trembling, and the crouching menial howhj in 
 deep despair. On their altars victims bleed and die, and 
 humanity shudders around to witness deeds of blood 
 and cruelty. We, to be sure, are far removed from 
 such scenes, and think little of them ; but yet it is a 
 melancholy truth, that there is not a wind that blows, 
 
196 FAITH. 
 
 which does not waft the deep wailings of suffering igno- 
 rance ; nor does the thunder utter its voice but it is taken 
 as the signal for keener pains, and greater and more 
 heart-rending sacrifices upon the altars of superstition. 
 
 Faith in tlie Gospel saves from this ignorance, and all 
 its attendant train of cruelties, miseries, and immorali- 
 ties. It makes the temple of worship the hallowed 
 sanctuary of joy, and diffuses all abroad in society an 
 influence, that softens and refines, and brings man up to 
 the true dignity of his nature. I ask the hearer to com- 
 pare the condition of the Christian worshipper, with 
 that of the deluded mortal who bows down at the shrine 
 of idolatry, and behold the work of faith. I ask you to 
 compare our own country, with those barbarous nations 
 where the light of Christianity never shone, and ask 
 what makes the difference ? It is faith, and nothing 
 else, that has wrought that difference. Christian faith 
 has gone forth in its power, and changed the " tiger to 
 the lamb, and the vulture to the dove." All that we 
 are, above the pagan, who casts himself down to be 
 crushed beneath the wheels of an idol's car, we owe to 
 the Gospel of Christ. Faith has done it all, and but for 
 that faith, you and I would this day have bowed down 
 to gods of wood and stone. 
 
 III. Faith saves from doubt and fear of the future. 
 
 The future is dark and gloomy to the mind that is 
 ndt enlightened by the knowledge of Christ. The 
 grave yawns in darkness at our feet, and what awaits 
 us beyond that narrow house, no mortal man can tell. 
 But faith speaks, and life dawns upon the death of the 
 grave, and the vision of a world redeemed from sin and 
 death, and made holy and happy in the heavenly king- 
 dom, bursts upon our view. Sin is destroyed, death 
 conquered, and all created humanity delivered from 
 
lAITH. Wl 
 
 bondage, and translated into the glorious libert/ of th« 
 children of God. 
 
 Do you ask me then what faith can do ? My answer 
 is, it can save man from error, superstition, sin, misery, 
 and fear. It can give us good hope and everlasting con- 
 solation, keep us humble in prosperity, sustain us in ad- 
 versity, direct us in all difficulties, support us in sickness, 
 and put a song of victory upon our tongues in the hour 
 of death. It can make the dying bed feel soft as downy 
 pillows are, and when heart and flesh has failed, and the 
 dim eye has closed upon all the beauties of earth, and 
 the frail body lies silent in the grave, it can linger around 
 the house of mourning, and pour its heavenly consola- 
 tions into the bleeding bosoms of the afflicted — wipe the 
 falling tear from the eye of the widow, and hush the 
 moan of her fatherless children, with its inspiring hopes. 
 Oh ! ye afflicted and poor, ye sick and ye sorrowful, ye 
 mourning sons and daughters of sorrow, hold fast the 
 priceless treasures of faith. It is 
 
 " A sovereign balm for every wound, 
 A cordial for your fears." 
 
 Hold it fast, and by no means let it go. And ye, who 
 are without hope and without God in the world, 'ye who 
 are thoughtless and giddy and who care for none of these 
 things, seek ye a living faith as the greatest of all earthly 
 blessings. The day is coming when you will need it. 
 Misfortunes will befall you, your earthly hopes will be 
 blasted, and then you will need the sustaining power of 
 faith. But if you could escape these, still there is a 
 solemn day coming when you will feel your need of a faith 
 so much divine. Sickness and pain will overtake you. 
 Those rosy cheeks will be pale — those sparkling eyes 
 will be sunken and dim — that blooming countenance wiU 
 17* 
 
198 FAITH. 
 
 be hagg-ard and ghastly, and that form, so erect and beau- 
 tiful, will be emaciated and poor upon a dying bed. Some 
 friendly voice will whisper in thy ear the solemn truth, 
 that the day of thy death draweth nigh, and the hour of 
 thy departure is at han(^ Then, if not before, will you 
 feel your need of faith in a better and happier land. 
 Oh ! for God's sake, and for your own sake, lay up treas- 
 ures agamst a day like this, and let your prayer be, 
 
 " Oh ! for a strong, a lasting faith, 
 To credit what Jehovali saith, 
 To hear the message of his Son, 
 And call the joys of heaven our own." 
 
WFLUENCE OF UNIVERSALISM. 109 
 
 SERMON XIV. 
 INFLUENCE OF UNIVERSALISM. 
 
 "Come thou with us and we will do thee good ; for the Lord hath spoken 
 food concerning Israel." Numbers x. 29. 
 
 In ray previous lectures, I have endeavored to prove 
 the truth of the great and leading doctrines of that 
 system of faith, which is known under the name of 
 Universalism. In the present discourse I intend to lay 
 before you, an exposition of the influence which I sup- 
 pose these doctrines are calculated to exercise, upon the 
 hearts and the lives of those who believe. 
 
 There is perhaps no one question more frequently put 
 by the opposers of the doctrine of Universal Salvation, 
 than this, what good will it do to preach or believe it, 
 even if it be true ? The question is an important one, 
 and it shall be treated with all that candor which its 
 importance so obviously demands. 
 
 I profess to you that I would not advocate a system 
 which I did not most religiously believe calculated to 
 promote the interests of man. But believing as I do, 
 most heartily, that every man, woman and child, would 
 be benefited by faith in the doctrine of impartial grace, 
 I am constrained to proclaim it in the midst of obloquy 
 and reproach, and to cr}' unto you wiih affectionate 
 earnestness, " Come thou with us and we will do thee 
 good." If you ask me what good it would do you to 
 believe in this d jctriue ? My answer is, 
 
