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UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

FUTURE PUNISHMENT,

DISCUSSED

IN A LETTER TO A -FRIEND,

BY

JOSEPH 0. STILES.

SAINT LOUIS, MO.
1868.

FUTURE PUNISHMENT.

Sweet Springs, Saline County, Mo.
Mr. William Allen Gwin,
My Dear Friend : — One of the most powerful prin
ciples of human nature is expressed, poetically, thus :
" The wish is father to the thought." In plainer lan
guage, man struggles desperately to disbelieve what he
desperately dislikes. Now, the doctrine of Future
Punishment, of all things, men most vehemently oppose,
because, of all things, it offends self-love most severely.
It is perfectly natural, therefore, that self-loving men
should labor to depreciate, undermine and avert the
evidence which establishes this doctrine, and to invent
adverse arguments where ground for none exists. Hav
ing an immortal soul in charge, well knowing should he
cheat himself, that he cannot deceive God, it certainly
behooves a wise man to examine his heart conscientiously
and keenly, and to strive to discover whether his seem
ing disbelief of man's eternal destruction is not, after
all, an attempt to build up a blind on the surface, against
what he dreads at the centre.
Mr. Gwin, allow me to say that, in my judgment, the
arguments establishing future punishment are a moun
tain — all opposing arguments a bubble.
(3)

4 FUTURE PUNISHMENT.
I.— THE ARGUMENT FROM REASON.
Weigh the testimony of those witnesses that seem
most competent, in the nature of things, to conduct us to
an enlightened decision on this solemn subject.
The Laws of Nature. — On his passage to another
world, let the sinner drop his body in the grave ; who
imagines for an instant that this can wash away one
particle of the corruption of his heart ? Fix your eye
upon the very vilest sinner upon earth. Through death,
this instant, pass him up to Heaven — with all his lusts,
and lies, and hate, and devilish heart — can he be happy
there? By a law of his nature, happiness lies in a cor
respondence between the mind and its object. The
unholy heart feels not, and never will feel the very
slightest sympathy with any one object, or movement of
holy Heaven. By what process, against a law of his
nature, can you awaken one emotion of peace in that
soul, while immortality endures? By another law of
his nature, misery lies in the opposition between the
mind and its object. This unholy heart feels, and must
ever feel, the deepest aversion to everything that exists
or transpires in holy Heaven. By what process, against
a law of his nature, can you protect this sinful soul from
eternal pain? Should God pass the sinner, uncon-
demned at the judgment, and place him on the highest
throne in Heaven — let reason decide— must not the
very laws of his own nature inflict everlasting misery
upon him, amidst the brightest halos of glory ?
Human Conscience. — All men feel that virtue and

FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 0
vice, in character, are moral ^opposites ; and always
treat them as such. We approve virtue, and condemn
vice. We reward virtue to promote it, and punish
vice to suppress it. There has probably never lived on
earth a nation, an organized community, which did not
regularly punish crime. All , this is the testimony of
human conscience that the sinner should suffer. Let
reason decide. If the remnant of rectitude in fallen
man has always punished transgression, can a God of
justice do less ?
Moral Government. — Government is instituted to
promote the virtue and happiness of the community.
Punishment is the only just expression of the turpitude
of crime. Abolish punishment, and you measurably sur
render the moral training of the community ; for you can
nevermore teach the full demerit of transgression, or the
obligation of obedience. Punishment, too, is the only
adequate protection of the rights of the community
against the violence of crime. Abolish punishment, and
you measurably surrender the peace of the community ;
for you have parted forever with the necessary means
of its adequate protection. Thus you fail to accomplish
the primary end of government, if you fail to punish
transgression. Let reason decide. If the perfection ot
moral government demands the infliction of the penalty,
can the kingdom of God remit the punishment of sin ?
The Character of Jesus. — From Godhead and the
bosom of his Father, Jesus Christ sunk to incarnation
and to crucifixion, to save man from pain. If Jesus
1*

0 FUTURE PUNISHMENT.
sacrificed and suffered everything to shelter man from
suffering — let reason decide — would that loving, gentle,
truthful Jesiis torment the generations of this very race
for six thousand years with truthless menaces of " the
fire that is never quenched," " the worm that never
dieth," and all the damnation of hell with its " weeping,"
" wailing," and " gnashing of teeth ?" It is impossible
to conceive how a man can believe in Jesus, and yet
doubt his most solemn faith in the final destruction of
the sinner. Thus, if we consult reason and solicit her
opinion of this disputed doctrine of future punishment,
her response will be this — The doctrine is true; for
nature necessitates it ; conscience forebodes it; govern
ment demands it; and the conduct of Jesus — seals it
sure. But you hasten to remind me that " God is love ;"
yea, " the Father of all mercies." Hereupon you con
fidently inquire, " How is it possible that this most
merciful of all parents can consent to burn his own child
in fire forever? No earthly parent has ever been
known to commence the process. No ! no ! God can
not do such a thing."
Ah, my friend ! and where did you learn so much
about God ? You seem to speak as if you compre
hended him perfectly. Gird up thy loins like a man,
and I will demand of thee, and answer thou me. How
is God One and Three ? Can you answer this ? How
does he predestinate, and in perfect justice, too ? Can
you explain that ? How does he deem man perfectly
dependent, yet perfectly free ? Are you able to solve
this problem? God threw Satan out of Heaven, and

FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 7
could have held him fast in hell ; where was the great
love of which you know so much, when it freed the
devil and allowed him to come up to earth, and tempt
our innocent foreparents, and involve the whole human
family in sin before they were born ? Can you satisfy
yourself on that point ? He is the strong Father, we the
feeble children ; where sleep his love and power, when,
in all climes and ages, his providence flings upon our
helpless race tempest and famine, pestilence and war, fire
and flood, sickness and death ?
If you shudder at the attempt to answer these ques
tions, where did you become so well acquainted with
God on the equally difficult points about which you
are so positive ? Friend I are you not wise above what
is written ? Scripture tells us that — " His ways are
not as our ways ; nor his thoughts as our thoughts."
Nay ! that his thoughts and ways " are past finding out."
Now mark this, if you please. Your argument is built
precisely upon the very fact; — that God's ways are as
our ways; and that you have found them out. You
are a finite being ; may not that be wise in God, which
to you seems foolish ; and that be cruel in God, which to
you seems so necessary to kindness ? Aye ! May not
this very attempt of yours to vindicate God's character,
stir up his indignant charge — ." Mortal ! thou makest me
such an one as thyself 1"
The truth is, examine it to the bottom, and you will
find, like every other argument of infidelity, that this
reasoning of yours upon the mercy of God — assumes an
intelligence superior to Omniscience. " Who, by search
ing, can find out God ? Who can find out the Almighty

8 FUTURE PUNISHMENT.
unto perfection." Your argument responds, " 1 can. I
know all about him. I can sit in judgment upon every
high question imagination can start about the Most
High. I can tell, in all things, just what he can do and
what he cannot ; just what he ought to do, and what he
is not allowed to do. There is nothing in God which I
have not fathomed, and which I do not perfectly com
prehend." There ! there exactly is the fatal flaw in
your argument. It is built upon an intelligence which
you do not possess. For see ! The very moment that
you admit that your intellect is finite, and that there are
mysteries in the Godhead which you cannot unravel,
then, for aught you know, this very doctrine of future
punishment may be one of them ; and your argument is
torn up, root and branch — for you know nothing upon
the subject.
But, you feebly respond, " We certainly brand that
man — a diabolical monster — who throws his children
into the flames ; and do we not fling the most blasphe
mous dishonor upon our heavenly Father by teaching
that he burns his creatures in hellrfire forever ?" No,
sir ! It is no dishonor to say of a man what he says
every day of himself. And since God assures us, from
one end of the Bible to the other, that he will consign
the wicked to everlasting punishment, we do not perpe
trate the slightest semblance of slander, when we simply
say of him, what he constantly says of -himself. The
fact is, the tables are turned, and the Universalist is
the slanderer. When an intelligent,' dignified, firm man
seriously declares to everybody, that he will certainly
do a given thing within his power.; that man insults him

FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 9
who says — " I know him well ; he never will do that
thing. He is too kind, too just, too imbecile. He will
never, never do that thing." God, in the Scriptures,
perpetually assures the sinner, that if he comes to him
impenitent, he will destroy him forever. The Univer-
salist advances, throws a patronizing wing over the
weakness of the Almighty, and well nigh conceding that
God does not exactly understand himself, and speaks a
little too fast, confidently affirms — ,; I know God ; God
is too kind, too just, too intelligent. He will never
burn his children in the fire. No ! never! ! never in the
world 111" I insist upon it, this man insults God. He
insults his intelligence, and his integrity, and his digni
ty and all the divinity that is in him. The fact is, he
assumes a blasphemous superiority over God. Blind
worm of the dust as he is, he practically pronounces his
Maker a blusterer. Depend upon it, eternity will flash
the truth into the soul of the Universalist — that it is
he, and not the orthodox, who insults God by his views
of this doctrine.
In laying by this argument from reason, we say —
investigate it fairly and thoroughly, and you will find
that reason plants a firm brace under the stern old Bible
doctrine of eternal punishment, and repels the objector
and his vindication, with the most indignant contempt.
II.— THE ARGUMENT FROM SCRIPTURE.
To a teachable mind, the Divine testimony — seems to
me — perfectly overwhelming.
1. God's Eternal Law settles the question forever.

10

FUTURE PUNISHMENT.

