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Laa eortoa, planehaa. tablaaux. ate., pauva nt Atro fNmda i daa taux da rdduetlon dIffAronta. lo doeumont oot trop grond pour Atro lit on v" aoul oNeh*. H oot fNmd i portir •uiMrlottr goueho. do gaueha i drolto. ot do Jtaiit on boa. an pranant lo nombra dlmagaa nicamlra. Laa dlagrammaa auhranta fNuatrant la fiMthada. ■^ J.. ^ ■ ^ - . X ^<'' ^T !-S5S '•***;■•. SODOM; piici. It onrgi. URi "ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY," WILLIAM GLEN MOl^CRIEFF . LONDON. OMTARta '>% AUTHOR OK •■'*■- " Man's Omlv Hops or Immoktalitv, Ac, &c. :■ » ' " :■' ■' ■■■■■•. -fe" . .. .yK'a . LONDON, ONTARIO: V ^ JAMBS I. ANDKRSOli & CO., BOOKSICLLKRS, DUNOAS Sr« rttVB E. Brooks, Office or "The IHblb StamdakiV' MALVElkN Link, Worcesteeshirb, England. i8^ ass« it-J. :*•- ■ An^ -^i—*— -~-«t-- --!._i— 'iST; >r m. '.^s-:.'*'- '■^' '■^V-K'T!' ,«/» t rji| M SODOM; c B «!' u mt n 1 ■ 1 H m 1 '^m H t::"^" WlLLfAM GLEN MONCRIEFF, ; LOiiDdii/ ^ ^ ■ :''^^ !'•* Aunto* or **U«m'» Only Hon or iMioKTALrrVi ■ ^v ■ »£r*c. ■ . : ■ '■(:■■;. .'■ . ■ ■ '^ "' LONDON. ONTARIO: ^ jAUSil. AllOBMOM ft COm BOOKlKLLBia, Dundas St. ^ llALYIUI UHE, WO«CIfri«fHI»«, iHOLAWD. ''ill 1884. /.'>^ -i , \.^.. •v.'v :.^ K- "I —Paui, " Royal vifldom woo Pnm loiMly Maidiiiict, and the ttrifw for light.'' —BowiN AbmoUd. H?8 Vim nvM »Oaiano. s: -*fr''' "■> t' \ ■ >«:^ CONTENTS. I. iNtRODUCTORY - ■ ' , ' II. Sodom's Jiidgmhit \ • III. Sodom's Judomimt moue Tolerabli t^am JlRUSilLSM'S - ". - . "^ • I * IV. SODOM'fr SlBSTORATIOK - . • - / 7 V. Othir* Passages Supposed to payor RSSURRI^CTION to A "SECOND OPPOR- TUNITY "/BrIEPLY Considered VI. CoNCLUsioir VII. Verses ;y I 4 • » 5 . V 7 45 58 7fi 99 103 flRv t,'l 't "> ■& I ^' h'/>' w^em. -■■ ^^^1^^'^-ilJ r-f7ff^w*j^\ ^Wf" ''•". I;— INTRODUCTORY. , _^ f,'; ;'^ V. ^Hin the mow recent yeart w«i« in progress, copies if tTActSf joumab and pamphlets frequently reached m^ jtudy, advocating the doctnne of a "Second Opportum- ty;" which theory wiU rebeive anpiple explanation in the following pages. Sometimes it was possible for me to iscover the sender ; sometimes it was not ; but alike to le known and the unknown a feeling of gratitude had a >lace in my heart To those who kept me in mind vhen gifts were being distributed, I take this occasion to stum my sincere thanks for their attentions. As a result of the mild and estimable spirit pervading le testimonies referred to, I was^oouraged to read |them, not without patient consideraAUr Some Christian friends iroj^^wm and again aslriiy opinion of such Torks^* andlSfer studying what they promulgate, and esting it in the light of Scripture, I did not hesitate to express my opini6n frankly in the case.\ A verbaTsute- lent, however, is rarely so satisfactory as a carefully written estimate ; and as the question is one of unusual importance, I now preseiit this pamphlet containin|[ my leliberate thoughts to friends and strangers, hopmg it ly aid inquirers in understanding the problem so many anxious to solve. 1 ; When the^uestion at issue is pronbunoed, as above, le of unusual importance, it is so described with all the mousness of intense conviction. It is not a speculative lir, like the inquuy— -Are the stais peopled ?— or this ither one. What is the sign of the Son of Man ?^— the mswers, be what they may, ha^ang no practical bearing >n the concerns of this mortal life, Skha the final attain- ment of deathless salvatioiL On the contrary, it is sminently practical, and embraces interests of unspeak- ible moment One misunderstanding the teaching of ~~^tsr M ^r Holy Writ may defer inquiries after mercy in the faith that a grand opportunity to be enrolled amoqg the bleat ii in reserve for each erring being« some time in the mysterious future, which, alas 1 may turn out altogether a doud'built, hasardous expectation. Is there such awful danger? To answer this interrogation is the busi- , ness at present in hand. I have not time to prepare a full treatise examining all the poeitions and deliverances of the writers in ques- , , tion ; aiid in the circumstances deemed it best to chooae ~*^ single point where some efficient criticism might be delivered, leaving others, who^ may be inclined, to ex- amine at len||th points left unassailed, according