800 INFLUENCE OF UNIVERSALISM. 
 
 I. It would increase your happiness. 
 
 I make this remark, with the intention of applying it 
 in its broadest and most literal sense. I make no ex- 
 ceptions, but I say there is no human being who would 
 not be made more happy by a living faith in the im- 
 mortal purity^and everlasting felicity of the whole hu- 
 man family. I care not what your present faiih may be ; I 
 care not whether you agree, at present, with the atheist, 
 deist, skeptic, or with any one of the numerous denom- 
 inations of professing christians; one thing I know, you 
 have not a faith which presents more glorious hopes, or 
 more heart-cheering anticipations than Universalism, 
 and it is impossible for you to invent one that shall do 
 so. Immortality and perfect unalloyed felicity for all 
 created intelligences, is the " summum honuni^ " the " ne 
 plus ultra " of all good, beyond which imagination itself 
 cannot proceed. I say, therefore, there is no man among 
 you, who would not be made happier by a firm faith in 
 I a system which promises all that the benevolent heart 
 lean wish, and even more than the most lively imagina- 
 stion can conceive. Let us see if I am not right here. 
 ,■ Suppose you are an atheist ; you believe that this 
 beautiful world came into existence by chance, or sprang 
 from the operation of the laws of matter; and that all 
 its vast concerns, are going on at hap-hazard, or are sub- 
 ject only to the laws of nature. And as for yourself, 
 you are but the being of a day, the offspring of chance, 
 ushered into life, like the insect whose wing glitters in 
 the sunbeam, to sport your little hour, and die to live nc 
 more. You look upward to heaven, and there is nc 
 Father there. You look around you, and all is confu- 
 sion. You look forward, and all is darkness and gloom. 
 You look downward, and the grave yawns at your feet, 
 and the highest hope yod have, is that there you will 
 
INFLLENCt: OF UNIVERSAHSM. 201 
 
 soon feed the greedy worm, and moulder back to your 
 native dust ! 
 
 Need I compare such a faith with that of the chris- 
 tian, in ordor to show that so far as its influence upon 
 human happiness is concerned, the latter is as much 
 above the former, as the heavens are above the earth. 
 I trust such a work is unnecessary, for I have seen the 
 atheist, or at least the man who professed to have no 
 faith in a God, and from his own lips have I had the 
 confession of the happifying influence of the christian 
 faith. Never did I see the man of this sort who would 
 not say to me, " Sir, I Avish I could believe as you do, 
 for could I look up to heaven, and feel that I had a friend 
 and a father there, who would take care of me all my 
 life long, and crown me with immortality at last, I know 
 I should be a happitr, if not a better man." I say then 
 that Universalism heartily believed, would make the 
 atheist more happy than he can be without it. 
 
 But suppose you are a deist ; you believe in the God 
 of nature, and in his general providence, but you have 
 no idea that he stoops to converse with man, or to reveal 
 to him his character or purposes. You know that you 
 must die, and have no hope that you shall live again. 
 The day of your death is the boundary of all your ex- 
 pectations, and you have no idea that you shall live at 
 all beyond the grave. To you heaven is a dream, and 
 immortality a fable. Your children and friends are 
 dying around you, and when you part with them you 
 part to meet no more, and you expect soon to close your 
 own eyes upon all the endearments of earth, and bid a 
 sad and eternal farewell to friends and friendship, to hope 
 and happiness, nay, even to existence itself. 
 
 I am willing to grant that this faith is better than 
 atheism, for there is SDme little comfort to be derived 
 
202 INFLUENCE OF UNIVERSAL IS.M. 
 
 from the thought that the affairs of this world are 
 measuraUy under the government and control of a wise 
 and good creator and governor. But I utter a philo- 
 sophical, as well as a scriptural truth, when I say that 
 this cannot satisfy the desires of the mind, or still those 
 yearnings after immortality which are inwoven with 
 the very constitution of the human soul. Man is so 
 made, that he must necessarily and unavoidably look for- 
 ward to the future, and hope or fear. 
 
 " The soul uneasy and confined fronri home, 
 E,ests and expatiates in the world to come." 
 
 I have said that this is with man unavoidable, for 1 
 believe that he can no more avoid looking into the future, 
 than he can avoid looking backward and remembering 
 the past. But whether it be absolutely unavoidable or 
 not, is of little consequence to our present argument. 
 There is no doubt of the fact, that all men everywhere 
 do draw upon the future for, sources of enjoyment; and 
 there is just as little doubt that a large share of human 
 happiness is derived from ai ticipation. Some have gone 
 so far as to maintain, that the pleasure derived frorri 
 anticipated good, is greater than that produced by the 
 actual possession of the good itself However this may 
 be, it is nevertheless, positively certain, that hope opens 
 rich fountains of happiness to man ; and hence it fol- 
 lows, that any system which limits the sphere of hope 
 to a few years, and cuts it short at death, must deprive 
 man of one of the richest sources of happiness. But I 
 need not argue this quesucn, for I know not that it is 
 ofien dispute J, that a firm hope in future and immortal 
 blessedness, is a blessing well calculated to promote the 
 happiness of man. I may add, that this is a fountain 
 which remains full and overflowing, at the very time 
 
INFLUENCE OF UNIVERSALIS?!. 203 
 
 when it is needed most, when all other sources of felici- 
 ty have failed. 
 
 To the deist, then, we say, " Come thou with us, and 
 we will do thee good." We will give thee a hope that 
 shall make thee happy. We will inspire thee with confi- 
 dence in God, as a friend, in whom we may at all 
 times tr:i<!t without fear of danger or disappointment. 
 We will give thee a hope that shall cheer thee in life, 
 grow brighter and brighter, as the lamp of life burns 
 dim and feeble; sustain thee in affliction, and give 
 thee a triumphant song of victory, when death shall 
 claim his tribute. 
 
 Suppose, again, you are a Christian ; but have unfor- 
 tunately embraced those narrow views of the economy 
 of your Father's grace, that so extensively and unhap- 
 pily prevail in the church, at the present day. You be- 
 lieve that " God from all eternity, has elected some men 
 to be redeemed and everlastingly saved by Christ Jesus, 
 and the remainder he was pleased to pass by, and or- 
 dain to dishonor and wrath, to the praise of his vindic- 
 tive justice." Can such a faith make you calmly and 
 peacefully happy in life, and resigned and joyous in the 
 hour of death ? I doubt it much, because, in the first 
 place, you cannot know for a positive certainty that you 
 are one of the very and precious elect of God ; and so 
 long as there is a lingering doubt upon that question, 
 you must be measurably unhappy. But, in the second 
 place, even if it were possible to remove all doubt upon 
 that question, even that would not be fully satisfactory. 
 There are ties that bind you to your feli(;w-creatures, 
 and give you a deep and abiding interest in their wel- 
 fare. I will therefore view your case in the most fa- 
 vorable hght. I will suppose that your election is sure, 
 and you are persuaded, beyond the possibility of a doubt 
 
204 INFLUENCE OF UNIVERSALISM. 
 
 that your name is enrolled among the number of ths 
 precious elect of God. I ask, can even this satisfy you ? la 
 there no soul out of the ark of safety in whose welfare 
 you feel an interest ? Are there not those around you 
 that you love ? And have you no heart to feel for 
 them ? I ask, how is it, when you look upon a cherish- 
 ed child of your love, and behold the indelible mark of 
 reprobation stamped upon its countenance ? Ah, I 
 know how it is. Your feelings are like those of the 
 good old patriarch, when the bloody coat was brought 
 home, and he knew it belonged to his darling Joseph; 
 and he refused to be comforted, saying, " I will go down 
 to the grave, to my son, mourning." No man can be 
 fully satisfied with a faith which presents him with a 
 reasonable probability, nay, an absolute certainty, that 
 myriads of his fellow-creatures, and perhaps among 
 them his own children, will fall victims to a hopeless 
 decree of utter and eternal reprobation. 
 
