tihvavy of Che t:heolo0ical ^eminarjp 
 
 PRINCETON . NEW JERSEY 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 A, G. Cameron, Ph . D , 
 
 ^^;© 
 
SERMON 
 
 I 
 
 REV. MR. JOHN CHAMBERS, 
 
 DELIVERED AT 
 
 THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN THIRTEENTH STREET, 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, 
 
 On the Evening of December 2, 1827, 
 
 FROM THESE WORDS, 
 
 " YE SHALL NOT SURELY DIE." 
 
 
 TAkEN IN SHORT HAND BY 
 
 M. T., C. GOULD, Stenographer. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA.— 1828. 
 
 * 
 
 /' 
 
 /■ 
 
o 
 
 
 
 NOTE. 
 
 The Reporter of the following discourse considers it his duly to say^ 
 that owing to his unfavourable position for hearings there may be some 
 unimportant omissions ; but as a whole, he has reason to believe, that 
 it will be found by those who heard it substantially correct. 
 
^ SERMON. 
 
 The subject to which we invite your attention this evening, will 
 be a {ew deductions from the following portion of Scripture, which 
 will be found in the latter clause of the fourth verse of the third 
 chapter of Genesis. It is a text of the first universal preacher, that 
 we design to make some comments upon, as it is the only one in the 
 Bible to which the believers in universal salvation can properly 
 refer. 
 
 We mentiQned this morning our design of presenting you with 
 some remarks upon a system of religion, falsely so called, and that 
 is our object this evening. 
 
 I am extremely sorry, and perhaps I am wrong in saying so, that 
 indisposition renders it so difficult for me to speak ; but I must look 
 for strength to my Master, in whose service I am willing to live and 
 die. 
 
 But to proceed : the words of our text are these : " Ye shall not 
 surely die.'''' 
 
 By way of preliminary observation I would remark, that there are 
 certain things in religion as well as in politics, which must be taken 
 for granted ; and there are other things which must not be taken for 
 granted; nor is there any thing essential which is not based upon the 
 soundest principles of reasoning, and upon the most powerful argu- 
 ments. It may be that there are some present, who remember what 
 I mentioned on the last Lord's day morning, in relation to those 
 emissaries who are so industriously engaged in seeking to destroy the 
 souls of men : they are labouring by all the ingenuity of the arch 
 fiend himself, who first presented the forbidden fruit under such 
 bewitching charms. They would persuade you that the idea 6f future 
 punishment is only the visionary dream of fanatics ; that it does not 
 belong to the system of religion ; that it is calculated to destroy the 
 whole plan of salvation through the atonement of Jesus Christ. 
 There are many individuals of weak minds — I would not speak 'dis- 
 respectfully of babes in Christ— upon whom that awful and perni- 
 
cious imposture is practised, and sometimes with success; but never, 
 I apprehend, successfully with men who have gotten their religion 
 from the Bible — it is impossible, unless they are deranged. 
 
 I know that many have been told, that the most intelligent men 
 have been believers in this system. I only reply, the devil was an 
 archangel. :^.„. 
 
 God, my brethren, has given a law which is to be the guide and 
 direction of man's conduct. That law being given in consequence, 
 of man's moral responsibility, must be obeyed ; to ensure which, it 
 must be attended with a penalty ; for a law without a penalty would 
 be an absurdity — there are no laws without penalties. There are, 
 to be sure, certain rules of society which have no penalties ; but all 
 laws which are the result of divine legislation have penalties ; and 
 without such penalties, they would be an^ absurdity. There is no 
 intelligent man who will pretend to deny this ; nay, every intelligent 
 individual who reflects, must come to this conclusion, that a law 
 for the government of society without a penalty, would be an 
 absurdity. 
 
 Then seeing that God did give a law, if there be truth in the Bible, 
 and by the by we have no other guide, then that law has a penalty ; 
 and that this penalty is to be inflicted is certainly evident ; for when 
 the first pair eat of the forbidden fruit, they did spiritually die— they 
 lost the image of the Deity, and Avere driven from the garden of God, 
 to seek their abode upon the wide world. 
 