to this leisure, at their command. The point selected relates to the inhabitanis of Sodom, yet, we are invited to believe, to be restored to life for the very purpose of being lavored with remedial opportunities, most Hkely, if not assuredly, to culminate in their eternal salvation. The Scripture bearing, as is supposed, on the future of those signally wicked persdns,lW] is so ftill and explicit, according to these late-bom uni- versalists, for such, in effect, the/ undeniably are, that they reckon it a very powerful and central argument on theur side. If it can be shown that they entirely misun- derstand the prophecies as to the ancient town with a shameful record, and the utterance of the Lorc| Jesus in a text about which much will comd to be written, their doctrine hu lost one of its main pillars, if not its chief support. To iffirm that the strongest plank "of the bndge thrown by them across the gulf of perdition is rotten, could easily be done ; but who with a fiur mea- sure .of sense heeds a deliverance marked only by offen- five dogmatism? We ask for proof, and should be ^%Mu^ly enough to give it God help us in the use of feason and Scripture to find the trutl^ because it alone is a safe guide past the bewitching and fatal deluHions that environ our path at candidates for>an existence nmet to dose,- -:' -./ -T—Tr^r :~ - II.— SODOM'S JUDGMENT. «i ' ' V«rUy I tn «ito yo«. It tMH b« oiora tolcrsbU for th* kS WsSTooi ; .% U- 4 _) A worse hell— more terrible suffering— than thuff [ppointed to, or in store for, the ancient inhabitants of lorn beyond these vitible spheres. All are held to be ^mortal, and though the ahgwsh may vaiy in degreet [ccording to the proportion of gpilt, it proceeds alter th« Inal Mtize through, interminable years. Thus the woe i Sodom, and the sufferings endured by the dweUers in Capernaum and Jerusalem when the Roman armies laid lem waste and treated their inhabitants with savage irbarity, were only a foint emblem and measured fore- jte of t|ie perpetual agonies awaiting, for their different fences, the same forlorn creatures in another quarter the universe. Fortunately this fell interpretation ^eed not detain us long. Since in the Sacred Volume men are never pronounced immortal by nature, and Ehice a:acordiiY to the same record, *' death,'* not un- ending igony, is " the wages of sin," no one should kesitate for a moment to reject the atrocious dogma in- volved in the popular explanation of this passage. It Itteit an alarm, no doubt| and we may thank God that npressive as it happens to l>e, it has nothing in com- lOn with the horrors that lawless fancies have combined Id sent forth as with the seal of heaven. Even in the text, be the suffering, or « judgment/' 3lerable or greater than one can bear, there is not-a -_j[le #ord mtfmadng that in any case and in any degree the infliction is to be interminable. ' Indeed, the f£iy of 'judgment" would seem plainly to indicate Jbut i short duration, though in any given instance of how brief a span, may be^ard t6 determine: ' . Understand \ -*sigi=- y .* »*. .■^'','jrr'y^'' , f ■^^i^': •■:/■ \ \ ^judgment" to mean tritHudicial inmtigatkm^ WM«©-andcanitlMttoiJleteniity? IfitiSetobe piploagcd during eternity, when would the convicted ^fender €«tef on his award? Never, unksM h^ia^ b«^ retabutive woe while the trial goes onl Under' pwushmen^assu^^^^^ how, if It IS to have no end, can it with propiSvT c.ltedf".&V^ judgment-? Would «Kii^p, tjeegi not tend to create a false impftssion Sto ite contmuanoe? It might bea voylong day, or period long^if Imntedm its stretafa, in comparison with ahKh lute duration, which creeds, happily bSoming oba^' a««^to the being and demned? The very form* "<*v of judmam,'* or v^pance, ^pears most naturally to inSStnot un- closing wretchedness, but pangs, whatev«rSwma«u- tude,^ TBI SQD0II1TI& pwiecgoa? Twe, thqriMvi not riAliqifc |S j^kW ^^Z would hay nmained nolo this daj.' That jfetiu tawhcs that thar had not had Hiair fall of^rtiuiity. * Ramembcr,' Jesiia aayi of Um Sodomites, that * God rained down fire and dts/tivttl tUm ali.* S» if their restoration it spdcen of in Scriptwe it mm/^ their reniRection.''