 I grant that, with such views, you may at limes en- 
 joy a kind of satisfaction in the hope that dear and be 
 loved self is safe; but that any man who has a 
 head to reason, and a heart to feel, can possibly be as 
 happy with such a faith, as he would be with one that 
 embraced the xohole loorld in the sure and steadfast cov- 
 enant of redeeming grace, is altogether out of the 
 question. 
 
 But I will make another supposition. You have re- 
 jected the notion of election and reprobation. You now 
 believe that God offers salvation freely to all his crea- 
 tures; and that they may all be saved, if they will com- 
 ply with the conditions of grace. Those who comply 
 with these conditions will be saved, and those who do 
 not comply will be lost. The question is, whether this 
 faith is best calculated to promote human happiness? 1 
 
INTLXIENCF OF TJNIVEBSAIISM. 205 
 
 judge not, for no man can be positively certain that he 
 has, and t.'ial he will, to the end of his life, continue to 
 do all those things on which his eternal all depends. 
 So long as there is doubt upon that head, it will be a 
 constant source of misery. In fact, the foundation of 
 hope in this system, is far more unsubstantial than in 
 the other. The man who believes in sovereign election, 
 if he can satisfy himself that he is elected, can rest se- 
 cure in the steadfast hope that he will be saved, and 
 that no power in heaven or earth can prevent it. But 
 it is a large discount from this, to embrace a faith 
 which puts us in jeopardy every hour, lest some false 
 step of ours should plunge us in ceaseless perdition. 
 
 But I will do here as in the other case. I will place 
 the matter in its most favorable aspect before you. You 
 are now satisfied of your own safety, and there remains 
 no lingering doubt that when you depart from this 
 world, your soul will wing its way to the realms of eter- 
 nal" blessedness and joy. Is tJiat all you want? And 
 are you now satisfied, and perfectly happy ? Dear man ! 
 Have you no w^fe? No children? No friends? No 
 human being that you love ? If you have, where are 
 your bowels of mercy and your feelings of compassion, 
 that you can be happy while the storm of endless 
 wrath is gathering, fearful and dark, and their unshelter- 
 ed heads are exposed, naked, to its fury ? I know not 
 but you may be comfortable with such a faith, but I do 
 know, from bitter experience, that I could not. And that 
 any man, who loves his neighbour as himself, can be as 
 happy with such a faith, as he would be with one that 
 promises life and immortality to a world, is absolutely 
 impossible. 
 
 The man who cherishes such a faith, may have sea- 
 sons of joy. He may have occasional gleamings of sun 
 18 
 
206 INFLUENCE OF UNIVERSALISM. 
 
 shine, but ihebroad daylight of felicity, pure and perpet- 
 ual, he may not expect. He may reflect upon heaven 
 and its glories, its songs of joy and anthems of cease- 
 less praise, and the prospect of obtaining a habitation 
 there, may cause him to rejoice. But he must also look 
 at the other side of the picture ; and when he thinks ol 
 hell^ with all its 'iiorrors, its dire music of misery, and its 
 groans of everlasting despair, and remembers that him- 
 self, or his children, may one day be there, his soul dies 
 within him, and his joy is turned to mourning. He finds 
 in the thought, as did the eloquent Saurin, "A mortal 
 poison, diffusing itself through every period of life, ren- 
 dering society tiresome, pleasure insipid, and life itself a 
 cruel bitter." " Come thou with us, and we will do 
 ihee good." Believe in the full, free, perfect, and sure 
 salvation of a world, and thou shalt be saved — saved 
 from those doubts and fears, that now " waste your 
 faith and nourish your despair." Ye have need to learn 
 that God is unchangably "good unto all, and his tender 
 mercies are over all the works of his hands" — that he has 
 linked the eternal glory of his creatures fast to his own 
 throne, by the strong and indissoluble chain of his love, 
 and that no power in heaven or on earth, in time, or 
 eternity, can pluck us out of his hands. Learn this, I 
 pray you, and your joys shall be abundant, and ye will 
 tell me, as every man Avho believes will tell me, that 
 faith has made you happier. It has dispelled the clouds 
 of darkness that brooded over the future, and raised you 
 up to better prospects and more glorious hopes. But I 
 observe that faith in the doctrine of universal salvation 
 will not only make you happier, but, 
 
 n. It will make you better. 
 
 I am not among the number of those who contend 
 that it is no matter what a man believes ; for I am sure 
 
INFLUENCE OF DNIVERSALISAL 207 
 
 that faith exercises a most powerful influence upon the 
 character and the conduct of man. The great part of 
 that v;hich Ave are in the habit of considering as our 
 stock of knowledge, is no more nor less than faith; and 
 there are comparatively but few of the acts of our lives, 
 that proceed from what we positively know. " We 
 walk by faith, and not by sight," is no less a truth of expe- 
 rience than of scripture. Let a man look upon the Mo- 
 hammedan, ready at all times to raise a sword in an in- 
 discriminate slaughter of all that do not bow down at 
 the altar of the Arabian prophet, and let him tell me, if 
 he can, what but faith is it that makes the difference 
 between that man and the Christian ? And I greatly 
 err, if a view of the matter in this light does not oblige 
 him to confess, that there is some little consequence at- 
 tached to the great question, what a man shall, and 
 what he shall not believe. Among the different sects of 
 Christians, separated as they are by minor points, the 
 difference may not be so great, as between the Christian 
 and the Mohammedan faith. But that there is a differ- 
 ence in the moral influence of different systems among 
 Christians, there can be no doubt. 
 
 You have, many of you, been in the habit of sup- 
 posing that Universalism had no requirements to ask of 
 its believers, and that its moral influence must be deci- 
 dedly bad, and you maybe surprised to hear me advocate 
 its claims as an instrument of moral reform. But so it 
 must be. I distinctly claim for the doctrine of univer- 
 sal grace, not only an equal share of moral power with 
 other systems ; but I claim for it a purer^ higher and ho- 
 lier moral influence, than can be exerted by any other 
 system; and I give it you, as the deliberate conviction 
 of my judgement, that there is no man among you who 
 would not be made letter by faith in that doctrine, and 
 
208 INFLUENCE OF UNIVERSALISM. 
 
 a life corresponding with its requirements. And now 
 for the reasons which induce me to hold this opinion. 
 