 Now will any one pretend to say that Adam and Eve would have 
 been driven from the garden of paradise, if there had not been a law, 
 or if that law had not a penalty ? Was it not the infliction of that 
 penalty that induced God to drive them out ? Was not this the grand 
 cause? Yes, the Bible says so: " In the day thou eatest thereof thou 
 shalt surely die." But the serpent, the devil, said, " Ye shall not 
 surely die." 
 
 Now there was truth on the part of God, or on the part of the 
 devil ; and that God spoke true is manifest, from his inflicting the 
 penalty — he drove them away ; in a word, he drove them away to 
 seek an abode in the world. These things being so, 
 
 We proceed, in the first place, to see what is the practical result, 
 or effect of this doctrine, which says that God will not punish ; that 
 there is no hell ; that every man will go to heaven. It is these sen- 
 timents that we are disposed to combat — not men, but systems. 
 
 The first practical effect of this system— (I will not call it a religion, 
 for it would be slandering God and the Bible,) this infidelity, which 
 is one of the first-born children of the devil, bearing all the marks and 
 
impress of infidelity — the positive and practical tendency of this 
 doctrine, is the destruction of all morality and religion. 
 
 Now for your proof. 
 
 I say the first general remark, as flowing from this system, is, that 
 it leads to the destruction of all morality and religion. For whatever 
 has a tend«icy to induce men to violate the law of God, leads to 
 aft abandonment of morals. Morality, in the language of men, is a 
 
 mpliance externally with the divine law, or a compliance with the 
 
 remonial law, if you please. Hence every thing that leads men to 
 violate the law of God, leads them to violate all morality, and to bring 
 religion to naught. 
 
 But you ask whether this is the result of a system of this kind. 
 I say it is. For the moment you have thrown the rein from the neck 
 of man, and obliterated the impression, that moment you have thrown 
 open the flood-gates of licentiousness; and the moment you have 
 created a disrespect for one law, all others will be treated with con- 
 tempt ; for he who is guilty of one, is guilty of all. 
 
 Now if it be not a fact, that this system of darkness is designed to 
 throw the rein from the neck of man, and to give loose to the natural 
 passions of the heart, then I know nothing of reasoning or argument. 
 Is it not one tendency of this system to destroy the morality of the 
 sabbath ? To annihilate the sabbath, or to amalgamate it with the 
 other six days of the week ? For if the happiness of man has nothing 
 to fear from God, what possible inducement can he have to fulfil the 
 divine laAv ? If he violates the day which God has commanded in the 
 decaloo-ue, he has opened a road for himself to proceed in, which 
 will result in destruction. • 
 
 What is the effect — let us take up things as we find them — take 
 society as it is, ask this man or that, or ask this intelligent audience, 
 to cast their eye:, over Christendom, where no respect is paid to the 
 sabbath day. Do you see morality, or any thing like religion there? 
 No. There is no religion there : if there is any thing, it is th^t 
 which makes man sin against God as hard as he can ; — and this is the 
 practical effect. When the morality of the sabbath is destroyed, and 
 the obligation to keep it disregarded, that moment is introduced a 
 whole flood of immorality. 
 
 Permit men to feel that they have nothing to fear in futurity— and 
 none will pretend to say that there is any thing like a just retribution 
 on earth — none dare say it ; and they will treat with indiflference the 
 sabbath day : and when the morahty of the sabbath is destroyed, you 
 have destroyed all morality and religion, and all respect for the divine 
 
law; and then are introduced covetousness, blasphemy, lying, stealing, 
 adultery, and a host of similar evils. 
 