--(i>p. 44 and 45.) b. — *' These Amalekites, and Sodomites, and others^ were need to illustrate, or to be 'examfdcs for mtf admoniticm.' These people might jpst as well die so-^' \n liPkword and \xj fire '—as ai cusease add {riatne, and it mattered litue to them, as they were merely learning to know tviii that when on trial *in due tinU thejr might learn jMW, and be able to discriminate and choose the good and have life."-H(p. 45.) • i«r«wr estate. Among them he mentions the Sodomites, and says they will be restored. We remember Jesus' statement, that • it rained down fire and brimstone, and destroyed tkem «tf' (Luke xvii., ao). Hence we know that Ezekiel's pit^heqr u cmiceming men, dead for nearly a thousand yean before he prophesied. Nor need we be surprised A die restitution when we remonber that Christ died for their sins as well as for ours, and |hat in His estimation the Sodomites were far kss guUtythan so^ie of the Jew«of His day Ti^^P^^^^^ i**tt. id., a3K the time of their restita' tiOD win be the tune of thdi^ triml or Judgment ; and Jesus says it irill be more tolerable for the Sodoioites than for some of ihe Jewi inUed^y ^ptdgment-^^ millennial or judgment (trial) ast oftheworld.'Mp.8,cob.aaiul3.) '-^~ » fv H r'-'l . tri ^'*»?»^W?^^ 10 iwunectioii" (Extract «> •?Lr^P'™«! « "npli« their tte Bible saJrSLL^ «?to«trai of Sodom in wnter, who, we doubt not. aims .TrtS' ™"'5>>W the we shaU briefly inquin; if Sf wS3!°.?t *'^°'.**^ S<^»> in the fulfilient,Tr^stSc?'o^^ . mem, underatood in the^afthlS^^^'' aDnounce- of the Divine So^em^nl J^f"^'^^^^^^ simply after the S^TAem^l?,^^ ing advanced in SeASeri^^!!!C' '° /^?P* *« ^i^h. have been tian^criSjd a£^.n^^^^^ f ^'^^ *« titles Behold, then?Ao^ th^tL^**- °*^^^^^^ manly cu{ off bySelaSfl i '''^"*°"* «"^t ^«« sum- to hmnan formlSSiS c^-°^'^°'^*''«»t<>'«d •smrectingpower^ WeTnnn«. T"'**^'' ^^^ ^«»«>fic and in the old reri<^n ^e^^i^^ appear on earth, prepared for their^^elcome ^ '"^^'*^' "» ^'"^ W visi/S.??;^ designs, we are led to iinde^, '°i "WMmatory or saving ""gined ,0 be the endt^^^fnS^ Jl' "'"' *»"* ^rrac^r?;i^«S£°"€ ^^^^^^ jfcv- "It shall Ko«.^^ the method mind eager Pttheteach- ich the titles iblications. t were sum- i^er, restored by dmnific ar oh earth, 1 some way ment, than for that city "—any city tike Capernaum or I Jerusalem,— guilty of resisting the authority of God's Son, sent on an embassy of mercy to our world. The infliction alluded to is bf an awful character for both, or words unwarrantably misleading because exaggerated are employed;^ only for the one it is not quite so crush-, ing and agnizing as for the other. The language on the face of it is that of despair. Not a hint is riven as to the end or issue of the woeful imposition bemg release or moral elevation ; the two stand before us in the keep- ing of inexorable justice, apparently enduring what has been assigned them as their bilter and hopeless doom. To extract any comfort from the passage requires, to speak with Sorrowful candor, an ingenuity which the necessities of a theory have sharpened keenly. § a. In extract d, it is written— The ** iBraeUtes, Sodoraitet— Mid others who have not fully lived op to knowledge thejr pouesied—wiU doubUets have * stripes ' in the coming age for sins not pardoned b)r Joins' ransom." This representation of their loathsome and impiotis offences is yery mildly drawn, a peculiarity of these works and in striking contrast with the faithful and stem language of inspiration when the guilt of such characters is described. But passing that by, we go on to observe that these *Vstripes" are assumed to be the more or less tolerable sufferings mentioned in the verse under ih- spection. We say assumed, for there is no attempt made to vindicate the assertion. Reference is held to the parable (Luke xi., 47), we presume, by introducmg the term "stripes," and if so, we contend that some endea- vour ought to have been made to connect the two— the " stripes " and the woeS of, this v^ rse j to show when and where the "stripes" are to be inflicted— before death or after a resurrection ; and to justify the employ- ment of a psirable to support a theory, or doctrine, when all plain and direct instruction is silenO^s to the matter which the writer aims to uphold. § 3. Being an ambiguous worii, moi^ver, " stripes " may suggest love or wrath, and be expressive of either. \ H '/ft'if ('ff v^ .