 I might indeed insist upon this, as a legitimate con- 
 clusion from my previous position, that it will make 
 men happier, for I hold it as an incontrovertible truth, 
 that you cannot make a man happier without at the 
 game time making him better. Happiness is our being's 
 end artd aim, and it is in pursuit of this, that we perform 
 every act of our lives. It is a want of this that leads 
 men into sin. It is a restless, uneasy and unsatisfied 
 spirit, that goads men on and urges them to the commis- 
 sion of all those foul deeds that disgrace humanity, and 
 I risk nothing in saying, that no man ever yet committed 
 a crime when he was calm, contented, satisfied and 
 happy. In proportion, therefore, as any doctrine is cal- 
 culated to satisfy our desires for happiness, will it exert 
 a salutary moral influence. 
 
 If therefore, the doctrine of Universal Grace, is, as I 
 have shown, better calculated to make men calmly and 
 peacefully happy, than any other system, it follows as a 
 legitimate conclusion, that it will exert the most power- 
 ful and salutary moral influence. But I will not insist 
 on this argument for there are an abundance of evidences 
 in favor of our position without it. 
 
 I. It presents the only salutary doctrine of punishment 
 
 There is no greater error than the supposition, that 
 man's respect and reverence for law, is increased by ad- 
 ding to the amount of the penalty. In fact the very 
 reverse of this proposition comes much nearer the truth 
 than the proposition itself. The whole history of the 
 world will bear witness, that in all ages, and in all 
 countries, those laws have been most respected and best 
 obeyec', whose penalties have been most mild and mer- 
 ciful. But when tyrants have ruled with a rod of iron, 
 
INFLUENCE OF UKIVERSALISM. 209 
 
 and sought to enforce obedience to their laws, by means 
 of most severe and unmerciful punishmenis, then the 
 weak and timid have despaired, and the stoui-hearted 
 nave despised them, and transgression has abounded. 
 Novsr the common doctrine of punishment annexes to 
 the law of God a most unmerciful penalty ; it makes 
 God punish men eternally, and of course without any 
 design to do them the least possible good. With such 
 views the feeble in mind despair, and contract a mor- 
 bid insensibility to danger, and the strong in spirit brave 
 it out, despising not only the law, but also the lawgiver. 
 They look upon God as a hard master, who rules with 
 a despotic sway — upon his law as a grevious burden — 
 upon themselves as slaves, who have no further interest 
 in obedience, than an escape from the merciless wrath 
 of a despotic lawgiver. 
 
 On the other hand, Universalism makes punishment 
 mild and merciful — the law itself holy and good — man 
 a child, and the penalty of the law, the wise and salu- 
 tary chastisement of a kind friend, who seeks by it to 
 turn our wandering feet from the way of destruction 
 and misery, to the path of virtue, where alone we can 
 be happy. Now I say that in order for punishment to 
 be effectual, its justice must be seen, and its goodness 
 appreciated. Any other view of punishment though it 
 may make slaves and hypocrites, can never produce that 
 cheerful and spontaneous obedience which flows from a 
 willing heart. I say, therefore, that Universalism is 
 calculated to exert a higher and purer moral influence 
 than any other system, because it appeals to the hearts, 
 rather than the fears of men. 
 
 But again. Punishment in order to be eflectual, must 
 be speedy and certain. In both these respects, oiir views 
 of punishment have a decided advantage over all othei 
 18* 
 
210 INFLUENCE OF UNIVERSALISM. 
 
 systems. The common doctrines of the day, do indeed 
 threaten a most tremendously severe punishment, but 
 they nullify its influence by placing it far in the future, 
 for their language is like that of the false prophets of 
 Israel, " He prophesies of the things that are afar off, 
 and the vision that he seelh is for many days to come." 
 But to cap the climax, and as if on purpose to palliate 
 all fear, and destroy entirely the influence of punishment, 
 they offer to the vilest sinner, an easy method of escap- 
 ing from that punishment, which is, in the first place, 
 removed to the dim distance of future years, far beyond 
 the reach of mortal vision. 
 
 Should our legislature pass a law, that the man who 
 was guilty of theft should be punished with death at 
 the stake, thirty years from the time of transgression, 
 you would at once say, that although the punishment 
 was severe, yet it could have no effect, for the reason 
 that it was too far off. But should they add a clause, 
 providing that at any time during the thirty years, the 
 thief shall have the privilege of repenting, and if he 
 does so, the punishment shall not be inflicted at all, you 
 would laugh them to scorn. And yet this is a faithful 
 and true, though faint representation of the common 
 notion of the law of God and its penalty. He has given, 
 to man a law, and annexed to that law a penalty, incon- 
 ceivably lasting and severe. But when we ask is it to 
 be inflicted ? The answer is, not while man shall live 
 in this world. It is reserved to another state of exis- 
 tence, and is placed behind that curtain which separates 
 time from eternity. And will it certainly be inflicted 
 upon every man that violates the law? Oh ! no, for the 
 most hardened offender can at any time, during this life 
 repent, and in one brief hour he shall be placed out of 
 all danger from the penalty of the law. Thus do these 
 
nsTLUENCE OF UNIVERSALISM. 211 
 
 doctrines perpetually cry, in the language of the serpent, 
 " Ye shall not surely die:' Ye may sin, and ye shall 
 have your whole lives given you to perform a work which 
 can be done in an hour, and when done, shall give you 
 a clear escape from the penalty of the law. 
 
 On the other hand, Universalism teaches that the pen- 
 alty of the law, though mild and merciful, is speedy and 
 sure. Her language is, " In the day that thou eatest 
 of the fruit of sin, thou shalt surely die," and there is no 
 escape, for "he that doeth wrong shall receive for the 
 wrong that he hath 'done, and there is no respect of per- 
 sons." Ye may flatter yourselves that punishment is 
 far away, and with a hope of an easy escape, but it is an 
 idle dream. It is nigh thee, even at thy doors, and will 
 most surely come upon thee. These are the doctrines 
 of Universalism upon the subject of punishment, and it is 
 evident, at a glance, that they are capable of exercising 
 a far more powerfully restraining influence than any- 
 other system can boast. 
 