 Now make the impression upon the mind of man that he has 
 nothing to fear if he commits these, and what is there to keep him 
 back ? There is nothing. And what is the character of those who 
 have always professed this system ? Have they been pre-eminent for 
 piety, for holiness of walk and conversation, for their benevolence, 
 and love to God ? We are free to admit that there are some among 
 them who may be, and who are, respectable, honest, upright men ; 
 and we are told that many are honest men ; but still your argument 
 is good for nothing. If they were as much afraid of the laws of God 
 as they are of the laws of man, they would be pious, holy, and prayer- 
 ful. But why should a man be prayerful, diligent, or holy, when he 
 has nothing to lose ? ^ 
 
 I have nothing to fear, says he ; there is no punishment hereafter ; 
 and if it be more convenient for me to be a glutton or a drunkard, 
 if I can live easier in adultery, then let me be an adulterer. All 
 these flow from this system — and why should they not? There is no 
 restraint, there is no law, there is no fear of God looking from off the 
 mercy seat. 
 
 Now if a system has such a tendency as I tell you this has, it can- 
 not but produce an effect similar to that which would be produced, 
 if it were proclaimed to the United States that men might do as they 
 please, and that they should never be punished ; that there might be 
 a great deal of threatening, but there never should be any infliction. 
 
 Now what would be the consequence of such a proclamation ? 
 You are all politicians enough to know what the result would be. 
 For you know that while the gallows is erected, while the doors of 
 our penitentiaries are thrown open, there is nevertheless enough to 
 do to keep villany under, and to meet the circumstances of the age ; 
 and will it not be so in this respect ? Is it not so ? How is the fact ? 
 \Shen a poor, pious missionary enters their doors, he is treated with 
 contempt, and threatened to be kicked out of their houses. Instead 
 of their children being brought up at sabbath schools, they are taught 
 to care nothing about the Bible or the sabbath ; and when this is the 
 case, we are in danger. 
 
 But they say they do not believe that there is any devil or any hell ; 
 and these are the practical effects which are seen in infancy, and 
 which grow up through youth to manhood. I repeat it, the practical 
 effect of this system is, a destruction of all morals and all religion. 
 In twenty years, if it were to prevail, there would be scarcely a ves- 
 
*ige of Christianity in the world ; in fifty years, there would be none 
 at all ; but, on the contrary, there would be something like that 
 among the heathen. 
 
 In the first chapter of Paul's epistle to the Romans, there is a 
 catalogue of immoral character, similar to that which we should have 
 if this system should prevail. And if you cast your eye to those re- 
 gions of country where they have given up to this system — if you 
 look beyond the flood, you will find it to be the case. We see the 
 awful effects of this doctrine almost at the threshold of creation, in 
 consequence of which man's age was reduced to one hundred and 
 twenty years ; and after a long and solemn warning, God sent a flood 
 and swept the people to hell. Look at the city in the plain ; how 
 did they treat that holy light given to Lot ? with what contempt did 
 they treat the warnings and admonitions of the Lord ; till God sent 
 a flaming torrent of brimstone to consume the city and its inhabitants? 
 Wherever they have abandoned religion and morality, and given up 
 the idea of punishment, all history shows, that in all societies, and in 
 every age of the world, since the arch fiend took his place in para- 
 dise and deceived our first parents, there have been these awful con- 
 sequences. And I repeat again, it cannot be otherwise. 
 
 A rnan that will stand up before his little children, and contend 
 that there is no hell ; that there is no punishment after death ; that 
 the idea of a devil is absurd ; and that all will go to heaven — the 
 whoremonger, the debauchee, and the blasphemer ; a man who can 
 sit down at his fire side and tell his little daughter, whose mind is not 
 yet destroyed, that there is as much peace, as much glorification and 
 felicity, for the vilest wretch upon earth as for her ; 1 tell you there 
 is much probability that such a man will enter your house and mur- 
 der your wife and children. Now should the parent come in and, 
 finding his infant murdered, shoot the vile wretch, would he pass 
 along to hea?ven with the spotless babe ? No, my brethren, no. But 
 he would be plunged into hell. It is true ; I am not colouring it too 
 highly, for it is a fact ; and these are the very sentiments— there can 
 be no other— I know it, for I have been insultingly treated with their 
 pamphlets upon the subject, which by the by I took the liberty of 
 burning. 
 