^'"fc ■,estebli8h ^ this beyond dispute that the word (/Crisis) is pre emmentiy a,/«w/ teim, or one expressing wrath inflirted imp^ S"P««»r Judge, as its ordin^ and centS **JI?' '^*ii'^-~'' ^^1 ^^^« "^^ ^ men »h«M 8D«ik ||C^ndemned'V-thatis,s«mtence shall be^p^^^ x»a./33.-" Ye *^:-Seribe. ttd Phirisew. t ^^^2^ tl^f ""a^""** P^"? **' ^^ m^of capital punish- tocnt « The wages of sin is death.^-.Rom; vL, V^ ind,ngerpfetcrSl5a«S^^ «3 Jdressed these his father and iquity, I will ith the stripes; 14 j see'^so' original and r of the kind, xpresses trial or innocencer :ted offender, quivalent to, iasing painful , in whatever th by human passages in :rb, establish isis) is pre- rath inflicted and central BluU spcftk, ' of jadgnMnt ed/andbytby iven against ^— "lerpents, he djunnation italpunish- [•iiut "—that 'enest, but is Joha UL, ia~«*H« on .hifli i%jM)t ikHmUd^-vtxi of the vob of whkh ir^is the novaji nt he that believeth not it coadeamed almdj, beeaaae im hath not beUerwIia tha aane of the only begotten Son of God." T. i9.^"And thia ia the'^-canae of— "oondemnatkn .: (krins)t that Ught ia oome into the world, and men loved darkneaa rather than light, becanae their deeda wen eviL** ▼.i 19.—" they that hare done eiil,''— ihall come forth— ''on- to the resurrection of danmation " (krisids)^ ^* Damnation,'' that is, judgment, or condlmiuition. hether in the "Millennial Day" or not, verily there little to console in the prospect of such a resurrectioo. Ronr. iL, 16.— M In the day when God ahaU lodge flr^M^i the lecretsof nien, by Jesoa Oirist, awordingtomyiEoapel/' I*' Secrets," meaiung hidden desires, lusts, passions, and "-itives of men^^ : a Thea. i., 5.— << whidi ia a manifisat token of the righteooa Jndgment (kriMOi) of God, that ye may be coonted worthy of the Kingdom of God, for whidi ye also safer : v.^— "Seeing It is a righteooa thing with God to noompense tribulation to them that tnmUe yon; ▼•/•--" Aiid to WW who are trooUed rest with os j when the Lord Jesoa ahall be reveakd.from heaven with hia mighty angel% V. 8.— "In ftaming lire taking vei«eanee on them that khow NOT GoDb and tM* obby not ths Gospel of onr Loid Jesoa Christ i v^>-^*' Who shall be PUMisinD With everhntiiv destroctioii fifoA — Aat is, to come out fiom— * but viak of wrathto ^23*«^ thwc who have sighted the warnings^ Whe terror, and resisted, the aUurements of E^e Kmy-T^ Bible^atyyces jitft tKanscnW^T pMttonof Soi^tniie aUndedto m^ r^^ ^ -to^fStllS^l^ "^'*^^ Jw been «^ ^ 2?^ /JS^ ^ vwfse, and not kcoirectlFX •JJ^r^^^; expranes the ideaof ruKng^^SteriiS b^*^S2i2?lfi?*?*"*"° "» '«»'« and ei^ 1^ Been commifted to the Loid iMim ••wt^r*u* ^^ BSa DiinnU M. iILi^ f™. J«ne, and at this moment ness so longr a» « may be obtained. . "^•*^*' iwgiw- ^..■■ -, 7',, it^5^ 7", " -' ■. '. •■^ ' ■ ■ ■■■ ■ ■^■: ■' The day is approaching when He shall be more plainly manifested as the Ruler over men» for the nations axe destined to know beyond a doubt that He is Supreme ; in which epoch the disobedient shall be physically, at times awfully, smitten with the indignation it is His pre- rogative to display. Representing invisible Deity, He ' will be " merciful and gracious, long suffering, and slow to wrath," yet as Heaven's Viceroy, entrusted with im- ^ measurable force to execute His decrees, He will "by no means dear the guilty." To overlook the fact that he is to appear as the unrelenting adversary of sin, and as ' the punisher of thosa who persist in contracting guilt, is to lose the essence and the power of the Apostolic message here recorded. .Even as he addressed the philosophers at Athens, the authority was in sleepless exercise. Note with dioughtful mind the communication : "God com- mandeUi all men everywhere to repent;'* and then the reason of it : " Because," or inasmuch as. He has set up : a man to be earth's Ruler and Judge. And if we con- sider that the universal Christian expectation then pre- vailed that on any day the heavens mi^t q)en,.like immense folding doors, and allow Jesus, the Son of God, with His radiant train of attendants, to approach our world, the weight and bearing of the prophesy became infinitely more impressive. He comes not all smiles alone/ He brings more than celestial rewards . and dainties. He comes with terrors that will cause