In every community, the law is that grand governmental
provision, whose special office it is, to settle the chatfao-
ter and the destiny of the subject. In God's kingdom,
God's law must decide the destiny of the sinner, Whajt
is the voice of God's law on the point in' hand? Itfe
simple, unmistakable, all-decisive sentence is this: —
" Do and thou shalt live ; disobey and thou salt die."
This is the one uncontradicted decision of God's law,
from Genesis to Eevelation. Mark it: there is no
escape ! For the law of God, firm and clear, — " thou
shalt die," — fixes, unavoidably, the future punishment
of the sinner. Human reason, we have seen, sustains
this doctrine. In moral principle, the character of the
offender deserves it — this all nature feels ; and in moral
structure, universal peace demands it — since to avert
the doom of the sinner, is to abolish government.
Objection. — But are not Christians disobedient ; and
are not Christians saved ? Why then may not sinners be
saved, though they, too, be disobedient? I answer —
the objection establishes the doctrine it opposes. The
very principle which acquits the Christian, condemns
the sinner. You are aware that the Christian is saved
only by that faith which presents and pleads the perfect
obedience of Jesus Christ. If, therefore, nothing but
the perfect obedience of Jesus Christ — accepted — saves
the Christian, then this very 'principle which saves the
Christian by faith, must condemn the sinner whose un
belief rejects the righteousness that saves.
2. The Scriptural Statement settles the dark doom
of the sinner. God's affirmation of the final destruction

FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 11
of the impenitent is not only lucid, strong, and indis
putable, but reiterated in every form and shape through
Holy Writ. I will present God's statement on this
subject in successive classes of Scriptures, that, through
their rising gradations, we may reach the magsive
strength of God's testimony.
The common statement of the sinner's destiny runs
thus — " The soul that sinneth it shall die." " The wages
of sin is death." " He that pursueth evil, pursueth it
unto his death." " The light of the wicked shall be put
out." " The end of the wicked shall be cut off." " The
way of the wicked shall be turned upside-down." " The
wicked are reserved unto the day of destruction." " The
ungodly shall not stand in the judgment." " The heavens
and the earth shall perish in the fire of the day of judg
ment and perdition of ungodly men." " The wicked shall
be turned mjif iluilh." " Whose end is destruction."
Only let Scripture be consistent with itself, and in view
of these passages, and ten times as many of similar im
port, it is incredible that God could have intended to
announce to men, in the Bible, that the wicked shall
share the mansions of bliss with the righteous, through
eternal ages.
Now mark, in each of the following quotations, that
God speaks of the destruction 0/ the sinner with more
solemn positiveness and emphatic certainty. The first
proclaimer of Universalism was the Serpent in the gar
den — " Ye shall not surely die." Very different is the
word of God. " In the day that thou eatest thereof,
thou shalt surely die." " 0, wicked man, thou shalt
surely die." " Though hand join in hand, the wicked

12

FUTURE PUNISHMENT.

shall not be unpunished," Observe! God's mercy,
stretched to the utmost, shall never save the wicked.
" The Lord ! The Lord God 1 merciful and gracious ;
long suffering; abundant in goodness and in truth;
keeping mercy for thousands ; forgiving iniquity, trans
gression and sin — and that will, by no means, clear the
guilty." Nor shall God's power, exerted to the utmost,
ever save the wicked. " The Lord is slow to anger,
and great in power — but will not at all acquit the
wicked." Sometimes in the same breath, God averts all
blessing and inflicts all cursing. " He that believeth
on the Son hath everlasting life ; but he, that believeth
not the Son, shall not soe life, but the wrath of God
abideth on him." All Scripture on this point is Summed
up in a word. " There is no peace, saith my God, to
the wicked."
Ponder God's positive statement. It builds a wall
directly across the sinner's path to peace. Only let the
Bible be consistent with itself,' as was before said, and
it does certainly make the destruction of the sinner in
evitable ; and, clearly, you must break down God's
truth before you can save the sinner's soul.
The final statement. Be pleased to observe that each
of the following passages extinguishes forever all hope
beyond the curse pronounced. " The wicked shall be
driven away — in his wickedness." " The wicked shall
perish forever in his own corruption." " The wicked
shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the
presence of the Lord and the glory of his power " —
"Shall depart into everlasting fire " — "Shall be utterly
consumed " — " Shall go to the generation of his fathers

FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 13
and never see light." " Now consider this, ye that forget
God, lest I tear you in pieces, when there is none to
deliver." For " ye shall seek me, and shall not find
me ; ye shall call upon me, but I will not answer."
Who would question, for an instant, the finality of
God's sentence upon the sinner, in view of the following
declarations : " In the end of the world, the angels
shall come forth and sever thei wicked from among the
just, and cast them into the furnace of fire ; there shall
be wailing and gnashing of teeth." Matt. xiii. 49 — 50,
" Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not
quenched." I beg you to note, if possible, the yet more
indisputable clearness of the final destruction of these
three classes of sinners. " If any man see his brother
sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask and God
shall give life unto them that sin not unto death."
" There is a sin — unto death. I say not that he shall
pray for it." 1 John, 5 — 16. These persons, you will
remark, have sinned unto death, and are beyond prayer.
Tell me I How can this class of persons ever get to
Heaven ? Again. " I say unto you, blasphemy against
the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. Who
soever speaketh a word against the Son of Man, it shall
be forgiven him ; but whosoever speaketh against the
Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this
world, neither in the world to come." Matt. xii. 31.
These persons are condemned ; and, you perceive, they
can never obtain forgiveness, not in this world, nor in
the world to come. Tell me, I say ! How is this class
of the human family to find their way to Heaven?
Again. Jesus says — " Ye shall die in your sins. Whither
2

14

FUTURE PUNISHMENT.

I go, ye cannot come." John viii. 21. All unconverted
men die in their sins ; and if they cannot come where
Christ is, by what process, or power, shall they reach
the presence of Christ? Alas! how terrific is the cer
tainty of the final damnation of the sinner ! Let God
intend to pronounce a doom, whose finality shall be abso
lute — and it is hard to conceive how he could surpass
his published pronouncements upon the apostate child
of Adam. Accursed of heaven — the sinner dwells in
" everlasting burnings," — yet " never sees the light ;" is
" utterly consumed," yet " the fire is not quenched ;" is
everlastingly " dead," — yet " the worm, in him, dieth
not ;" is " torn to pieces where there is none to deliver "
— when he calls, he is never answered ; when he seeks,
he never finds. In a word, he sinks to a death — beyond
prayer ; a condemnation — beyond forgiveness ; and a
doom — beyond the reach of Christ.
Ponder now, God's final statement concerning the
fate of the wicked. If, in spite of the most intense and
terrible finality of all these curses, the sinner, after all,
is actually saved; if the reprobates of the earth, no
matter whether they have blasphemed against the Holy
Ghost, or sinned unto death, or died in their sins — if, I
say, they shall all, all be as heartily welcomed to
Heaven as the righteous — then, undeniably, every essen
tial idea of truth, rectitude and divinity is blotted out
forever. There can be no alternative. Only give
Universalism life, and you draw the breath of all virtue
and annul revelation. Nor is this all. Let Universal
ism establish its first step in its fatal delusion, and the
great Revealer himself shall never survive the calamity.

FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 15
For where now is God's truth ? Never forget it ; when
God's truth dies, God himself will not live. " God is
truth." The Contrasted Statement. — The ultimate division of
the human family, stands out in all parts ol Holy Writ,
portrayed in the clearest language ; for God, every
where, holds up the end of the righteous and the end of
the wicked in diametrical antagonism, the one to the
other. Lend your candid attention to the passages I
shall rehearse. " I call Heaven and earth to record
against you this day, that I have set before you — life
and death." " Say ye to the righteous, it shall be well
with him; woe unto the wicked, it shall be ill with
him." " The Lord knoweth the way of the righteous,
but the way of the ungodly shall perish." " Repent,
that your sins may be blotted out;" for " Except ye re
pent ye shall perish." " He that believeth and is bap
tized shall be saved ; but he that believeth not shall be
damned." " Mark the perfect man, and behold the up
right, the end of that man is peace ; but the transgressors
shall be destroyed together." " The Lord preserveth
all them that love him ; but all the wicked will he de
stroy." " Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and
her converts with righteousness ; but they that forsake
the Lord shall be consumed." " The righteous hath hope
in his death ;" " but when the wicked man dieth, his ex
pectation shall perish." " For the righteousness of the
righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the
wicked shall be upon him." " For the hour is come in the
which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice and
come forth, — they that have done good to the resurrection

16 FUTURE PUNISHMENT.
of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection
of damnation." " And these shall go away into ever
lasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal."
How is it possible, in the nature of things, that these
two classes can be brought together ? They certainly
are essential opposites — in principle and affection ; in
aim and life; by the voice of conscience ; by the general
word of God ; and especially in view of this arraign
ment and opposite sentencing of the two parties, by the
immutable God.
Reflect, too, that this necessary opposition in destiny
stands strongly confirmed — first, by the working of the
Gospel. The one, you know, is " life uuto life " — in God's
blessing upon the righteous,' here this is ; the other
" death unto death " — in God's curse upon the sinner,
here that is.
Again — by the working of the law — " Do and live ;"
by these Scriptures, the good man lives; or "disobey
and die " — by these Scriptures the sinner dies.
Still again — This opposition in destiny is confirmed
by the law of antithesis, that is, when human thought
comes up in contrast ; when one part of a two-fold sen
timent is thrown out in opposition to the other part,
both science and common sense establish this great in
terpreting law. For instance, find the meaning of one
term of the antithesis, and the meaning of the other is
the exact opposite. Now all men must agree that, in
these Scriptures, God does contrast the end of the right
eous with the end of the wicked ; and that the end of
the righteous shall certainly be everlasting association
with God. Therefore, by the law of antithesis, the

FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 17
end of the wicked must be everlasting banishment from
God. Once more, let me say — The eternal separation of
these parties is immutably confirmed by every conception
of language, nature and God. Ponder God's contrasted
statement of what he himself solemnly purposes to do
with the righteous and with the wicked. I say now, if,
after all this multiplied form of consignment of them to
perfectly opposite destinies, and the creation of an im
passable gulf, to hold them asunder forever ; if, after
all, God does actually welcome both to the very same
Heaven — then, by this act, God emphatically proclaims
to all the universe that, henceforth and forevermore —
righteousness and wickedness — are the same ; to be well
and to be ill — are the same ; life and death — are the
same ; everlasting salvation and everlasting destruction
— are the same ; to be saved and to be damned — are the
same ; to be preserved and to be destroyed — are the
same ; to be redeemed and to be consumed — are the
same ; a resurrection unto life, and a resurrection unto
damnation — are the same. In a word, an endless cata
logue of celestial blessings and of infernal curses — are
the same. Nay ! good and evil, Heaven and hell, are
one and the same. Surely, if Universalism is true, the
foundations are destroyed ! Truth, order, trust, and
hope — are all adrift ! Nay, if Universalism is true —
God is dethroned— and Chaos is King of Kings. (Vide
Jippendix.) The Pictorial Statement. — It is sometimes objected
that words, being conventional, often change their im
port, and are therefore but an uncertain vehicle of truth.
2*