 In the second place. 
 
 As a necessary consequence, it leads to an entire subversion of all 
 civil government. I have taken pains to bring with me two or three 
 quotations in relation to the practical effects of this doctrine. Mon- 
 tesquieu, in his Spirit of Laws, says, " The idea of a place of future 
 rewards has a necessary connection with the abodes of misery ; and 
 
when they hope for the first without fearing the latter, the civil laws- 
 have no longer any influence. Men who believe that they are sure 
 of the rewards of the other life, are above the power of the legisla- 
 ture; they look upon death with too much contempt: How shall the 
 ,man be restrained hy laws who believes that the greatest pain the 
 magistrate can inflict will end in a moment to begin his happiness ?" 
 The next quotation is from one of the chief infidels of Europe, 
 Lord Bolingbroke — [This quotation was not understood by the r 
 porter.] We bring his testimony to show the opinion of wise and 
 great men, who maintain, that the idea of a future state of rewards 
 and punishments has a great leadeiicy to improve the morals of man- 
 kind. We also give the testimony of that arch infidel, the child of 
 Scotland — where we would scarcely expect to find such a man, but 
 we have reason to fear that her sons have# departed as far from the 
 truth as others — we refer to the celebrated Hume : " You conclude 
 that religious doctrines and reasonings can have no influence on life, 
 because they ought to have no influence; never considering, that 
 men reason not in the same manner you do, but draw many conse- 
 quences from the beUef of a divine existence, and suppose that the 
 Deity will inflict punishments on vice, and bestow rewards on virtue, 
 beyond what appears in the ordinary course of nature. Whether 
 this reasoning of theirs be just or not, is no matter. Its influence on 
 their hfe and conduct must still be the same. And those who attempt 
 to disabuse them of such prejudices, may, for aught 1 know, be good 
 reasoners, but I cannot allow them to be good citizens and politicians; 
 since they free men from one restraint upon their passions, and make 
 the infringement of the laws of society in one respect more easy and 
 secure." , 
 
 I have now given you three quotations from three of the wisest of 
 men — the one a French philosopher, and the other two English phi- 
 losophers. "^ 
 
 That this is self-evident no one can pretend to deny, that this sys- 
 tem leads to the destruction of civil society and civil government. 
 For what is the condition of that society where no regard is paid to 
 religion ? Why it is as much as a man's head is worth to put it out of 
 his house — he dare not leave his family for a moment where there is 
 no restraint upon the natural passions of men. For every one will 
 admit that men are inclined to vice, and hence they would soon de- 
 stroy civil society. Who will tell me that a man who disregards the 
 God who made him, will regard the man who rules him ? If he will 
 not respect the laws of heaven, how can he regard the laws of the 
 senate? If he can trample upon the laws of Jehovah, will he regard 
 
the laws of the land ? True it is, he cannot give sway to his passions 
 and feelings as he pleases, but it only requires an opportunity. There 
 is so much fear of punishment, that the infringement of the common 
 law IS not so frequent ; but let the idea go abroad that there shall be 
 no punishment hereafter, and what will be the consequence ? War, 
 blood, desolation, and villany of ever^ description. The civil law 
 cannot restrain the passions of men ; it cannot change their disposi- 
 tions ; it never did nor can effect it. It is God, and God alone, 
 that can effect it. The disposition of man, according to the Bible, 
 IS to go away from God : » The heart of man is deceitful above all 
 thmgs, and desperately wicked." The heart which is constantly 
 going away from God's law, must disrespect all civil law ; and if 
 an idea prevail that there is to be no future punishment, few men 
 would regard the civil law; for after all, the civil law is dead 
 without this fear, as we see if we cross the Atlantic, where a man is 
 suspended for a farthing. Has this deterred them from crime? Has 
 this been a restraint upon the vices of men ? Has the fear of a civil 
 sceptre awed them into obedience ? Not at all. ' The more they 
 hang, the more they may hang ; and so it will be, till you bring men 
 to respect the law of God ; without this respect, civil institutions 
 must increase their rigour tenfold. For it is only in proportion as 
 men have a regard for God's law, that they will regard the civil law. 
 It is the man who fears the law of God, that will respect the laws of 
 men ; it is the man who lives in obedience to the laws of God, that 
 lives in obedience to the laws of the land. The man who doe's not 
 live in obedience to the law of God, will generally live disregardfully 
 of the law of his country : it is true, my friends ; you may depend this 
 is the moral effect. 
 