many knees to quiver. In truth, the whole Divine arrangement implies that acts of disobedience are now being recoided with an unerring pen ; and that sooner Or later they who are unapproved by the all-searching ^oemay expect to be stricken with the bolt of doom. On His' return, when His reign more sensibly to human eyes begins. He who hung on the cross will shine in the glory which His exalted merits and functions entitle him to wear. Then* as Sovereign over the nations, His part will be to enforce the eternal ordinances of piety and virtue. Instead of countenancing weak $entimen- iHsm about men as erring children, and feeble pictures their naughtiness who come far short of what con- :ience dictates and gracious opportunity claims, then le lessons will be such as to eithibit iniquity' in its true )lors, and startle those who love it in place of right- eousness. For thus it i« written J Vt. sIt., 3.— "Gird thv tword npon t^y thigh, O most mighty, with thy glory Md thy nuijerty." ^4.-_*« And thy right h«nd shall teach thee terrible thingi." Ps. ii.. 8.—'* Ask Ofme^ and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance^ anidthenttemiost parts of the earth for thy possession." V,i o.— " Thoa shall break them with a rod of iron ; thoushalt dash them in piejmlUce a potter's vessel.'' Zech. xiT., 9.— "And the Lord shall be King over aU the earth : in that diy shall there ht one Lord, and hi* name ■*''»]^ y. 17.—** And it shall be, that wlideo will not come up of all the families of (^ earth to Wonhip 'the Kin|^ the Lord of Hosts, eren npcMi them shall be no raim " T. I&.— " And if {the fiunily of E^t go ndt up, and come "'" "not, that hare nd rain, there shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will snkite the heathen, that come not up to keep the feast of Ubemaeles." V One remark more about this famous announcement lin th^ Mars' fliU oration : Those who are to be niled lover and judged by the glorified Redeemer, are, so fax las this vers^ indicates, the living nations arising on the |sur&ce of the globe as time progresses— -made up of idividu^s who nave never been entombed, of course. JNo rei^rrection is spoken of except that^Jesus Him- self^ /Some may suppose that " MillennyB| should be prefixed to-day," hti^ also associatec^Mtb judging, and having made this convenient addition to the apostolic i^dress, conclude that they have a warrant, 0^ probability at least, to maintain that the whole com- jpanyt^ the unsaved dead. Sodomites included, will be restored to life, md placed Under this' sovereign liord's tuiticHi, cxiK^tuIation, and sway; but we strongly urge such interpreters to be extent wi& what tfie simple unaltered words deliver, 'nieir notions may be counte- . * • 1. •1 " -f* »; ;. T ' ¥ "pfw^ 'W-fJipH tS nAnced by other Scriptures ; out of reverence for tlie sacred testimony, let them, however, abjure all such support of their, system as only a fkcile imagination can supply. ^ DIS0BKDIENCB^-IT8 FINAL CONSIQUUfCIS. § ^. In attempting to discover if the proposed exposition of the text ro^d which our thoupfhts are gathering is worthy of acceptance, or, to put it other- wise, in determining what hope there is for those who have died aliens to righteousness, we must not over- look a certain class of very significant passages, apt to be ignored, so far as their full import is ciUcemed, by the advocates of a "second opportunity." llie passages are such«s these: — Mark viii., 38.— '* Whosoever ihallbe aduuned of me, and of my words, in this adnlteroos and sinful generation, of him also . shall the Son of Man be ashamed when he cometh in the glory of his Father, with the holy angels." According to the new theory, those referred to in. these lines are of the number who, after being sum- moned from the tomb, are to have another pressing invitation to lay hold on eternal Ufe. Then suTiely we might expect some in<^cation on the part of the speaker of His prospeptive piW, some longing whispered, however fitintly, for the dawn of the new era when their enmity would vanish foj^ ever away. Have we anything of the sort ? " OJPhim shall the Son of Man be ashamed^" &c.; and is tiiere much hope in a statement like that? It looks dark as midnight, and by no device we are acquainted widi could, even one very slender beam of encouragement be discovered in llie gloonu John iii., 16 — " God so loved the world that he gave his imlf b^otten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not ' perish, but have everlasting life." V. 18.