 II. Universalism presents the character of God in such 
 a light that it will draw out the aflections of the believ- 
 er's heart in love to him, and good will to his children. 
 Love to God, and good will to man, lie at the founda- 
 tion of all true morality. On these two commands 
 hang all the law and the prophets. That system, there- 
 fore, is best calculated to exercise a salutary, moral in 
 fiuence, which can best secure obedience to these two 
 requirements. Now, I say, that the best possible way 
 to make a man love God, is, to stamp on his mind the 
 conviction, that God is his friend and his father. You 
 may draw a picture of the great divinity, clothed in ven- 
 geance as with a garment, and roll over the head of the 
 sinner the tremendous thunders of eternal wrath, to the 
 end of his days, and though you mar thus make him 
 
212 INFLUENCE OF UXIVEESALISM. 
 
 tremble like a slave, you cannot make him love like a 
 child. But tell a man that God is good ; stamp on his mind 
 the full conviction, that in heaven there is one who is bet- 
 ter than all, whose kindness knows no bounds, and whose 
 faithfulness will never leave nor forsake the souls that 
 he has made ; and then you touch the heart and draw 
 out the soul in love to him, as a being infinitely worthy 
 of the warmest devotions of the mind. This is what 
 Universalism teaches, and hence I say, that before all 
 systems, and ahove all systems, it is most powerful in its 
 influence to secure love to God. 
 
 Love to our neighbor is the next in the catalogue ot 
 moral virtues. How shall that be secured? Not by 
 convincing a man that his neighbor is a mass of total 
 depravity, hated of God, and destined to be fuel for hell 
 fire, and fit only for a companion of devils. Such views 
 as these can never go one step toward making a man 
 love his neighbor. But convince a man that his neigh- 
 bor is his brother, a child of the same God, and an heir 
 of the same immortal and incorruptible inheritance, and 
 when that truth is fixed in the mind, he will love him, 
 as one to whom he is bound by a common interest, com- 
 mon origin, and common destiny. This is what Uni- 
 versalism teaches. It tells a man to recognise in all 
 around him, the children of the same God, and the 
 heirs of the same inheritance as himself, and calls on 
 him to love them with the whole heart. Its moral in- 
 fluence then must be good, for it will produce love to 
 God and good will to man ; and as for all other moral du- 
 ties, they are but the streams that flow from this foun- 
 tain. Keep the fountain full, and the streams will noJ 
 fail to flow continually. 
 
 I am frequently questioned upon the subject of the re- 
 quirements of Universalism. If that be true,, what has 
 
INFLUENCE OF UNI VERBALISM. 21 Jj^, 
 
 man to do ? is the question. I answer, " Love the Lord 
 thy God with all thy heart, and thy neighbour as thyself." 
 That is all. If you love God, you will serve him, and 
 if you love your neighbour, you will do him goo(\ and 
 not evil. 
 
 There are many other views that I might take of the 
 subject, all tending to establish the truth of the position 
 I have assumed. But I am admonished that it is time 
 to bring this discourse to a close. I can prove, with the 
 clearness of light, in theory, that, upon all the kno\vn 
 principles and laws of the human mind, Universalism is 
 superior to any other system in its moral tendency. But 
 after all, it is better to do so practically. Let us live the 
 doctrine we profess, and we shall demonstrate the fact, 
 beyond all controversy. Bigotry may resist the force of 
 evidence, and sophistry may evade the most cogent rea- 
 soning ; but there is a silent power in virtue, that noth- 
 ing can withstand. 
 
 Again, then, I say, let those who profess to believe, 
 live as their faith dictates; and though a silent, yet will 
 it be a more powerful argument, in favor of the moral 
 power of the doctrine, than I could put together, even 
 though I could come to you with the r3al of a Paul, and 
 the eloquence of an Apollos ! 
 
914 DECISION OF CHARACTiai 
 
 SERMON XV. 
 
 DECISION OF CHARACTER A RELIGIOUS 
 DUTY. 
 
 "How long halt ye, between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow* 
 him ; but if Baal, then follow liim. 1 Kings xviii. 21. 
 
 The Scriptures enjoin upon men the utmost frankness, 
 honesty and decision of character. Hypocrisy, whether 
 it proceed from irresolution, motives of policy, or dis- 
 honesty of mind, finds no excuse in the teachings of the 
 sacred volume. It is taken for granted, that the subject 
 of religion is of sufficient importance, to give it a claim 
 upon the attention of every man. And for this reason 
 the Bible appeals to all men, everywhere, to make up 
 their minds upon the subject, and to act according to the 
 teachings of the judgement, and the admonitions of con- 
 science, in all honesty and sincerity before God and man. 
 We are not however required to rush blindly into this 
 matter, as the horse rusheth into the battle, but we are 
 first to prove all things, and having proved them, to hold 
 fast that which is good. So thought Elijah in the text, 
 and the circumstances with which it stands connected. 
 The people worshipped an idol called Baal, and when 
 they had gathered together, he proposed to give them a 
 test of the respective merits of Baal and the God of 
 Israel. And when he should have placed before them 
 the means of f)rming a correct opinion, he exhorts them 
 '.0 make no delay, but to choose for themselves, once and 
 
A RELIGIOUS DUTY. 21u 
 
 for ever, whom they woula follow. I have no lime to 
 spend upon these circumstances, and that work may be 
 unnecessary, as I presume you have already anticipated 
 the use I intend to make of the exhortation of the text. 
 
 This is the last of the series of lectures in which I 
 have been for some time past engaged. I have endeav- 
 ored to set before you the difference between our faith, 
 and the popular creeds of the day, as well as the rea- 
 sons we render for our opinions. I have labored, to the 
 best of my feeble abilities, to put you in possession of 
 the means of judging between ours, and the prevailing 
 views of the character of God, and the economy of his 
 grace. In the present discourse I would persuade you, 
 if I could, to come to a definite conclusio in the case, 
 and having decided, to act as honesty anu duty shall 
 dictate, without fear or favor. 
 
 I have no disposition to conceal the fact, that there is 
 a wide and irreconcilable difference between us and oui 
 opposers, nor can it be denied that if we are right, they 
 are wrong, not merely in some small points, but radi- 
 cally and I had almost said totally wrong. This is a 
 truth with which we are well acquainted, and that man 
 pursues a mistaken policy, nay, even a wicked course of 
 hypocrisy, who attempts to conceal this fact. There is 
 no manner of use in endeavouring to make it appear, 
 that there is but a shade of difference between us and 
 other denominations, for there is a difference, high as 
 heaven, Avide as the earth ; a difference as hopelessly 
 and utterly irreconcilable as light and darkness, and 
 there is no disguising the obvious truth, that if one system 
 is true the other is false, desperately and hopelessly false, 
 I had almost said, in its whole length and breadth. 
 