 Who are the men that are robbing our buildings at the midnight 
 hour ? Are they the pious ? Are they the holy and pious attendants 
 at the sanctuar^, who are defrauding the public exchequer? Do we 
 find among those the devoutly pious, humble, faithful Christian? No. 
 They are men who disrespect the laws of God and God entirely. 
 Then you perceive that the necessary and absolute; tendency is, the 
 subversion of all civil law ; and that wherever these sentiments pre- 
 vail, civil society must fall into barbarism and heathenism. 
 
 I have already referred to the catalogue of vices enumerated by 
 Paul in the first chapter of Romans, where we see that this was the 
 effect : the introduction of all those evils was in consequence of a 
 disrespect for the divine authority. Look into a land of despotism, 
 and what do you see? You see a disrespect for all morals and for all 
 law. 
 
10 
 
 » 
 
 Suppose that all loved and respected God, where would be the 
 use of our penitentiaries — where would be the ule of our young 
 bastile of solitary confinement? Where would be the use of our 
 courts, of our lawyers, of our magistrates ? There would be none at 
 all ; sin would be banished from the earth ; nay more, nothing would 
 remain but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. Then 
 the sword of the warrior would be beaten into the ploughshare, and 
 the spear of the murderous and merciless soldier into the pruning 
 hook. Then would the din of arms and martial music be lost amid 
 the shouts of praise and songs of holiness to the Lord. Then you 
 would see the righteous gathering beneath the wing of Jesus Christ, 
 and then would peace and harmony prevail ; because religion must 
 follow, and there is a difference between religion and morals. We 
 have many of these professedly moral men — I am sorry to say it — 
 we have hosts of such honourable men, " who are without hope, and 
 without God in the world." 
 
 You see then, reasoning from analogy, that he who sets aside the 
 law of God, sets aside the law of man ; for if we fear not him that 
 made us, it cannot be expected that we will fear man who governs 
 us on earth. This system, so far as it is spreading its influence, is 
 leading to a destruction of morals and religion. It is said, that the 
 man who will swear and take the name of God in vain, is as good as 
 his neighbour; and why do you find fault with him, seeing these idea? 
 are afloat in .the world ? It necessarily follows, that, when a man's 
 passions are let loose, so that he regards not God, he will not regard 
 the laws of the land. 
 
 Now we have quoted these three authors, and have supported our 
 argument without the Bible, and upon philosophical principles. 
 
 In the third place, we say that all vice is the immediate offspring 
 of this system or doctrine. 
 
 There is not a vice, from the hap'th-worth stolen from the counter 
 of a store, to the robberies committed upon the highways and high 
 seas, that is not the offspring of the doctrine of universal salvation. 
 There is not a man that commits a theft, that tells a lie, or profanes 
 the name of God — there is not a single vice of this kind, which is not 
 the offspring of the doctrine and system of universalism. 
 