— "lie that believeth on him is not condenined ; but he that helifeveth not is condemned alrei^y, because he hath not beUeved in the name of the only begotten Soil of God." " Condemned already," that is, sentenced to punish- ment, whini necessitates him to perish ; debars him, to express it otherwise, from inheriting eternal life.^ llie ■.'■■•''■ i^ ' ■ ■•■■ :ondeiniutioii, be it obferved, already liet on him. In le last vene of the lame chapter the unbelieYer*! doom |s put bejroqd nuMppreheniion : — •*ll/that tMltovvth oo Um Soa lMtfe-«vtrkNdB| life i uid b« that balkrvttli not tht Soo shall not ■•• life { tmt tb« wnth ol God •bidcth on bin.'* Another irerte meriting oontidention !• >~ John tUL, at. - *' If yt b«li«v« not that I am iM. y« ihaU dfe in jowrrins. " Die in your sins ;" or, to give the phrase a causal force, be destroyed by them. The words seem to inti- late more, than that the accused would die sinners, or icleansed from moral defilement Certainly this would Uie case ; but the phrase viewed in that light par- tes so much of the nature of a truism that we instmc-- dvely reject it as not in unison with the solemnity of the ^peAer. The doom-words, then, so far as we can de- ;rmine, have respect to the last issues — the dismal :limax of an offenoer's being. Each guilty oiie dies^~ lees not ^e first ray of jeverlasting life ; the wrath— the lispleasure— K>f God abideth on him. In this case the arsons addressed were Jews, members of a community illuded to in our principal text on whom judgments of freat severity were by and by to descend. Act! jdii., 46.— *'It was necessary that the word of God should first hare been spoken to you ; but seeing ve out it firom yon, and judge yourselves unworthy 0/ eTerlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles." These J^ws, of Antioch, in Pisidia, to whom Paul land Barnabas preached the gospel, were held, in scom- IfuUy rejecting their testimony, to judge themselves " un- Iworthy of everlasting life." This was their opportunity. nlieir day of salvation was then coming to a close, and ^ould shortly be over. In more awful words the iMessengers had announced the certainty and hopeless- Iness of their doom, and, by implication, die doom of all Iwho receive not mercy in God's appointed time and Iway :—" Beware— lest that come upon you, which is I spoken of in the prophets: Behold, ye despisers and [wonder and perish."— verses 40 and 41. j^ •o <^ . The perishing and the " everlasting life " aJe con- trastivcly mutually explanatory. The perishing was tmt a temporary visitation— a wreck, as it were, to be repaired at length ; it involved the forfeiture of eternal life, with which the Lord Jeius will yet invest His Collow_ en ; and which, properly understood^ is the totality of the ineffable salvation put within the reach and option of sinful men. Rom. i., ta.— "Who^'-Tthe tinners mentioned In the verses iromedSitely foregoing — "knowing the Judgment —the declared ientiment— •• of God, that they whkh commit such ; things are worthy jiPath." Now, kit not rTaet that each of those debased heathen would have dic^a even if he had been a model of all excellence ? What then does our heaven-illumined instructor mean ? this, as a general rule, that sin, what- ever form it assumes, leads to death ; and that he who dies, as every human being must, in virtue of the law of mortality under which he is bom, after spending^ his days ill resisting Divine holy instincts and suggestions, can have no warrant to anticipate anp^JJ ^^^* however eagerly such may be desired by hiigMy|iS JM^^^s would necessarily u A him for a highMHsdunnj existence, which, for aught he knows, fdpiWs ff«*V in charity to men, may intend to confer on those who recognize, though imperfectly. His supremacy m nature, l^d. value truth and nghtepusness in the inward parts. .. lai— " For as many as have sinned without law .'V ittent?or revealed will of God-"shaU also pensh lOut 1^ ; and as many as have sinned in —or under— ,3 • the laM^ be judged by the Uw.