18 FUTURE PUNISHMENT.
Grant it. I meet the objector with the fact, that paint
ings never do change. Had the story of Cain and Abel
been told upon canvas, instead of on the historic page —
the elder brother standing, with malignant countenance
and bloody club in hand, over the prostrate, breathless,
mangled body of the younger — this picture would have
told the unalterable story so clearly, that no tongue of
time would have asked a question. Now, it is certainly
true, that the manifold parables of the Lord Jesus, repre
senting the opposite end of the righteous and the wicked,
are actually moral paintings and paintings so palpable
that no candid man can possibly mistake the truth he
intends to express.
Take, for example, the Parable of " the Wheat ani
the Tares." The former, the Master tells us, stands
for Christians ; the latter — for sinners. Whoever con
ceived, for an instant, that the wheat and the tares were
assigned to the same end ? The one — is to be barned ;
the other — to be burned. So the wicked are ordered
to be bound up in bundles and thrown into the fire ;
while the righteous are translated to shine — as the sun
in the kingdom above. Surely, by this parable, the
opposite destiny of the good and the bad is flashed upon
the mind irresistibly. The Kingdom of 'Heaven, the
Lord tells us again, is like a net cast into the sea, which
gathered fishes of all kinds. Who can glance at this
picture and imagine, for an instant, that the same dis
position was to be made of both kinds of fishes ? No,
indeed ! The good were to be gathered into vessels and
preserved ; the bad were to be cast away as utterly
worthless. How strikingly this drawing depicts the

FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 19
opposite destinies of the parties in the day of final
reckoning. In the happy teaching of the Saviour, the Kingdom
of Heaven is likened again unto "Ten Virgins."
The wise had oil in their vessels and went in with the
bridegroom to the marriage ; the foolish had no oil, and
while going about to purchase, the door was shut ; and,
though, they sought it prayerfully, they never reached
the happy destination of their more faithful companions.
Whoever doubted that, by this painting, it was meant
to portray the ultimate admission of the faithful, and
exclusion of the faithless, from the marriage supper of
the Lamb ? So the picture of the great supper was
certainly drawn by the Master to set off, in imperishable
colors, the total and final difference, both in the conduct
and the destiny of those, who promptly accepting his
gospel invitations, were now feasting upon the luxuries
of his table — while those, who declined his earlier in
vitations, were driven away, assured that they " never
should taste of his supper."
Perhaps the most splendid work of art, drawn by the
Divine pencil, is the picture of the day of judgment, at
the close of the parable of the talents. No man upon
earth ever calmly pondered this most august and inimit
able production and failed to feel and to see the coming,
certain, final separation of the human family on the last
great day. Creation would stand aghast, if a child of
Adam should come forth on the day of judgment, and,
in the presence of the great assembly, avow the follow
ing sentiments — " Son of God ! I never conceived on
earth, that the sublime picture of this great day, as pre-

20

FUTURE PUNISHMENT.

sented in the gospel of Matthew, was drawn up to an
nounce to man that there would be a final separation of
the righteous from the wicked in the eternal world !
True ! the righteous were placed on one side, and the
wicked on the other. True ! a blessing was pronounced
upon the one for his good deeds, and a curse upon the
other for his bad deeds. True, the Judge did invite
the one into his heavenly kingdom, and commanded the
other to depart into hell-fire. True, he did most sol
emnly declare that- the one should go away into ever
lasting punishment, and the other ascend into life eternal.
True, a great and impassable gulf was fixed, between
the righteous and the wicked, to hold them apart for
ever and ever. But, after all, I solemnly avow, here in
this awful presence, that I never considered that this ter
rible and final sundering of the human family — by God's
word — was actually intended to set forth the final sepa
ration of the human family — by God's hand." No,
verily ! That man is not in Heaven, earth, or hell, who
will ever approach to such an avowal. Verily ! man
has no language capable of expressing the thought, if
Christ's description of the judgment does not teach a
final division of the human family in eternity.
But, my friend, let me say, in a word, if you really
desire to know what God thinks of Universalism, and
how God feels toward that mortal, who presumes that
any man of any character, regardless of the terms of the
gospel, may enter Heaven, at any time, and sit down to
its blessings — go this moment and read, in the twenty-
second chapter of Matthew, the parable of the king who
made a marriage for his son. I venture to say that

FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 21
your hair will stand on end and your knees smite to
gether, as you witness the deadly wrath of God as ex
pressed against the creature who ventures to carry out
in his presence, such dishonoring views of his charac
ter and kingdom.
It is a little remarkable that the king's servants, in
the execution of their duty, seemed to act very much
upon the principle of this popular heresy. "They
gathered all, as many as they found, bad and good, and
the wedding was furnished with guests." One of the
company, in his every-day garb, without the slightest
preparatory change, ventured to march into the hall and
seat himself at the supper-table. Alas! what a moment
awaits that man ! What an agony shall soon seize his
soul ! Under a deadly thrill he shall look and see that
every other guest at that table wears a wedding-gar
ment. As by a flash of lightning on his conscience, he
shall remember that the invitation to him was condi
tional. He was a guest invited, provided he would
submit himself to the arrangements of the king, and
apply fbr, receive and wear that garment, that prepared
dress which the king himself had provided and passed
upon, as every way becoming the dignity, splendor,
elegance, and joyous proprieties of the great occasion.
Yes, poor man ! Brace up thy nerves, for thou shalt
need all thy courage to meet the dread moment just
at hand. For it is written, " When the king came in
to see the guests, he saw there a man who had jiot on a
wedding-garment, and he saith unto him — Friend ! how
earnest thou in hither, not having a wedding-garment ?
And he was speechless. Then said the king to his ser-

22 FUTURE PUNISHMENT.
vants — bind him, hand and foot, and take him away,
and cast him into outer darkness ; there shall be weep
ing and gnashing of teeth." Such, such is the doom of
that man who dares to act upon the principle of uni
versal salvation before the face of God ! For remember,
it is Jesus Christ himself, who says — " The Kingdom of
Heaven is like " — this.
Oh, the parables of the Lord Jesus ! What vivid
paintings ! What lucid teachings ! They seem to flash
into every honest mind an irresistible conviction, that
the human family is to be sundered in eternity, and
the wicked to sink to hopeless destruction !
And yet, strange to say, there are men who seriously
teach, that all these instructions of Jesus Christ are de
signed to apprize mankind that the wicked shall be
welcomed home to Heaven, at last, as heartily as the
righteous; and that the whole human family, without
an exception, shall be finally saved. Well ! if this be so,
then Universalism is true ! But this is not all. Then
the ministry of Jesus Christ on earth is a stupendous
abortion. Then the most enlightened and excellent
men and women of every generation are the most con
summate fools that ever provoked the contempt of
man. Out upon the preposterous accusation ! I No, indeed !
The work of the Son of God upon earth — is not a fail
ure ! The faith of the wisest of all ages — is not a fail
ure ! What then ? Oh, then, with terrible recoil, the
indignant Spirit of truth shall one day rush upon the
false accuser, brand upon his forehead? — " Damnable
Heresy ;" and point him, in the future, to far more dis-

FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 23
astrous failures nearer at home. For on the last great
day, the mighty multitude, entrapped and accursed by
his seductive flatteries here, fired with righteous ven
geance, shall see the great deceiver go down to his
proper home — deep amid the dungeons of the dead and
damned. And say — " He offered salvation to all, but
cannot save himself."
I solicit your attention to one more Scriptural point :

GOD'S LAST STATEMENT.
You may remember, my friend, that in our brief doc
trinal conversation, to my pertinent inquiry, your prompt
reply was this — That you had never felt a doubt about
the divinity of Christ, but had long been troubled by
unbelieving suggestions concerning the doom of the
wicked. You did not profess to believe the doctrine of
Universalism ; and yet there appeared to rest upon
your mind some such view as this : — Admitting the ad
verse testimony of the earlier books of Scripture, there
seemed to come up before you in God's last book, in the
book of Revelation, the semblance of an universal am
nesty — a sort of general restitution of the human family
to a more comfortable ground of hope for the future.
In half-way argument, and yet with a doubtful smile,
you recited the following passage from the fifteenth
chapter, " For all nations shall come and worship before
thee." Now, permit me to say, my friend, that, in my
judgment, the book of Revelation is not only in perfect
accord with that line of truth deduced from the preced
ing portions of the Word of God, but that it distin-

24 FUTURE PUNISHMENT.
guishes itself above them all, by thrusting a more deadly
stab into the very vitals of Universalism.
For our purpose, allow me to subject the book of
Revelation to a twofold division — Christ's messages to
the churches of the day ; and his prediction of the com-.
ing conflicts of the church of God in future ages.
The Saviour's words, through John, to the seven
churches of Asia are in perfect keeping with the Scrip
tural argument adduced above. They comprise two
classes of ideas. They deal with the same two orders
of persons — Christians and sinners ; and accord to them
the same twofold award — salvation to the righteous
and condemnation to the sinner. The righteous are
fully described by the virtues they possess, and the
fidelities they have practiced. The salvation promised
is brightly sketched through such figures as the follow
ing — " a crown of life," the " morning star," the " white
stone," the " hidden manna," the " new name," "a pillar
in the temple of God," &c. This salvation, bear in
mind, here as elsewhere, is offered only to a part of the
human family, to a specific class — to those who are " faith
ful unto death," especially " to him that overcometh."
Now, the following deduction from [these premises, we
hold to be incontrovertible — If Jesus Christ allots sal
vation only to the righteous, and beciause they are such,
then he must pronounce the opposite destiny upon the
sinner, in view of his opposite character.
And here let me say that this is precisely what these
messages to the seven churches do. They arraign the
apostates in these churches, convict them of the crimes
alleged against them, and then pronounce the sentence

FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 25
of condemnation in the following language : " I will
come upon you as a thief." " I will take away your
candlestick." " I will cast you into great tribulation."
" I will kill you." " I will blot out your name from
the book of life." " I will consign you to the hurt of
the second death." Every intelligent man must see, at
a glance, that these mandatory addresses of Jesus Christ
to the Asiatic churches stand square up to the general
teaching of the Bible, and assign to the human family
au opposite destiny in eternity in~ accordance with their
opposite character in time.
The Saviour's powerful foreshadowings of the conflicts
and triumphs of his church, in after ages, do still more
powerfully establish the doctrine of future punishment.
The prophetic portion of the book demands JM0 the
same simple analysis -t»-b» applied to Christ's messages
to the churches in the -earlier chapters. We have here
the same two classes of actors on the stage — the right
eous — with God and Christ at their head ; and the wicked
— under the lead of Satan and the beast. These parties
are engaged in deadly combat from the beginning to the
end with ever-varying issues. In their early conflicts,
the saints were sorely persecuted and slaughtered dread
fully ; but their faithful struggles are ultimately crowned
with magnificent success. The character of the parties ;
their moral difference, and, especially, their intimate
connection and fellowship with the great prime movers
of good and evil in the universe, are here far more
boldly, powerfully, and amply sketched. The grand,
dominant idea which connects and elucidates the entire
prophecy is precisely this : — " In the eternal world the
3

26 FUTURE PUNISHMENT.
righteous are certainly to be saved, and sinners as cer
tainly to be damned.
Their opposite character must divide them. Regen
eration has certainly revealed . the godliness of the
Christian in this book. It has thrown God's people, out
of sympathy with sin and the world, into communion
with Christ and his church. They love God ; they love
the Saviour ; they love his Kingdom ; they love one
another ; they hate sin, and cannot stand the wicked.
They show all this most clearly in the history recorded.
Now, such persons must be saved. In their very nature
they belong to God and Heaven. They are in their place,
at home, and happy there and nowhere else. They feel
that they are one with God and ought to be with him ;
while God sees that they have complied with all his re
quirements, earned all his promises, possess all his
affections ; and to divest them of a home in his presence
would be the deepest cruelty and injustice. Assuredly
from their character alone, the righteous must be saved.
The wicked, too, in all these prophecies, stand out as
diametrically opposite in character to the righteous.
Their apostate heart has not a solitary sympathy with
God or his Kingdom, but cherishes the most deadly hate
against both. There is not a principle in the mind of
the wicked which, acted out, would not instantly rush
into deadly conflict with every attribute, measure, and
servant of the great King of Heaven. Look at the
character these sinners exhibit in the Revelation, and
tell me, if you can, how such a nature can be saved ?
There is nothing, nothing in God or his home which can
awaken in the wicked, correspondence or fellowship,

FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 27
appreciation or amity, co-operation or comfort. Were
there no curse upon his head, by the laws of mind such
a creature could never be saved. The unrelenting hos
tility to all holiness which dwells and rankles in every
sinful soul, must find its hottest hell in the centre of
Heaven. Just ponder the workings of apostate nature,
as they are portrayed in these histories of the Apocalypse,
and you will realize that, independent of everthing else,
the very character of* a sinner must entail upon him in
evitable and eternal separation from the righteous.
Their opposite relations secure their opposite end.
Survey the Christian in these prophecies, and you will
find that he is allied to God by every strong, endear
ing connection that can bind minds together. The
Christian is the child of God. He calls God his Father,
and God calls him his son ; and their mutual sympathies,
by every natural exhibition in this prophecy, reveal an
actual, an indissoluble tie in their parental and filial
affection. The Christian, too, is the servant of God,
and is so called in this book abundantly, both by God
and angels. There seems to exist, too, the very strong
est and sweetest fellowship^ between the parties in this
relation. God dwells with them, supplies them, defends
them, fights for them, avenges their blood, and comforts
their sorrows; while they serve him faithfully in the
field, and day and night in the temple. The Christian,
too, is God's soldier. His great commander he obeys,
he fights for, and freely sheds his blood in his cause ;
his great captain, too, leads him in the moral battle of
life, fights by his side, protects him, avenges him, van
quishes his enemies, and rewards his fidelity. On the

28 FUTURE PUNISHMENT.
part of both, there would seem to exist, in the light of
the prophetic history, the very heartiest, closest, and
firmest attachment. Clearly, these relations must save
the Christian. You cannot sunder such children, ser
vants, and soldiers from such a Father, Lord, and
Captain. To what home in the universe do such solemn
and intimate connections point, but to the bosom of
God? Now, if these relations make the salvation of the
righteous certain, opposite relations must as certainly
involve the destruction of the wicked. The record
abundantly illustrates the charge that the wicked are
the children, servants, and soldiers of the devil, and how
can they be saved under the holy government of God ?
Undeniably, if the righteous are embraced as sons, ser
vants, and soldiers — the wicked must be rejected as
reprobates, unfaithful, and rebels.
Their opposite habits must conduct to ultimate sepa
ration. Look at the record and you will perceive that
the principles of the one, move out in holiness : of the
other, in sinfulness ; that the acts of the one, are obedient
to God : of the other, to the devil ; that the pulsations
of the one, fling up heartiest adoration to God : of the
other, the bitterest blasphemies against him ; that the
aims of the one, are to advance God's cause : of the
other, the Kingdom of Satan ; that the fellowship of the
one, is with God and the good : of the other, with Satan
and his crew. In a word, this very book says of the
one, that he is a worshipper of God ; of the other, that
he is a worshipper of the beast. Now, if the habitual
holiness, obedience, adoration, consecration, and com-

FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 29
munion of the Christian — save, must not the opposite
habits of the sinner — destroy? The one "follows the
Lamb whithersoever he goeth," and must go to Heaven;
the other follows the beast wherever he goes, and must
go to hell.
The opposite marks of the parties must eternally
sunder them. One mark of the righteous is this — his
name has been written in the Lamb's book of life.
The common statement on the subject, in the book of
Revelation, affirms that the names of Christians are
written in this book ; that the names of sinners are not.
Bear in mind, under this figure, that before man fell,
the whole human family had their record in the book of
life. God created man with a capacity to live forever;
but at the fall, and by man's act of sin, this condition
ceased to exist ; and the record of life was cancelled.
There exactly lay the necessity of introducing the
new, or second book of life, viz. : to designate, and set
apart, all those of the fallen race, who shall be saved
from the general wreck. As the Christian's name is
here, he will be saved ; and as the sinner's name is not
here, he will not be saved.
We are taught, in the revealed will of God, that
which we could not otherwise have known, and which
is certainly true, that there are two conditions of human
existence, distinguished by those expressive words, life
and death. We have this life in contrast with another
life — "-Who have their portion in this life " — " Choked
with the cares of this life." " If in this life only we
have hope," &c. So we have, "Everlasting life,"
"Eternal life," "What shall I do, that I may have

30 FUTURE PUNISHMENT.
eternal Iffe ?" " He that hateth his life, shall keep it
to eternal life," &c. On the other hand, we have the
second death. " He that overcomes, shall not be hurt
by the second death." " On such the second death hath
no power," &c. This book of life obviously refers to
this second death and to life eternal. The great im
portance of books, manifest in all the Scriptures, as
registers of events, of obligations, laws, &c, renders these
allusions, in Revelation, to books, very natural, espe
cially in regard to one's rights or condition.
From the earliest to the latest of the Sacred Scrip
tures, this figurative expression is used.
To be blotted out of God's book, is equivalent to utter
destruction, and in that last of these sacred writings,
which most fully reveals the state of the future world,
the book of life has a most conspicuous place.
There is a fearful solemnity resting on this subject,
that demands our deepest reverence ; and it is amazing,
how men can talk about it, in a flippant and trifling
manner. The great Judge, whose title is King of Kings and
Lord of Lords, in awful majesty, ascends the throne,
and thus is the scene described — "I saw a great white
throne and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth
and the Heaven fled away; and there was no place
found for them. And I saw the dead, small and great,
stand before God. And the books were opened ; and
another book was opened which is the book of life ; and
the dead were judged out of those things which were
written in the books, according to their works. And the
sea gave up the dead, which were in it; and death and

FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 31
hell (the grave) gave up the dead, which were in
them ; and they were judged every man according to
their works. And whosoever was not" found written in
the book of life, was cast into the lake of fire."
This book bears a special title, of wonderful import —
" The book of life, of the Lamb slain." How is the
mind filled with crowding thoughts, at these words !
The Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the
world — the Lamb slain in sacrifice — Jesus, the Son of
God — Calvary — the cross — the dying Saviour — the
trembling earth — the darkened sun — every principle
of love, and justice, and mercy, there expressed, in the
Lamb slain. His book of life, and every soul therein
recorded, " redeemed with the precious blood of Christ."
Alas ! whose name shall not be there ? I tremble as I
write il: — whose name shall not be there recorded ?
Now, with what language shall I express my amazing
horror, at the thought, that any human being should
dare to say, that all this is a sham, a mere frivolous play'
of words. No such awful judge — no such book — no
such judgment from its record — everybody is saved. " 0,
my soul, come not thou into their secret, unto their as
sembly, mine honor,- be not thou united."
Another mark of the righteous is this : he is sealed in
the forehead as the servant of God — a most significant
figure to express the designation of the righteous. The
common statement is, that all God's servants are sealed
in the forehead ; and that none of the wicked are thus
sealed. The end of sealing for salvation is to discrimi
nate and identify the saved. But if all are saved, what
identification do you want? If all are saved, what

32

FUTURE PUNISHMENT.