 Now you will, perhaps, want me to prove this. It proves itself. 
 Would the little child, who creeps into a store to take a nut from the 
 counter, take it if he thought he would be punished for it ? Would 
 the outlaw, who puts the knife of infernal butchery to the throat of 
 your wife or daughter, or who steals your money when you are absent, 
 do it, if he thought he would be detected ? Would the abandoned 
 
11 
 
 and bloody pirate, who seeks the life of his fellow upon the high 
 seas — would he commit these acts if he thought he would be punish- 
 ed ? No. Would the individual who enters your dwelling and tells 
 a falsehood, do it, if he believed that he would be detected? Would 
 the individual who takes the name of the Deity in vain, do it if he 
 thought he would be punished ? Would the individual who engages 
 in debauchery, and midnight revelry, pursue these practices if he 
 thought he would be punished for them? No : it is out of the ques- 
 tion. And all these, from the lowest to the highest, proceed upon the 
 ground that they will escape, and that there will be no punishment. 
 You would pronounce a man a fool, to be guilty of these things if he 
 knew he would be punished for them. He would be pronounced a 
 madman and a fool for such conduct. But they all do it under the 
 garb of this infernal doctrine, that there will be no punishment. 
 
 There is not a single sin nor vice which is not the immediate ofT- 
 spri^g of this system. Drunkenness, murder, wars, and rumours of 
 wars, all flow from this system, as the natural effects ; — and it is pre- 
 cisely the system of the devil — " Ye shall not surely die ;" you shall 
 not be punished. 
 
 Now, my friends, we believe the Bible will support these views. 
 It is the fool, saith the psalmist, that saith there is no God ; the hcen- 
 tious say, let us eat and drink for to-morrow we die. But the Bible 
 reprobates over and over again, all such sentiments. And I do main- 
 tain, that upon principles of justice, reason, and analogy, every vice 
 does result frOm this system. 
 
 The first sin that was committed was in consequence of the adver- 
 sary inducing our first parents to believe, that they might become as 
 gods, knowing good and evil ; and they complied, under the impres- 
 sion that there would be no evil consequences. They accordingly 
 took of the forbidden fruit, and eat it. And so it is that a man enters 
 your counting-house as a merchant, and makes a contract with you, 
 designing at the same time to defraud you ; — he does it under the influ- 
 ence of this same system. Would he, if he believed he would be 
 detected, be guilty of such an act for the sake of a few thousand dol- 
 lars ? Or would he come out as a forger, or unlawful representer of 
 the coin or paper of the day, and forge his thousands and tens of 
 thousands, if he thought he would be detected ^ No, he is a univer- 
 saHst, and believes that he will escape. He would not dare to do it, 
 if he did not believe that he would escape. 
 
 Now these are facts, irresistible facts ; and they are conclusions 
 that every individual of good feeling and sense must arrive at ; not 
 
12 
 
 because T have said so, but because, as I think, they will all necessa- 
 rily come to the same results for themselves. 
 I : We say, then, that all vice is the immediate offspring of this system^ 
 
 %^ of doctrines. The doctrine of universal salvation leads to all the 
 
 ' ^ vices and abominations under heaven. And if a disrespect for the 
 
 ^ law of God has this tendency when a man is impressed with it, it 
 
 will go on till it has involved the whole country in ruin ; — there is no 
 getting rid of this conclusion. 
 
 Knowing that the penalty of the law is so and so, the cold calcu- 
 lating murderer lays his plots and schemes ; but does he do it think- 
 ing that he will be detected ? No, he does it fully believing that he 
 will escape punishment. And this kind of disrespect for the laws of 
 God and man, is that which is robbing society of its choicest honours. 
 * New York tells a mournful tale in ^onseOjUence of this doctrine, 
 
 and continues to furnish another and another example — (alluding to a 
 recent duel between a citizen of New York and a citizen of Phila- 
 delphia, or the city of brotherly love) — but would these young men 
 have stepped into the field to jeopardise their lives, their talents, and 
 their all, if they had regarded the laws of their God ? If they had 
 been under the influence of Jesus, instead of pistol, powder, and 
 ball, they would have taken the Bible, and away to the throne of 
 grace. You may suppose that these things are very well, and that 
 they sound very well ; but if they are not true, you are under no 
 obligation to take them ; and if you cannot demonstrate them to be 
 facts, you are not bound to receive them. I can declare in the 
 name of that God who is to judge me and you, that the indelible 
 impression upon my heart is, that this system does lead to these results. 
 Perhaps I am now preaching to men of these very sentiments ; — curi- 
 osity may have induced them to come here, and may God grant that 
 their curiosity may be converted to a belief of the" truth. 
 w No doubt these sentiments and views are to be retailed again ; but 
 