 I make these remarks because, in my judgement, they 
 have an important bearinar upon our duty in the cas& 
 
216 DECISION OF CHARACTER, 
 
 If there was but a slight shade of difference between us., 
 then it would be of little consequence which we should 
 choose, or indeed whether we made any choice at all. 
 Had Baal and the God of Israel been so very near alike, 
 that one could scarcely tell the difference between the 
 two, we should never have heard Elijah caUingupon the 
 people, with such earnestness as he evidently manifests 
 in the text, to choose whom they would serve. But the 
 prophet felt that there was a wide, and an irreconcila- 
 ble difference between the two. He knew if the Lord 
 was God, Baal was a dumb idol, and his worship the 
 grossest idolatry, and that it was impossible for the peo- 
 ple innocently to worship both God and Baal, and for 
 this reason he called on them to make their election, 
 and having made it, to act as honesty and sincerity 
 should dictate. So in this case, there is a difference be- 
 tween Universalism and Partialism, so wide that they 
 cannot both be true. A man can no more be a Univer- 
 salist and a Partialist, than he could serve both God and 
 Baal. Every man must be either a Partialist or a Uni- 
 versalist, for he cannot be both, at one and the same 
 time. I go even farther, and say that no man can inno- 
 cently believe the one, and yet support the other. For 
 this reason then, if for no other, it becomes your duty, 
 first to examine, and then to choose between them, and 
 act accordingly. I do not mean that a man is bound to 
 become a flaming bigot, to " damn all parties but his 
 own," and to deny all the common courtesies and civili- 
 ties of life, to those who do not see with his eyes. But 
 I would be understood to say distinctly, that every man 
 is bound to act, in these matters with a strict and con- 
 scientious regard to principle. If he believes the Lord 
 to be God, he ought to worship and serve him, and he 
 cannot innocently build the temples of Baal, or bow at 
 
A RELIGIOUS DUTY. 217 
 
 his altars. To speak without a figure, if a man is fully 
 convinced in his own judgement that Universalism is 
 true, he is bound in all honesty to say so, and to pursue 
 a corresponding course of conduct, and he cannot advo- 
 cate or support any of the partial systems of the day, 
 without incurring the just charge of hypocrisy, because 
 the doctrines are so different that they cannot be mis- 
 taken, the one for the other. 
 
 These are positions that few would attempt to con- 
 trovert in theory, and yet there are multitudes, who 
 practically deny them every day of their lives. There 
 are men who live to old age caring for none of these 
 things, never having made them a subject of reflection 
 or examination. There are others so bigoted in favor 
 of Baal, that they will not examine to see whether God 
 has any claims upoQ them or not. Still again there are 
 others, (and their name is legion, for they are many) 
 who, though convmced that Universalism is true, as far 
 as they are convinced of any thing, yet through fear of 
 reproach, love of gain, popularity, or some other unholy 
 motive, turn their backs upon what they believe, and 
 support that which their own judgements condemn as 
 utterly false. To all these classes I appeal in this dis- 
 course, and I urge it upon them, that they be either one 
 thing or the other. Either condemn Universalism en- 
 tirely, or act as if you believed it. " If the Lord be God 
 follow him ; if Baal then follow him." 
 
 I will now proceed to lay before you some considera- 
 tions that urge to the performance of this duty. 
 
 I. The importance of the questions at issue, demand 
 it at our hands. 
 
 Were it a mere matter of idle curiosity, thai could 
 have no influence upon our conduct or happiness, or upon 
 the interests of our fellow men, then might we be ex- 
 19 
 
218 DECISION OF CHARACTER, 
 
 cused from engaging in it at all. But such is not the 
 fact. The subjects involved in the controversy between 
 UniversalJsts and others, are of vast and incalculable im- 
 portance; theyenter into men's business and bosoms, and 
 exercise a commanding and controlling interest, upon 
 human happiness and public morals. So long as man 
 is a frail and dependent being, living upon the bounty 
 of God, and depending upon him at all times for life and 
 happiness, it can never be a matter of small moment, 
 whether God is a tyrant, who creates but to curse, or a 
 friend whose immutable purpose it is to deliver, protect 
 and bless. Nor is the fate of man in the future world 
 of small consequence. As an individual, I have a deep 
 and abiding interest in the question, whether I am to 
 live beyond the grave 1 And if so, whether I am to rise 
 to a purer and happier state, or sink down to the realms 
 of inconceivable and endless torment. And when I look 
 around me upon my children, and feel that my own weal 
 or wo. is indissolubly connected with theirs, I cannot 
 deem it a matter of no importance, whether these dear 
 objects of my affections, are destined in the counsels of God 
 to unite their voices in the deathless song of joy on high, 
 or to lift up their cries, in the waitings and contortions 
 of never ending despair. In like manner, when I look 
 around me upon my friends and neighbours, and feel 
 that I am bound to love them, even as myself, I cannot 
 persuade myself, that I ought to be indifferent to a ques- 
 tion that involves their immortal happiness or misery. 
 And when I send abroad my imagination to the ends of 
 the earth, with all its thronging myriads of human be- 
 ings, and remember that they are all bound to me by a 
 common origin and a common brotherhood, I feel that 
 I am interested in knowing their destiny, and I ought 
 not to pass by with indifference the question, whether 
 
A RELIGIOUS Dunr. 2}9 
 
 ihey are to be saved or damned. Just in proportion to 
 ihe^ importance of these subjects, therefore, is my obli- 
 gation to examine them with care; and having ex- 
 amined, to choose between them, and having chosen, to 
 act accordingly. It is a question of endless joy, or cease- 
 less wo; and that, too, for unnumbered and unborn mil- 
 lions of my kindred, my dearest friends, my own chil- 
 dren, my companion and myself; and I ought not to halt 
 between two opinions, or rest satisfied without having 
 come to a firm and an unshaken conclusion. 
 