** Sethis affiraoation is very similar to the last one, aiid must be interpreted in the same way that its impressive significance may be evolved. " Perish " here is equiva- lent to " death" in the extract from the first chapter. The announcement looks above the mere act of losmg life, and concentrates attention on the hopeiessness of the privation ; for, as already observed, all m^n die m the course of nature, using a popular form of speech, irrespective of their moral and spmtual condition. '*-t*£^ \ itt •I -^ LWhai^r might have been in reserve for those that r did good" over heathen lands, this thing is certainj I the profane and unrighteous, those who have shut thcit cars to the teaching of starry night and sunny day, who have stifled the appeals of conscience, the voice so faithful in the depths of their being, were ordained to peftsh, never to enjoy a renewal of conscious existence on an elevated and pure andf glonous scale. They perish, not because they refused a better life, for a better life was never Jpresented to their choice, nor had it been I oflcred*to their neighbors, whose record tended to the I Creator's honor; but for the rea|cm that they profited t not by such les^sons as their great Fnend imparted,— rose not above the low standard of character accepted around them,— had no aspirations that the Infinite One might recognire, and ennoble, and satisfy with the gift of endless days. So much was done to enlighten the^t reason and stir \xp reverence for God, the Beneficent^ that thev were " without excuse." — Rom. i., ao. In me hearing' of idoUters the great Apostle spake these memorable words :—" He left not himself without wit- net^n that he did good and gavtL us ram from heaxpn, and fruitful seasons, 6^ing Our hearts with food^and gladness."- Act* xiv., 17. The speaker has no apolop for the blind leaders and their followers ; and while the passage we have now in view has not a word decisive as to a future, to sty nothing of an immortal future, for those who hear the voices from earth and sky, from the rippling waves of a blissful Providence, and from the i deep recesses of each pilgrim's heart, it shuts the door of hope against those who have dishonored their Creator, i and set all moral restraints habitually at defiance. — \ I 6.— The ^me truth contained in the verses from I John and Romanf'ls repeated, with a change of form, in G«l. vi*. «• " He th«t soweth to hit flcsk, ^sU^of the flcdi jcsp oomipUon; hot he that soweth to the Spint, shdl 4 of the Spirit itep Ufc ereriMting." / : i Sowing to the flesh is lawlessly, or sinfiifly, gi*t^g the appetites, passions and desires of our nature j doing ■f \ flt what is felt to be wrong ; doing to others what we could wish no one to do to us. He who thus sows or sins shall reap corruption; in other words, corruption is his irreversible doom — he shall not ascend to "life ever- lasting;" or, as we found it expressed in the verses pre- sented in Section 5» he dies, he perishes, in the sense therein explained. Here the New Testament revelation opens up the gprand hope of immortality for the good, and by explaining what God intends them to reach in : the unfolding of His purposes—^ being equal in per- > manence with that of " the morning-stars," we are led very clearly to apprehend their iFate who have wasted years beneath the sun continimUy domg evil. Having sown the seeds of decay, comes to them erelong the harvest of death ; or, to write it diffei^ntly, in the pro- gress of events diey die, shut out from the eternal "^\, abodes where none except the friends of God, and truth, and righteousness, may enter in. * NO GOD-GIVEN SIGNALS OF COMFORT. § 7.— -When the verses from the Romans, <]tuoted in the two preceding sections, were penneH by theur sainted author, are we not warranted to suppose that if deep ' down in futurity he has discerned signals of Ggd-given comfort for the -guilty to whom reference is made, he .' would have been swift to reveal his discovery ? Had he found tokens of the sort^ positive we may be that the language he employs — that of absolute despair, would have been carefUly avoided. But no door is left open ; no plain assurance held out; not an approach to the might of assuring testimony, that at some stage in the great hereafter the prize lost might be regained,— the f terrible blunders