 if so, we have not thrown them out with any such intention on our 
 own part. We do not take up the gauntlet willingly, but to defend ; 
 we do it at home, in our own pulpit ; and in the face of all, we stand 
 on our own ground. As ministers of the Lord Jesus whrist, we are 
 afraid of no man ; and we will defend the truth of God, and the best 
 interests of society, till our breath is gone, and our souls have passed 
 to immortality. And we trust, through Jesus Christ, we are not 
 boasting, but that we are presenting you these things, in order that 
 you may the better understand your true interest. 
 
 You may take up the Bible, and if you can find that the whore- 
 
13 
 
 monger, the liar, the drunkard, the robber, the murderer, and others 
 who are hving in such abominable habits of vice, are to enjoy eternal 
 glorification ; if you can find that the Bible secures to them the 
 reward of eternal felicity, and the laurels of triumph to deck their 
 brow ; if you find in the Bible no such place as hell, and no such 
 being as the devil ; that all those who regard not the divine law and 
 its consequences are going to heaven as certainly as the virgin Mary, 
 or Paul the apostle ; or as certainly as the most virtuous among ua ; 
 if you find that (he most abominable whoremonger, adulfJerei*, swear- 
 er, drunkard, thief, highway robber and murderer, are as certain of 
 heaven as the most virtuous and religious female ; then you are at 
 liberty to believe it ; but do not believe it till you find it in the BibTe. 
 I charge you, in the name of God Almighty, not to believe it ! 
 
 I am willing that every man should beheve the doctrines which 
 are Avell established by the Bible ; but are you prepared to believe a 
 system of doctrines that will tell you, the bloody Nero sits as near 
 the throne of God's grace as the little spotless babe 1 Are you pre- 
 pared to beheve that those piratical wretches that jeopardise the 
 lives of our useful seamen, and who fatten upon the blood and spoil 
 of widows and orphans, are as sure of heaven as the man of purity 
 and devotedness of heart ? I ask you to beheve it if you can. If there 
 were a man in the universe that could believe this, 1 should think 
 him the greatest anomaly in nature. 
 
 1 know that this system will answer to live by, but it will not do to 
 die by. It is but a short time since, that I was called to attend the sick 
 
 and dying hours of a man who had tried to believe it. I mean ^ 
 
 who said, " Oh ! if I could only hve to warn my friends of this dread- 
 ful doctrine !" And this Avould be the dying testimony of every man 
 brought to the knowledge of the truth. 1 heard him say that he had 
 often tried to believe that doctrine, but could not; and there are 
 others Avho have heard him say it. But I have entirely exhausted 
 my strength, and I will conclude by one or two inferences. 
 
 In the first place, we say, that a man who believes in a system of 
 this description, should never be entrusted with the instruction of 
 youth. Why, my brethren, I appeal to you as men of sense and 
 reason, what kind of teachers would they be — what morals would 
 your children learn ? would they learn to respect God or their coun- 
 try ? No, it is impossible. Individuals maintaining such sentimeatf 
 are altogether disqualified for moral discipline ; they have no morality 
 and no religion. For what use has such a man for religion ? He has 
 no use at all, any more than he has for as many again eyes as nature 
 has given him, or as many more arms or other limbs. Of what use 
 
14 
 
 is religion to him ? Is it wanted to take him to heaven ? No : he is 
 determined to go there without it. Does he want it to hve in the 
 world ? No. To make a fortune ? No. He must lay aside religion, 
 if he would make a fortune popularly. And if this be his prominent 
 object, he would find it difficult to get along without occasionally 
 stepping aside from the path of truth. He does not want religion for 
 these objects. Religion is to make us fit for dying ; and if we have 
 rehgion, we shall not commit the instruction of our children to such 
 individuals ; we shall rather send them to the savage tribes of the 
 forest ; for in most of them, they would learn something^of a future 
 state of rewards and punishments. But to entrust them to men who 
 regard neither the law of God nor man, is to commit them to a species 
 of spiritual cannibals. 
 