 II. The interests of community at large require us to 
 perform the duty enjoined in the text. 
 
 This is true both in regard to the morals and the hap- 
 piness of community. This world is at best but a 
 state of alternate sunshine and storm, and w^e may not 
 expect to pass through life without suffering some of its 
 ills. To sustain us under these trials, v.'e need the 
 hopes and the consolations of the Gospel. But such is the 
 general and dreadful apostacy from the faith of the great 
 Redeemer, that the very Gospel which was given us as a 
 source of richest enjoyment, is changed to a fountain of 
 bitterness, and is made one of the most fruitful sources 
 of misery. The sectarian dogmas of the day go into all 
 the ramifications of society, and wherever they go, they 
 cause many a sigh, and many a tear. The father looks 
 upon his sons, and the mother upon her blooming daugh- 
 ters, and their bosoms heave with anguish, as they 
 reflect that these objects of their afi'ections are out of the 
 ark of safety, and may become the sport of fiends, and 
 the companions of devils, in the regions of perpetual tor- 
 ment. Friend looks upon friend, and weeps at the 
 thought that they must part, and that while one shall 
 rejoice in heaven, the other must weep in hell. Parents 
 rr Durn over their children that are torn from their em- 
 
220 DECISION OF CHARACTER, 
 
 brace J.y death, not so much because they are dead, as 
 because they fear, awfully fear, that they are in hell. 
 Widows and orphans, go to the grave of a husband and 
 a, fiither, and they mourn that their friend and protector 
 is dead. But more terrible than death itself, is the 
 dreadful thought that he to whom they were bound by 
 ten thousand ties of love, may now be lifting up his eyes 
 in the hopeless agonies of the infernal pit. They wept 
 before ; but this fills the cup of sorrow with its bitterest 
 dregs, and calls out the deepest moan of affliction. 
 Thus it is, all abroad, around you, through all the length 
 and breadth of the land ; in every city, in every street, 
 in every village, in every hamlet, in every dwelling, 
 there are minds disturbed, hearts lacerated and bleeding, 
 souls haunted Avith spectres of endless wo, which come 
 in the daylight, and in the darkness of night, and poison 
 Rvery cup of enjoyment. 
 
 This is no idle fiction, no empty declamation, but it 
 nas its foundation in sober fact, and that you may better 
 appreciate its truth, I will make the application to your 
 own city. The past has been a cold and dreary winter 
 of suffenng. Shivering limbs, and hungry children 
 have been around us, and called for charity. It has also 
 been a season of most extraordinary religious excitement. 
 Churches have been thronged from the dawn of morn- 
 ing to the dark hour of midnight, and all that mighty 
 minds and commanding eloquence could do has been 
 done to excite the public mind, and alarm the fears of 
 the people. The public mind has been excited, and the 
 most dreadful fears have been aroused. And now, which 
 think you, has produced most unhappiness in this city, 
 during the last four months, poverty and want — or re- 
 ligious excitement ? Could you but lift the veil from 
 the public mind, and follow the multitude from th* 
 
J4. RELIGIOUS DUTY. ^1 
 
 scene of excitement to their homes could you Know 
 their musings upon the way, their dread forebodings in 
 the family circle, their painful meditations upon the bed 
 in the silence of night, the wretched a-nxieties of parents 
 for their children, of children for their parents, of all for 
 tnomselves; the sombre musings of those who by a law 
 of the human mind, are precipitated from the pinnacle 
 of hope to the valley of despair : from the fire of over- 
 heated excitement, to the frost and cold of utter indiffer- 
 ence ; could you see all this, as it exists in reality around 
 you, I doubt not you would agree with me in the opinion 
 that the actual misery caused by poverty and bodily dis- 
 tress, severe as it has been, has nevertheless been light 
 and small, when compared with that which has proceed- 
 ed from mental anxieties, caused by a false and spurious 
 theology. This has opened the deepest fountains of hu- 
 man wo, and called out more sighs and tears than all the 
 frosts and snows of a cold and blustering winter, and all 
 the pains of stern necessity and want. 
 
 I say then, that the happiness of community at large, 
 calls upon every man who desires the felicity of his fellow- 
 creatures around him, not to halt between two opinions, 
 but to choose whom he will serve ; and having made hi» 
 choice, to lend his aid and influence in staying the deso- 
 lating march of error, and in rolling back that deep tide 
 of misery, that now flows over the land, and darkens all 
 the face of human society. I tell you that the doctrines 
 of the Gospel of impartial grace, afi'ord the only anti- 
 dote to these evils. The power of infidelity has been 
 tried, and has failed. Indifference and skepticism are 
 but a poor shield against these enemies of our peace. It 
 is a fixed and settled faith in the G-od and Saviour of all, 
 and that alone, that can check the rising fear, dispel the 
 gloomy doubt, hush the anxious thought, and yield cod 
 19=^ 
 
222 DECISION OF CHARACTER, 
 
 tinual peace. In the midst of all this wild uproar and 
 confusion — this commotion of the elements, and this un- 
 settling of the usual foundations of confidence in God 
 and his gracious care — this triumph of fear when the 
 public mind, unmoored from its fastenings, has been 
 driven at the mercy of the furious winds of fanaticism, 
 how has it fared with the steadfast believer in God's 
 boundless grace, and in the ultimate felicity of a world ? 
 Why, he has stood firmly upon a rock that could not be 
 moved. Calm and tranquil as the bosom of the placid 
 waters, sleeping in sunlight, and undisturbed by the 
 winds, has been his mind. No anxious fears, no doubts 
 of gloomy aspect, no dread forebodinsfs of hopeless wo, 
 have disturbed his noonday walks, or his midnight 
 slumbers. When all around him ha^' been a scene of 
 mental anxiety, and despair has stalked abroad with a 
 wild and haggard look, he has been at peace. He has 
 looked up to God. There all his hopes have centered ; 
 and though storms and tempests have been around him, 
 he has feared no evil ; for he knoweth that the rod and 
 the staff of the Almighty, shall suppoit and guide 
 him, and with him, all his fearful, doubting fellows, 
 safely to the haven of rest. I call on you, then, as the 
 friends of human happiness, to choose this day whom ye 
 will serve. " If the Lord be God follow him ; but if 
 Baal, then follow him." 
 
 But the public morals are concerned in this matter. I 
 nave more than once said, that love to God, and good 
 will to man, lie at the foundation of all true morality, 
 and I have shown that faith in God, as an impartial 
 friend and Saviour, and a belief that man, universally, 
 is our brother, is far better calculated to make men love 
 God and one another, than any other faith. With 
 these views, it will appear that the whole system of 
 
A RELIGIOUS DUTY. 223 
 
 effort for moral reform, is wrong and powerlesSr It all 
 rests upon the position, that man is to be govertied by 
 his fears, and driven to duty, as the trembling slave 
 with the lash. For ages men have sought to drive 
 their fellows to virtue with the war-club of dam- 
 nation, rather than to entice them with the olive-branch 
 of peace. But after all, sin abounds more and more. 
 The principle has been long and faithfully tried, and its 
 inefficiency is written upon the face of society, and upon 
 the history of the world. 
 