discrimination can you make ? From what discriminate ?
A farmer owns immense multitudes of flocks and herds.
Nay, all the cattle and stock of all kinds, in the whole
country — are his. What would you think of the economy
and skill of this man, were he to burden himself with
the expense and trouble of marking his entire stock ?
There is nothing with which they can be confounded
now, and there will be no increased identification then.
Now, if the doctrine I oppose is true, and God has in
deed decreed the universal salvation of Adam's race,
this very decree has already affixed the very highest
possible mark of salvation upon every soul of them, and
what more do you want ? Besides, if the great unsealed
mass are indisputably saved, then would not your seal
ing distinguish from them, and thus seem to discriminate
toward destruction ? But if you insist upon it that
sealing has its use, then why not seal all ? What sort
of a farmer is he who turns out into the prairie his
thousand sheep to herd with the many thousands of his
neighbors, but marks only one in twenty ? What is to
save nineteen-twentieths of his whole flock from foreign
claim ? If all are saved, why does God seal any ? If
sealing is necessary, why does he not seal all ? God's
people are known by their mark. Therefore, as sinners
are not sealed by God, but by the beast, they belong to
the beast and not to God, and must go to the home of
their master.
Their opposite award must part them for eternity.
A sentence pronounced by a magistrate, clothed with
competent authority,. is the highest possible evidence of
the doom of the convict. Such manifestoes of the final

FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 33
decree of the Judge of all the earth, touching the de
scendants of Adam, are multiplied from the commence
ment to the conclusion of this book. As the prophecy
draws toward its termination, and the plot is thickening,
and the great judgment lingereth not, and the consum
mation of all things is at hand — these final sentences
seem to fix the ultimate habitation of the parties, with
terrible distinctness. Let two or three specimens of the
same suffice.
Early in the twenty-first chapter of Revelation God's
people are introduced into the holy city, when the
record thus proceeds — " And God shall wipe away all
tears from their eyes ; 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."
" But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable,
and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and
adulterers and all liars shall have their part in the lake
which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the
second death." This most solemn pronouncement, no
man on earth ever misunderstood. Palpably, it wel
comes the righteous to Heaven; but all sinners, not
presumptuous transgressors only, but all gospel-neglect-
ors, all who refuse this great salvation, are consigned to
' a terribly opposite doom for eternity.
Toward the close of the same chapter, the Revelator
proceeds to present a far more gorgeous and extended
description of the walls and foundations of the holy city ;
and again, he distinctly designates both the party who
shall not, and the party who shall inhabit this happy
home, in the following language — " There shall, in no

34 FUTURE PUNISHMENT.
wise, enter into it anything that defileth, neither what
soever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie ; but they
which are written in the book of life." Here again,
we have placed visibly before us, the final separation of
the saint and the sinner, of the written and unwritten
in the book of life. The one enters the holy city ; the
other is excluded forever. The last chapter in the
Bible commences with a splendid description of the
most captivating objects within the city, and the most
exalted felicity of its inhabitants. They who carry
God's name in their foreheads, the sealed servants of
God — they are held up, as the persons who — "Shall
see his face, and reign with him forever and ever."
But observe : This book says only they — " For without
are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murder
ers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a
lie." This book of Revelation, God's last word to man,
reveals distinctly to us "the final home of these unfor
tunate people — the unrecorded and the unsealed. They
are to occupy, through eternity, the same lodgings with
Satan, whose mark they carry. In the nineteenth
chapter we are informed that the Beast and the false
Prophet were both — " Cast alive into a lake of fire,
burning with brimstone." The twentieth chapter
teaches us, that Satan was cast into the same lake with
the Beast and the false Prophet, and adds — " Where
they were to be tormented day and night, forever and
ever." Now, the last verse of that same chapter com
prises and therefore confirms all that has been said of
the doom of the wicked, in the word of God. That
verse instructs us, that "every soul" — mark that! —

FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 35
" every soul who was not found written in the book of
life." What of this unwritten man ? What was done
with him ? Why he, too, was cast into the same fiery
lake with the Beast, the false Prophet and the Devil.
So says the book of Revelation, this last word of God
to man. On what possible ground can it be assumed,
that while Satan is doomed to everlasting punishment,
human beings cannot be so doomed, because of the mercy
of God, purely? Oh, the doom of the wicked! The
doom of the wicked ! How terribly certain ! How
terribly disastrous ! How terribly hopeless !
God made man for the truth. Let man stand up
bravely for it under adverse pressure. This day I ren
der homage to God's dishonored truth and declare — that
the Scriptural doctrine of the final destiny of the human
family, to me, seems — splendidly reasonable. God's
ever-blessed book sends the Christian to dwell in a
happy home, with whose august head and household he
is in perfect harmony — through his character, his rela
tions, his habits, his marks, his affections, and especially
by the final decision of infinite rectitude and benevo
lence. God's ever-blessed book dismisses the sinner to
the home of his life-long choice, with whose head and
household he has ever shown himself in perfect syin»
pathy — by his character, and his relations, and his
agencies, and his tastes, and his marks, and especially by
the final decision of infinite truth and justice. What
procedure of the God of Heaven could have been more
just, wise or kind ?
But where shall we find a brain active and compre
hensive enough to measure the infinite unreasonable-

36 FUTURE PUNISHMENT.
ness of this doctrine of Universal salvation? It throws
together, in one home, two large families of rational
beings — whose characters, and relations, and tastes, and
habits, and marks, and histories, and awards, are as
perfectly antagonistic as light and darkness. It collects
these two antagonistic households under an august
parental head, whose entire force — by the perfections
of his nature and the decree of his will — must exalt the
one and degrade the other through eternity. Most
amazing of all ! It works out its preposterous project
by breasting and scorning that mighty flood of inspira
tion which reveals all these essential contrarieties,
and ultimate issues upon every page of Holy Writ, from
beginning to end.
My friend, I do not hate my Universalist fellow-men.
God forbid ! There is not a soul of them, whom I
would not instantly befriend and save. A few of them,
too, I am happy to trust, are God's sincere children and
will, through our doctrines, not those of their sect, reach
the holy city. But I grieve for the common Univer
salist. I tremble for the fate of his soul. Would to
God that he would come to reason in time. Oh, I fear
he will be lost. The Lord have mercy upon him before
it is an eternity too late.
And now, just here, allow me to say, that your proof-
text brings no support to the desperate fortunes of the
sinner. The fact is, the true bearing of the passage has
no relation to this subject. " Ml nations shall come and
worship before thee." These words are a prediction of
a future event — confined to time and reaching not to
eternity; embracing a generation or two and not the race.

FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 37
No serious man denies that, from the commencement to
the conclusion of Revelation, God has promised that
there shall come a period on earth when there will be a
general prevalence of religion over the whole world.
" All shall know thee, from the least unto the greatest ;"
and a thousand and one similar assurances. Christen
dom has long looked for this predicted spread of the
gospel, this millennium, the conversion of the world.
Now, it is perfectly clear to me, that to some such
period in the future, a time of the general dissemination
of religion amongst mankind, this text of yours refers,
and to nothing else. The words prove it. The phrase
" all nations " is commonly employed to express not the
human family, but a generation of it. The context
favors it. The church had just achieved a glorious
victory over the enemies of God and man, and while
singing her triumphant songs, with prophetic eye, she
looks into the future and hails with esctasy that coming,
broader triumph of holiness, abundantly described in
future chapters. The tenor of Scripture establishes this
construction. The promised spread of the gospel is
everywhere couched in just such language. " All na
tions shall flow unto the house of the Lord." "All
nations shall serve him." " Thy saving health shall be
made known to all nations."
But the question is put to rest by this fact: that be
tween the passage under discussion and many of the
millennial predictions, there is not only a perfect identity
in sentiment, but a perfect identity in language. You
will find every word of your text in Psalms lxxxvi. 9.
" All nations whom thou hast made shall come and
4

38 FUTURE PUNISHMENT.
worship before thee, 0 Lord ; and shall glorify thy
name." Mark now, these two things : Your proof-
text has its entire field on earth ; and its saving power
works not in the past, not in the present, only in the
future. "All nations shall "Jfaake a record now of the
narrow bearing of your standard text. The four thou
sand years of sinners, between the fall of man and the
advent of Jesus, may be this day, every one of them, in
the hell of the Bible, for aught your text has done to
save them. The eighteen hundred years of sinners,
composing the generations between our day and the
birth of Christ", may be this day, every one of them, in
perdition, for aught your passage has to say upon the
subject. The eighteen hundred years — more or less —
of sinners, that shall dwell on the earth between our
day and the commencement of the predicted holy time,
shall certainly land in the pit — if delivering power is
to come from your text. Satan was chained during the
millennium, but turned loose at its close to " deceive the
nations " again. Thus all the generations of sinners,
between the close of the predicted period of natural
worship and the end of the world, must perish without
help from your passage. And finally, were it necessary,
it might easily be shown, that your text does not even
assure us of the salvation of all the sinners of its brief
prophetic day. What now shall we think of the all-
saving power of your standard passage ? Is it an im
pregnable corner-stone of Universalism? Does it es
tablish the eternal salvation of every child of Adam ?
Bear with my rudeness, my friend. One stretch of a
twenty-foot tape-line may go as far to measure the cir
cumference of the earth, as does this text to sustain the

FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 39
monstrous assumption of Universalism. My friend,
pardon me. Do you not suppose that there are other
proof-texts, popular in the mouths of Universalists,
which, subjected to a little examination, would explode
as absolutely ?
How prodigious is the strength of the Scripture ar
gument against this popular heresy ! By his common
statement, all through his word, God affirms that the
wicked shall perish; by his positive statement, all
through his word, God assures us that the wicked shall
surely perish. By his final statement* all through his
word, God declares that there is no possible hope for
the wicked after death ; by his contrasted statement, all
through his word, God spreads an impassable gulf be
tween the end of the righteous and the end of the wick
ed ; by his pictorial statement, in all his parables, the
Lord Jesus flashes this contrast irresistibly upon every
mind ; and now, by his last word, we have seen that
God brings up a far more pungent and impregnable
confirmation of the great preceding body of Scripture
testimony. Glance along this fortified line of truth,
running compactly through every page of Holy Writ,
from beginning to end ! Its every element is — a Scrip
ture; and each Scripture lies — plumb — under God's
doctrine of future punishment. Stand upon this firm
foundation and calmly solicit the objector, in off-set to
all this point-blank Scripture proof, to produce, if he
can, one solitary clear text, in all the Bible, wherein
God promises to save the finally impenitent, unbelieving,
or unregenerated sinner — and you will be apt to feel
the clear, consistent, massive, impregnable strength of
the Scripture argument.