 A man holding such sentiments should never be entrusted with any 
 civil office ; for on what principle would you admit a man to a civil 
 office, who rejects the idea of future rewards and punishments ? A 
 man who has no regard. for an oath? For take away the penalty of 
 punishment, and it is ridiculous to talk of the force of oaths. If a 
 man has no fear of punishment, what regard can he have for right- 
 eousness and justice between man and man ? To trust your cause 
 with such a man, is to give it to the four winds. And they are not 
 allowed the liberty of an oath in some of our states. I would just as 
 quick allow a convict from your state penitentiary to take an oath. 
 I have no confidence in such oaths at all, no more than in the quick- 
 sands—where men have no regard for the laws of God, nor for the 
 laws of their country : and many there are who have none at all ; 
 they cannot have, while going on under the influence of such doc- 
 trines. 
 
 Every man ought to lift up his voice and Iiis hands against such 
 men being entrusted with the instruction of youth, or with any office 
 in the government. They may be permitted to live along ; nor have 
 we a right to do any thing to disturb them. I would not lift my 
 finger, nor would I sanction the man that would lift a finger against 
 such men, whatever might be their views upon religion, philosophy, 
 or morals. We must let them go on, but then let us show them that 
 we have no confidence in their integrity. This is not intolerance, it 
 is not a want of charity. I do not believe there is a man in the United 
 §itates who would permit a universalist to take an oath against him ; 
 and if not, of what use would his oath be whcft sworn into office ? 
 At present this is as far as I am able to go, anti I leave it with your- 
 selves, to be a subject of awful solemnity ; for hinged on this is all 
 that is interestiug and valuable. 
 
15 
 
 If I address men of these opinions and notions, 1 take this oppor- 
 tunity to warn them, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy 
 Ghost, to flee from the grasp of the fiend of darkness, who is fastening 
 his fangs in their everlasting welfare. You may ridicule, condemn, 
 and reject all this ; but the day is coming when you shall be brought 
 where God Almighty shall rain from heaven, " fire and brimstone 
 and an horrible tempest upon the wicked and ungodly, and the wicked 
 shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God." 
 
 Let me then, in the benevolence of my heart, if you embrace any 
 such sentiments, call upon you to renounce them, and to flee to the 
 refuge set before you by the gospel of Jesus Christ. Away from this 
 brink of ruin, for the time is coming when your universalism will 
 leave you, stumbling upon the ground, and the screech will be heard, 
 my day of grace is past, and I am lost, I am lost ! 
 
 Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, renounce this doctrine now, 
 and renounce it for ever ; for it will entail upon your souls the ever- 
 lasting chains of hell, where there will be nought but weeping, wail- 
 ing, and gnashing of teeth. Come, then, though you may be an enemy 
 to God, and a rankling enemy of the preacher, come to Jesus Christ, 
 the redeeming Saviour, the divine Saviour, the glorified Saviour ; 
 come, come— and then, though " the heavens shall be rolled together 
 as a scroll," and the burning "elements shall melt with fervent beat,'' 
 and though "the wicked shall be turned into hell," the righteous shall 
 be covered over with the glory of immortality, and shall shout halle- 
 lujahs and praises to the Lord for ever. 
 
 Friends of religi9n, friends of virtue, friends of truth, friends of 
 civil society, I call upon you all to raise your prayers, to raise your 
 voices against a system so demoralizing in its nature, and so destruc- 
 tive in its consequences. 
 
 May God be with us, and bring you and me to see the truth as it 
 is in Christ : And to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, be the praise 
 for ever. 
 
ICI