 I appeal to you, if it is not time that something else 
 were adopted, even if it be for nothing else than an ex- 
 periment. Long has man been driven with the lash of 
 fear ; it is high time to try the constraining influence of 
 love and mercy. Long has man been treated as a 
 slave ; it is time to begin to treat him as a child, and win 
 him to virtue by the tenderness of a father's kindness. 
 Long, too long, have the teachers in Israel sought to drive 
 human nature out .of man, by some sudden and myste- 
 rious change, and too plainly is the fact written out upon 
 the face of society, that the attempt has failed, utterly 
 failed, and that maugre all the " new hearts " that men 
 get, human nature will be human nature after all, and 
 the new heart is not unfrequently as bad, or perhaps 
 worse, than the old one. It is time for the moralist to 
 cease his war upon human nature, and instead of labour- 
 ing to pluck up the tree let him seek to prune it, and 
 train and cultivate its branches, that it may grow up in 
 fair proportions, and flourish in its beauty, and bring 
 forth abundantly the peaceable fruits o^ righteousness. 
 
 Bigotry and all uncharitableness, abound in the land. 
 Strife and contention are rife around us, and so it will be 
 as long 7s that worst of all aristocracies, a religious aris- 
 tocracy, exists, and lifts the few above the many, by 
 
224 DECISION OF CHARACTER. 
 
 allowing them to claim a monopoly of the blessings of 
 God, and of heaven itself The moral wants of man 
 call for a system that shall level all the proud distinc- 
 tions of earth, and break down the separating walls of 
 partition, that have so long and so injm-iously separated 
 man from his fellow man. Such a system is Universal- 
 ism. It seeks to lead men rather than drive them with 
 the lash. It wars not with nature, but seeks to improve 
 and direct its course, and rear it up to its perfection. It 
 teaches that God is our Father, and man everywhert* 
 our brother — places all on one common level — promises 
 all one common inheritance, and asks us to love God 
 and serve him, by being kind to his creatures, and our 
 brethren. Thus it curbs the head long passions, breaks 
 down the pride of the haughty, and infuses into the 
 heart that love which shows itself in works of kindness, 
 justice, mercy, charity and benevolence. 
 
 But there is another view to be taken of this subject. 
 The present is emphatically an age of excitement. The 
 heaving elements of mind are in commotion around us. 
 There is excitement in the political waters. There is 
 excitement in the monetary system. There is excite- 
 ment in the literary world ; and look where you will, 
 excitement is there. I need not speculate upon the 
 cause. It may be but the natural effect of the recent 
 liberation of the human mind from the chains and fet- 
 ters which had bound it for ages. As the eagle, long 
 imprisoned, when let loose from his cage, will soar aloft 
 to wet his wings in the clouds of heaven, and gaze upon 
 the full orbed glories of the sun — now scaling the lofty 
 mountain's top, and now darting with incredible velocity 
 down its rugged sides. So the human' mind, long cramp- 
 ed and fettered, is liberated, and it is stretched to its ut- 
 most tension, and riots in all the luxury of its newly 
 
A RELIGIOUS DUTT. 2S5 
 
 discovei ed liberty. "Whether this be the cause or not, 
 the fact is certain, and blind must be the mind that can 
 look abroad, and not discover a morbid spirit of excita- 
 bility which pushes to every extreme, and threatens to 
 end in anarchy and confusion. I appeal to you, if there 
 is not need of some voice, that shall speak to the ele 
 ments, as the Saviour once spoke to the boisterous waves, 
 saymg, " Peace ! be still ! " that a holy and heavenly calm 
 may ensue. And if so, I ask, where can that voice be 
 found ? Is it in the popular systems of the day ? Alas ! 
 they also live in the atmosphere of excitement, and flour- 
 ish only there. .Their advocates have seized upon this 
 very feature of the age, to urge on their sectarian schemes. 
 ■Religion, too, has become a matter of excitement. In- 
 stead of restraining the passions, and the workings of 
 this spirit of excitability fit is made to live in excitement, 
 and to feed that very morbid appetite, that it ought to 
 deny. 
 
 Universalism seeks to check the workings of this 
 spirit of evil. It appeals not to the passions, but to the 
 understanding. It asks men to examine with calmness, 
 to decide with candor and deliberation, and to act with 
 prudence, firmness, and circumspection. It seeks to 
 make men calm, consistent, and reasonable. And I ask, 
 is there not need of some influence to counteract that 
 wild spirit of excitement, which m.arks the character of 
 the age, and runs riot in every department of society ? 
 If so, then "how long halt ye between two opinions? 
 If the Lord be God follow him, but if Baal, then follow 
 him." 
 
 But, alas ! men who profess to believe in God, and to 
 reject the claimS'Of Baal, havd a thousand excuses and 
 apologies, for neglecting to manifest their faith by thei 
 works. 
 
aiQ DECISION OF CHARACTER, 
 
 This man is a merchant, and he knows, that a profes* 
 sion of the popular dogmas of the day, will secure him 
 custom, so he bows down at the shrine of Baal, though 
 he believes him to be no more than an idol. That man 
 is a Physician, and he knows that a profession of faith 
 will get him patients, so he professes with his mouth, 
 what he does not believe in his heart. Another man is 
 a politician, and he wants votes. He thinks, if he speaks 
 what he thinks, it may injure him, and so he becomes 
 all things to all men, and will bow at the altars of God 
 or Baal, as happens to be most convenient. Another 
 man, still, says he has a great show of charity. He be- 
 lieves indeed in Universalism, but he is no bigot, and in 
 the excess of his charity, he forgets to be honest. He 
 gives his means and his influence, to support doctrines 
 which he says he knows to be false. He says he be- 
 lieves in Universalism, and yet from week to week, and 
 from sabbath to sabbath, he sits under the preaching of 
 the man who denounces Universalism, as the vilest of 
 heresies, and gives all his influence against it, because he 
 is no bigot, and he wishes to be charitable!! He may 
 be no bigot, but he certainly is not far from a hypocrite. 
 In the political world, if a man should profess to agree 
 with one party, and yet do all he could to advance the 
 interests of the other, he would be scouted from both. 
 And yet in religion, men will fawn around the painted 
 hypocrite of this sort, and urge him to go to this church 
 or that, well knowing that the man is belying his con- 
 science, and thert^fore sinning against God. Eut I can- 
 not dwell longer. 
 
 I take this occasion to express my satisfaction to this 
 large assembly, for that patient attention with which 
 they have listened to this protracted discussion. And I 
 call on you as honest men and women, as fathers and 
 
A RELIGIOUS DUTY. 
 
 227 
 
 mothers, as citizens and friends, " Choose ye this day, 
 whom ye will serve. If the Lord be God, then follow 
 him ; but if Baal, then follow him." Amen and 
 Amen. 
 
 THs sun. 
 
 J 
 
 7 
 
N E T^ YORK 
 
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