40 FUTURE PUNISHMENT.
III.— THE ARGUMENT FROM PROVIDENCE.
God's providence presides over two worlds — the
natural and the spiritual. By this providence, apart
from the instructions of his word, God teaches man in
two ways — through the work of his hand, and the voice
of his Spirit. In the one he instructs men, by the
address of natural events to their senses. In the
other, by the operations of his Spirit on the heart and
conscience. 1. The Hand of God. — The hand of God seems to
shape history in this world, so as to foreshadow the
events which the word of God predicts of the world to
come. All through time, God signally smiles upon the
righteous, and frowns upon the wicked. Even the brief
experience of man in the garden, brings up strong cor
roboration of the general principle. So long as our
first parents were righteous, God visited and blessed
them ; the moment they sinned, God cursed and left
them. Ere long, a great deluge is sent upon the earth.
See ! Righteous Noah and his family are saved ; but
all the wicked perish. Penal fires are discharged from
the skies, and ere they reach the cities of the Plain —
behold ! Righteous Lot is safely sheltered in Zoar ; but
the wicked people, amongst whom he dwelt, shall be
seen no more. On the eastern bank of the Red Sea,
God's persecuted people stand calm and triumphant.
But look out upon the stormy waters! The wicked
pursuers, chariots, horsemen, and King, perish in the
angry billows. Sometimes of old, God made the wick
ed, like an arraigned culprit, stand out by themselves,

FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 41
surrounded by multiplied thousands of righteous spec
tators. At his command, the earth opened, and 0,
horrid ! Instantly they, their wives, their children, and
their all, were coffined alive for the judgment ! Some
times in full view of the righteous, God made angry
flames from Heaven leap upon the separated wicked
with such devouring wrath, that one fierce shriek fore
told their dreadful end. By these stupendous displays
God seems to say to the righteous — " A thousand shall
fall by thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand,
but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes,
shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked."
True ! In an apostate world under sentence of death,
by the ordinary course of events, Christians must perish,
and sometimes dreadfully perish, as well as sinners;
but these most signal and miraculous dispensations of
Providence are very peculiar. Brought out in the early
ages of the world — as if for the inspection and instruc
tion of future generations, they do seem to be invested
with a speaking, penetrating, prophetic power. In all
their structure, circumstances and issues, they do cer
tainly appear to have been shaped purposely to confirm
the word of God, and the voice of conscience touching
the coming destiny of the human family. Bear in mind,
the Actor in providence, is the Speaker in Scripture.
Now if, by his ordinary operations at all times, and
especially by his miraculous displays in the early history
of the race, God seems to have been holding forth to
man his opposite treatment of the righteous and the
wicked, and their final separation on earth, may he not
mean hereby to foreshadow his opposite treatment of
4*

42 FUTURE PUNISHMENT.
the righteous and the wicked — and their final separa
tion — at the judgment ?
When the flood came, the righteous lived, but the
wicked died. When fire fell upon Sodom, the righteous ,
lived, but the wicked died. When Pharaoh chased
Israel across the Red Sea, the righteous lived, but the
wicked died. When the earth swallowed up Korah
and his company, the righteous lived, but the wicked
died. In all these cases remember, too, the righteous
and the wicked were finally separated. Now, may
there not be solemn teaching in all this? May'lsQt God
mean to say — " Hereafter, as here, the righteous arfe>4p
live, and the wicked to die. Hereafter, as here, the\,
righteous and the wicked are to be finally separated.
For as when I dealt with the righteous and the wicked
here, the righteous lived and the wicked died ; so when
I deal with the righteous and the wicked hereafter, the
righteous shall live, but the wicked shall die. And, as
when I dealt with the righteous and the wicked here,
they were separated forever — so when I deal with the
righteous and the wicked hereafter, they shall be sepa
rated forever."
God's providence, remember, is as really an expres
sion of God, as Scripture is, and judgment will be.
Standing between the one and the other — if providence
has been shaped to reflect God's speaking in the past,
must it not have been equally designed to foreshadow
God's working in the future ?
It gives some corroboration to the argument to con
sider, that this construction arranges Creation, Scrip
ture, Providence, and the Judgment, as consistent ex-

FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 43
ponents of Godhead, both as to the essential attributes
of his person and the grand movements of his kingdom.
For, thus, they each and all bear the same witness, viz. :
that the human family is to be finally separated and the
wicked destroyed forever.
2. The Voice of His Spirit. — Men of all ages and
countries feel that God does press his truth upon the
soul by his Spirit ; and so press it that the man knows
surely, it is God who is speaking to him, and under
stands perfectly what it is that God communicates.
These spiritual teachings of God are always confined to
two points — man's duty and destiny, and do always
leave the soul perfectly instructed on these two points,
viz. : what God thinks of rectitude, and how he will
treat the good man ; and what God thinks of sin, and
how he will dispose of the bad man. Here, then, in
these soul-teachings of the Spirit of God, in all climes
and ages, is a vast field of light ; and of light precisely
upon the very point in hand ; and of light from God
direct. Here, therefore, in God's Spiritual providence,
is a fountain head of knowledge, which we are bound to
consult in studying the fate of the sinner in the eternal
world. One of the most thrilling inquiries of time is
this — What disposition will Gad make of the sinner in
the day op reckoning ? Independent of God's people,
there are always two opposite classes of persons on
earth, who profess to report, experimentally, God's
Spiritual reply to this inquiry — the sceptic and the con
victed sinner. In giving in this testimony, of what they
say God has communicated to them, concerning the

44 FUTURE PUNISHMENT.
doom of the sinner, the sceptic is always in an easy,
composed state of feeling, such as any man would have
in the common affairs of life ; the convicted sinner, on
the contrary, is a man impressed, over-awed, sombre.
The former is often loquacious, self-sufficient, positive,
disputatious, censorious, and bitter ; the latter is taci
turn, gloomy, self-absorbed, and oppressed. The for
mer will discourse upon the subject anywhere, on the
corner of the street, in a groggery, in any company,
under any circumstances. The latter flies the society
of men, and broods gloomily over the fearful secrets of
his soul — all alone.
Now, every man on earth, who knows anything of
our blessed Christianity, well knows that the infidel,
sceptic, or heretic who feels, conducts, and discourses as
above, is an utter stranger to the precious influences of
the Spirit of God. In the heat of argument, he may
smite upon his breast and exclaim in the most earnest
and passionate manner, " I know from the feelings God
has put in my soul, that he will never, never destroy
his creatures in hell-fire forever." The fact is, from our
religious experience we better know that this man's
views, feelings, habits, aims, and life, expel the Spirit
from his soul ; and that not one item of all his religious
opinions was derived from the special agency of the
Holy Ghost. Most clearly, he is not a competent wit
ness on this subject. He does not and cannot report
the teachings of God's Holy Spirit, for he has never felt
them. But look at that convicted man ! Arrested,
called out from the cares of time, jni thn Mirta tflf
solemn, anxious, fearful, bowed at tho feet

FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 45
of God ! There is the man whom the Spirit of God is
teaching. That man never encounters one moment of
life when God's eye is not awfully bent upon his very
heart ; not one moment, day or night, when he does not
seem to hear God say directly, terribly, to his inmost
soul — " You are guilty. I am displeased with you. I
will never, never be reconciledto sin. I shall deal with
you soon. Enow, once for all, if you do not turn, I
will assuredly punish you." The very Spirit of God is
in that man's soul ; he, it is, who is the legitimate, com
petent witness of the teachings of God's Spirit concern
ing the ultimate doom of the sinner. What now, I ask,
is this man's testimony on this subject ? If this world
knows anything, it does know of a truth that when
God's Spirit is shed upon man's mind, and man awakes
to the entrance of God's truth, that child of Adam was
never found on earth who instantly broke forth into
raptures, because the Spirit taught him and he felt —
that all sinners were going to be saved ; because the
Holy Ghost had revealed to his deepest soul that Uni
versalism is true. The convicted of the earth and the
Spirit of Truth himself would stand aghast, and be most
terribly confounded by any such report as this. On
the contrary, every impress upon the soul of man by the
special agency of the Holy Ghost, is in perfect accord
with his every inspiration upon the holy page. There
fore in his inmost soul the convicted sinner feels the
wrath of God revealed against his unrighteousness.
Yes, he feels, and distressingly feels, that it has come to
this — he must repent or perish. This, and this alone is,
and ever has been the distinct word of the Spirit in the

46 FUTURE PUNISHMENT.
conscience of awakened man. And here, just here, is
the death blow of Universalism. The Spirit of God is
the great teacher, set apart by the ascension of Christ,
to re-utter the teachings of Jesus, and proclaim all truth
necessary to the conviction and salvation of men, espe
cially of " sin, righteousness and judgment."
If this doctrine of Universal salvation is true, why
does not the spirit of truth teach it to man when he
works on his soul? Why is it that, ever teaching, he
has never put this doctrine upon the conscience of one
solitary convicted sinner, since the fall of man. Bring
me a child of Adam who says — " Under conviction .there
was a moment, when I felt that I and all men were to
be saved;" and I will make that man acknowledge,
in his farther testimony, that the very next moment the
Spirit convinced him that this very impression was a
device of the devil.
Let me re-state the argument. The Holy Ghost is
called " the Spirit of truth " because he is appointed to
convey God's truth to man's mind. This truth he makes
known in two ways : by revelation in the Bible, and by
agency on the conscience. Mark it now ! From the fall
of man to the present day, the Spirit of God has never
pressed upon the conscience of one convicted sinner this
doctrine, viz : " I and all men are to be saved." Then,
this doctrine is not taught in Revelation — then this
doctrine is not the truth of God. Again, from the fall
of man to the present day, the Spirit of truth has fas
tened upon the conscience of every awakened sinner this
conviction, viz: " If I and all men do not repent, I and
all men shall perish." Then, this is the doctrine which

FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 47
is revealed in the Bible — this, the doctrine which is the
truth of*God.
If I mistake not, the premises are sound, the conclu
sion clear, and the error of Universalism established.
Collect the mass of this testimony. Countless myriads
upon myriads of voices of the Holy Ghost, each uttering
the dark doom of the sinner, have been actually felt: and
realized by myriads upon myriads of awakened men in
all climes and ages. Oh, the mass of the testimony !
Weigh the worth of the testimony. All cqnvicted souls.,
from the apostacy to the present day, bear witness that
the Spirit's every utterance was most clearly understood
by every man ; and, again, that every utterance of the
Spirit taught the death of the sinner. Oh, the strength
of the testimony I If there have indeed been such a
multitude of clear communications from the Holy Ghost
to the souls of men ; and if each of these communica
tions did indeed announce the coming death of sinners,
where, 0, where, is Universalism? Directly under the
frown of the God of truth. We repeat, from the date
of his creation to the present hour, the entire spiritual
experience of man, convicted and converted, in Heaven
and on earth, instantly and intuitively realizes, that
every utterance of Universalism is in direct hostility to
every inward teaching of the Holy Ghost. Is this true ?
Then every argument of the Universalist is a striving
of the potsherd against his Maker. Woe be to that
striver. He must perish.
The support which Providence brings to the assaulted
doctrine of future punishment, may be grouped in a
single thought. Providence, natural and spiritual, is a

48 FUTURE PUNISHMENT.
simple and splendid epitome of the judgment. With
in — God's Spirit is ever writing the sentence of eternal
death upon the spirit of sinful men. Without — God's
stupendous judgments upon the wicked of old and his
every-day operation amongst men, do hold up a striking
type of the final execution of the sentence.
Reason, Scripture and Providence compose a tripple
foundation for God's doctrine of future punishment
which former ages have struggled in vain to overthrow.
The Argument from Reason. — If God is holy, and
man unholy — the laws of rational nature necessitate
man's everlasting destruction. If God has so framed
human conscience, that man ^wnishes sin all through
time, where is divine consistency if God acquits the
wicked all through eternity ? If punishment is the only
perfect expression of the immorality of sin, and again,
the only perfect protection against the disorder of sin,
you overthrow government, if you do not lay hands upon
the sinner. If the stupendous sufferings on Calvary
were endured to deliver man from that awful wrath,
suspended over his immortality by sin, and if man,
solemnly warned by Jesus to flee the wrath to come, will
yet trifle with that wrath through this life, assuredly,
he must meet that wrath in the life to come. Nor is
the strength of the argument at all impaired by the ob
jection drawn from the goodness of God ; since that ob
jection involves self-deification — for it never sets out
to argue, until it has assumed an intelligence equal to
God's.

FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 49
The Argument from Scripture. — The stupendous
strength of the Scriptural statement of the doom Of the
sinner, it is impossible to express in a word. Its sim
plicity, perspicuity, variety, authority, intensity, contin
uity, and consistency — are amazing; the multitude of
indisputable, point-blank proof-texts, unimpaired by the
semblance of adverse testimony — is almost incalculable ;
while the strength of the emotion, conception and lan
guage employed to express the doctrine — is often grand
ly sublime. Indeed the man who surveys the massive,
consistent, palpable power of the divine statement, and
does not instantly believe, practically lifts his arm
against the Godhead. When he sees God on his throne,
sentencing the sinner to death — so angrily, and does
not believe, he despises God's authority ; when he hears
God announcing his purpose to destroy the sinner — so
frequently, and does not believe, he despises God's
truth ; when he observes how clearly God commits him
self to the death of the sinner, and yet imagines that
this very commitment may include his salvation, he
despises God's intelligence ; when he marks God's pur
pose to destroy to-day, yet hopes for deliverance to-mor
row, he despises God's dignity. In a word, he who
ponders all the Bible evidence of the final destruction
of the sinner and withholds his entire faith for an in
stant, in that very moment, essentially impairs every
power of his soul to respect the rights of his Maker,
and, by example, leads the creature to strip God of all
his claims upon the work of his hands. It is a just and
splendid tribute to the power of the Bible argument,
that no man can withhold his faith for an instant, with-
5

50 FUTURE PUNISHMENT.
out thereby, practically, driving his soul into a war
with God.
The Argument from Providence. — God's glorious
providence, natural and spiritual, speaks out in simple
and beautiful confirmation of the teachings — both of
reason and of Scripture. On the one hand, in God's
Spiritual world, he who inspired the Scriptures, who is
the author of all truth, who has been appointed the
great instructor of the earth, ever since the ascension of
Christ, he, the Holy Ghost, is ever at work — writing
upon the consciences of multitudes of sinners of every
generation, precisely those very suggestions of reason
and those very records of Scripture, which we have
rehearsed ; thereby, infallibly assuring the sinner, in
the very depths of his soul, that if he does not repents —
perdition is his doom. On the other hand, in the natural
world, Providence, by that mighty arm which formed
and governs universal nature, stands in the forefront of
all the generations of the earth, as they come upon the
stage, one after another, and for their instruction is ever
holding up to their observation the great deluge, the
conflagration of Sodom, the ingulfing of Pharaoh, the
entombing of Korah, the consumption of Nabad and
Abihu, that by these and many similar displays of
offended majesty and holiness, as well as by his ordi
nary operations, all mankind might see, splendidly ex
hibited, just what reason suggests and Scripture records,
and the Spirit impresses, viz : that when, the great day
of reckoning comes, while the righteous shall be left in
the full enjoyment of his promised reward, the sinner

future punishment. 51
shall be dreadfully, hopelessly banished from the pres
ence of the Lord and the company of the redeemed.
0, yes, yes; there is a great and awful truth in the
government of God. Fallen man — impenitent — shall
be lost, and lost forever. Reason teaches the doctrine ;
Scripture establishes the doctrine ; and Providence con
firms the doctrine.
Let us close our discussion with one reflection — If
Universalism is true — where is the truth of God ? They
certainly stand arrayed against each other in irrecon
cilable conflict. One or the other must go down.
My good friend, from the few doctrinal words we
interchanged, on our introduction, I inferred that you
had been conducted by your Scriptural studies to a
comfortable reliance upon the last book of Revelation.
You will permit me, then, to commend to your solemn
consideration, the last words of God to man on earth.
If I mistake not, they sound out a clear and loud —
Amen — to that doctrine of the ancient faith for which I
have earnestly contended in the preceding pages ; and
seal| the irrevocable separation of the righteous and the
wicked through eternal ages. Under the agitating
pressure of this terrible doctrine of eternal punishment,
you may have heard some thoughtless mortal, just re
turned from the faithful preaching of the gospel, fling
out fallen nature's venom against holy truth, in some
such exclamation as this — " These hell-fire preachers ! !
What do they know upon the subject ? Why ! At the
very last moment, in the twinkling of an eye, by one
single volition, God can inaugurate a splendid system

52 future punishment.
of universal amnesty, reverse this whole order of things,
close up the mouths of these denunciatory preachers,
and save the whole human family gloriously and for
ever." Preposterous thought ! He can do it just as soon as
he can surrender his character, cease to be what he is,
and wreck the universe, and no sooner. By this Bible,
through every successive moment of the world's exist
ence, God is crying out to lost men — " Just as sure as
you come to me impenitent, I will assuredly destroy you
forever." After such a commitment of himself, before
all Heaven and the men of every generation, if he saves
the sinner he destroys his truth. By his ministers of
every denomination, country, and age, through every
successive moment of the world's existence, God is cry
ing out to thoughtless men — " Just so sure as you come
to me unregenerate, you shall surely die !" After such
a commitment of himself, let Gad acquit the sinner, and
he condemns himself.
But we are not left to human reasoning upon a sub
ject so big with the eternal fate of men. One ot the
very last words of God to this world is his most positive
assurance that, for the relief of procrastinating, pre
sumptuous, incorrigible men, no such unpromised deliver
ance shall ever be introduced. On the contrary, God
pledges his unsullied truth and honor that the time is
coming when he will fix the righteous and the wicked
in character and condition — unchanged, irreversible,
forever — " He that is unjust, let him be unjust still ;
and he that is filthy, let him be filthy still ; and he that
is righteous, let him be righteous still ; and he that is

future punishment. 53
holy, let him be holy still." This text is utterly sense
less, if it does not solemnly confirm every word uttered
to establish the final separation of the righteous and
the wicked.
The very last word of God to man, you must allow
me, my friend, to commend to your immediate consider
ation. " If any man shall take away from, the words
of the book of this prophicy, I will take away his part
out of the book of life." Verily, if man can take away
from the words of the book of this prophecy, the Uni-
versalist does perpetrate this very offence. The most
solemn, the most awful utterances of earth, are those
maledictions of God upon the wicked recorded, in the
book of Revelation. In their bearing — so fearfully,
utterly, eternally overwhelming ; in their manner — so
particular, positive, deliberate, and repeated ! ! -
Behold God! Under the intensest rousings of his
insulted authority, and his determined purpose ! he ad
vances and decrees, concerning sinners — " They shall
be cast into the lake that burnetii with fire and brim
stone ; which is the second death." The first death we
know what it is — but the second death ! God forbid
that you or I should know what it is — but a reality, as
certain as God's truth, it must be.
Behold the Universalist ! In his senseless, impious
audacity, he, too, advances and exclaims — " The wicked
shall not be cast into the lake that burneth with fire
and brimstone ; for there is no second death." Ah !
does not that man most wickedly, most outrageously
take from the words of the book of this prophecy ? My
friend, do not allow yourself to tamper, for one mo-
5W

54 future punishment.
ment, with this miserable delusion of Universal salva
tion. It is grievously blasphemous against God ; it is
infernally dangerous to the soul.
My dear Mr. Gwin, when 1 proposed to write you a
letter upon the subject of Universal salvation, I had no
design to inflict such a demand upon your patience.
But the composition grew upon me as I pondered the
great subject, and I was sustained and encouraged in
my studies, by the following considerations. You did
not seem to be stubbornly wedded to the doctrine ; I
therefore hoped that you might be the more readily
divorced from it. I found you, too, in character, what
men told me you were, (pardon my plainness,) an in
telligent, honest, serious, candid man. And as these
properties seemed to imply all due consideration, com
prehension, and appreciation of the argument, I did
verily hope that God, in mercy, might rectify your faith,
intensify your anxiety, and save your soul. This, of
course, greatly invigorated my investigations; for I
could not exclude the thought that, in addition to your
personal salvation, Christianity in your neighborhood
might be substantially advanced. For the warm-heart
ed, benevolent energy of true conversion, I imagined
must compel you, through future life, to fling out upon
your surrounding neighbors that power of character,
which had hitherto wrought so long, and well, and ex
clusively at home.
Mr. Gwin, methinks I hear a little voice in your
heart of hearts, uttering these words — " Had you ex
hibited a sweeter charity in your abundant handling of
your fellow men, upon these pages, it might have won
favor for your argument and, perhaps, achievement for

FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 55
your hopes." Guilty I my friend. While I live, this
shall be my plea to every charge of defect of fraternal
affection — when pointed against my character and con
duct as a Christian professor, and especially — when
tabled against my effort as a Christian minister. On
this point, my own conscience pronounces solemn sen
tence against me, all life long. But will you hear one
alleviating explanation ? It is the voice of my princi
ple, God grant it may be of my heart, that I would not
cherish an unfriendly feeling against a Universalist, for
the world we dwell on. Why should 1 ? He is my
brother man, whom I am bound to love. My fallen,
redeemed, probationary fellow creature, for whom I am
bound to labor. Surely, I should ever wish him well,
from the bottom of my heart. Surely, I should ever toil
to win his soul to Christ, with the tenderest solicitude.
It is not enough that I strive to avoid the wounding of
his feelings. I must struggle to command his respect
and insure his kindness, that I may serve and save
him. May I say now that, to my knowledge, with one
exception, I have ndt set my thought upon a Universal
ist, since I commenced to inscribe these pages. It is the
principle — not the professor — that I have been com
bating. It is the doctrine — not the man — I now op
pose. There are good men and women in this fraternity,
I doubt not, (not made such by Universalism, but be
cause, at bottom, our faith is in them,) — God's precious
children, whom we shall meet in Heaven, if we reach
the happy land ourselves. God bless them and all
associated with them, though now unblessed. But
Universalism, as a religious system — I deem the com
mon enemy of Heaven and earth. When I look at its

56 FUTURE PUNISHMENT.
character — in spirit, principle, practice, aim, and work,
the perfect antagonism of the entire genius and influence
of our glorious Christianity ; when I listen to its cry —
" All blessing to everybody ! no matter about the claims
of God, or the character of man, or the nature of things ;
happiness to everybody, even the worst of sinners, all
good and no evil forever ! !" When I look at its work —
what havoc it makes of the church of God ; what armies
it raises, and walls it builds for the kingdom of Satan ;
and what vast multitudes of the unwary it entraps in its
seductive snare — I feel it my duty to draw the sword,
and go forth and do battle, whenever the heresy crosses
my path. Sworn for life to fight for God, man, and the
truth, I must face this deadliest antagonist of them all.
And when I see this Evil Spirit draw his sword upon
God, and upon the Bible, and upon the church, and upon
the souls of men, and upon the hope of the earth — I
have a heart for the work, and I feel that no condem
nation can be too strong, no opposition too decided, no
blows too hard.
All true ! you say — but inasmuch as the very strong
est prepossessions and sympathies of these few misguided
Christians among Universalists whom I am bound to
love, and those many deluded sons and daughters of
Adam among them, whom I am bound to serve, are at
present most intimately intertwined with every part of
this system of false Christianity— is there not a wise
discretion, a true fraternity, which should be called up
to temper language, make allowances, guard expressions,
and put forth kindness, lest I should unnecessarily
alienate and prejudice, and thus damage those I am
sent to serve ?

FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 57
Ah, my friend, here my plea -is — Guilty ! nor have I
one word to say. God and your soul be my judges.
Whatever short-coming of the spirit and bearing of an
exalted Christian you may have actually discovered in
the spirit and conduct of this religious effort — may God
forgive. And as for you, Mr. Gwin, I throw myself
upon your charitable promptings, trusting, should we
live and be associated, that you may be more gratified
by my future reformation than you have been disquieted
by my present delinquency.
" Should we live and be associated !" Ah, Mr. Gwin,
I am quite an old man ; and you are not as young as
you once were. I suspect, verily, that you and I have
parted for the judgment. I should like to meet you
again. But hear me ! I never expect to meet you in
that imaginary, unchristian, heterogeneous, Universalist
Heaven. No, never ! If you and I meet hereafter in
peace, there is but one way for us both. We must
secure the regeneration of our fallen hearts by the Holy
Ghost — through humble, filial, earnest, and confiding
prayer ; and the justification of our guilty consciences,
by the blood of Jesus — through simple, direct and sus
tained faith.
How fearfully lost ! Nothing short of a Trinity —
can save you and me. It is only through the Son, and
by the Spirit, that we have access to the Father.
Mr. Gwin ! God grant you and me a meeting above,
and the richest blessings of his providence, and of his
grace to yourself and your family below.
I am your friend,
JOSEPH C. STILES.

APPENDIX.

I am not prepared to concede, Mr. Gwin, that there is the slightest
extravagance in all the language I have used. It seems palpable to me,
that the doctrine I oppose, if carried out — by one fell blow, demolishes
the Bible ; and of necessity, all it represents and all it addresses — Crea
tor and creature. Indeed, I think, I observe a sharp resemblance, in
spirit, language, and movement, between this false Christianity and the
great Destroyer. When of old, God said to our ancestors, in the gar
den — " Ye shall surely die ;" the Serpent responded to our foreparents —
" Ye shall not surely die." As fairly as I can, I will lay the Bible and
this false doctrine side by side ; and beg you, in comparing them, to
observe whether there is not something in the bearing and voice of this
audacious opponent of God, which reminds you both of the Spirit that
contradioted God in the garden, and of the Spirit which is now said to
work in the children of disobedience ?

SCRIPTURE.
" 1. The wages of sin is — death.
2. The soul that sinneth — it
shall. — die.
3. Woe unto the wicked — It shall
be ill with him.
4. The end of the wicked is — de
struction. 5. He that believeth not — shall
be damned.
6. He that believeth on the Son
hath life; but he that believeth not
the Son — shall not see life; but the
wrath of God abideth on him.
7. Except a man be born again,
he cannot see the kingdom of God.
8. Whoso speaketh a word against
the Son of God it shall be forgiv
en him; but whosoever speaketh
against the Holy Ghost, it shall not

UNIVERSALISM.
1. The wages of sin is — not —
death. 2. The soul that sinneth — it
shall not die.
3. ' Blessed be the wicked — it
shall be well with him.
4. The end of the wicked is — sal
vation. 5. He that believeth not — shall
be saved.
6. He that believeth on the Son
hath life; and he that believeth
not the Son shall not see death, for
the love of God abideth upon him.
7. Though a man is never born
again, he is sure to see the king
dom of God.
8. Whoso speaketh against the
Son of God, it shall be forgiv
en him; and whosoever speaketh
against the Holy Ghost, it shall be

60

APPENDIX,

SCRIPTURE— Continued.
be forgiven him, neither in this
world, neither in the world to eome.
9. Ye shall die in your sins;
whither I go yo cannot come.
10. Ye generation of vipers !
How shall ye escape the damnation
of hell?
11. They that have done good —
shall come forth to the resurrection
-of life; they that have done evil,
unto the resurrection of damnation.
12. Depart ye cursed into ever
lasting fire, prepared for the Devil
and his angels.
13. The wicked shall be turned
into hell, with all the nations that
forget God.
14. So it shall be at the end of
the world ; the angels shall sever
the wicked from among the just,
and shall cast them into the fur
nace of fire ; there shall be wailing
and gnashing of teeth.
15. In hell, he lifted up his eyes,
being in torments; and seeth Abra
ham afar off and Lazarus in his
bosom. 16. And, beside all this, there is
a great gulf fixed; so that they
which would pass from hence to
you cannot ; neither can they pass
to us, that would come from thence.
17. Finally — He that is unjust,
let him be unjust still ; and he that
is filthy, let him bo filthy still.

UNIVERSALISM— Continued.
forgiven him, both in this world
and in that which is to come.
9. Ye shall die in your sins ; and
whither I go, ye shall come also".
10. Ye generation of vipers ! Ye
shall surely receive the benediction
of Heaven.
11. They that have done good
shall come forth to the resurrection
of life ; and they that have done
evil, unto the resurrection of salva
tion. 12. Come ye blessed into the
kingdom of Heaven, prepared for
you from the foundation of the
world. 13. The wicked shall be taken
up to Heaven, with all the nations
that remember God.
14. So it shall be at the end of
the world ; the angels shall sever
the wicked from among the just,
and shall convoy them to the Holy
City ; there shall be shouting and
clapping of hands.
15. In Heaven he opened his
eyes, being in raptures ; for he be-
holdeth himself embraced with
Lazarus in the bosom of Abraham.
16. And, beside all this, the great
gulf between us and you has been
filled up, and we all have one home
forever. 17. Finally — He that is unjust,
let him be justified forever; and
he that is filthy, let him be glorified
forever.

YALE UNIVEHSITY LIBRARY

3 9002 09863 0032

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