mig^t? be rectified. Verity, it is so. They die — ^those erring ones; they perish. Having sown to the flesh, corruption is the only harvest awaiting their sickle. In the absence of explicit 4eliverances fttm the. Master himself, or His laige-hearted messenger, for example, it is in vain to rehearse Scriptures that jn- i!Ktate hot»e for ^em so long only as the verses are imsn , f' " i''^Jit ','1 >' At we could *3 aderatood, or arc forced, let us say by over-sympa- »ietic, and therefore unbalanced natures, to utter what 1 5iey were never intended to make known. We end this section with the remark, that the longer 'God's dealings with the impenitent are meditated upon, [humbly taking the Bible as our guide, this will demand a place among our convictions ; and though it inay not ' meet the ideal results of some, the dictate of wisdom 19 to receive it without a mUrmur:— "The Lord knoweth how to ....:. rjeserve the unjust unto the (a) day of [judgment (kriseos) tb be"— subdued and regenerated? No ; But—'* to be punished." 2 Pet, ii., 9. " ^INS NOT PARDONED BY JESUS* RANSOM 1" § 8— Seeiril that in the wrds " It shall be more toler- able," &c., heavy pain is T61f)resehted as in reserve for those who perished in Sodom, when, according to the new lights, they re-appear as living men for a fresh moral experiment, some explanation of their future su| ferings had to be given, and with that we are supplied m Extract eke what of Abraham, and Job, and Joseph* id Davidj and Josepb of Arimathea, anda long list esides, who iiad great wealth, and tiyed m God's fear» [ij<^ni^ his fiii>vor? ^ It is pK^er, then, to receive the statement about the rich as, at ike most, indicatmg danger in^e possession }f wtialtfa, and the certaintyy admitting of no qualifica- ion, ^t he who HMJ^es gain his supreme deare and tnbi^dn, ^mU never cross the fix>ntier of the Kingdomp ever partake of the glory to be revealed therein. Yet iy not oae v^o has loved gcrid with an idolatrous pas* ww'W^i""wv'm^^-m, .. ■/ ■j tion, find metcy, Bkc W other siniier"? Certayijr 1m' may, 'but his heart museum from all sordid things ; an« ; what heihdlds in chiuge must be consecrated to tht honor of XJod, and^the welfare of humanity, i Tim. vi., 17-19 Had C\d&ybetti^ttAchtdim^^ and His inar^^ velous benevolent deeds wrought in her streets, the; degraded multitudes might have forsaken their iniquities ;| and yet^y might not. An affirmation that they would have rented, directly or indirectly given, has therefore, all th^ considwed, to be uken with reasonable quali-j fication. One dies and a friend exclaims :— " Had Dr. ; Blank been summoned in time, a pre^^tls life wottld haVe been saved 1" However skilful, cien that physi-| cuui might have failed; and yet such positive language dbWously springs from nature and is in every-day use. It misleads no one, for allowance is'mstinctivcly n^ade- for its strengtliind assurance. In Sodom's caBfe had'j evangelical app^s, now in words, now in deeds^ Deen| frequent as in Capernaum, the motives^© repentance| would have been more powerful than those UieyiVere fiuniliar with; but all motives inay reach the heirt and the conscieiice ill vain. At this moment, in clrcmnstan*! CCS for more favorable than Capernaum's M ^jP^^ propitious that lot was, multitudes will not ctsitpiy ipij the invitations of Gospel mercy. They; $it nn^ its sound, but the wprld— pleasure and vanity «id gain^ hinders the word of life and love fikmi jabduii^ them to its might If appealed to as diose w1k> fisten regolarly 1 to the warning message, wc nuiy aflto, imitatilw the Great Teacher, outputs in the desolate regions of 0w great cities would seek their Father's home; if so ad- dressed, the benij^ted heathen wo^ild cry alottdiin Jesus' name for pardon; and yet neitiier of the t#*> classes might.obey the heavenly admonition, for apipeals of the most melting character may be defied in the sad.per- vewity of the human wm. A fe# of boOi divisions might weep bitterly for their deeds of shame wlien con- viction stormed their hearts, but the m»siH-ttuiy We not M,?— would foUow on in the broad way that leads m to eteraal night And is this not a representation M^hat is observaEle day by day in the world ? From lich the lesson to be gathered is, cauuon.in forming Nations. rather prompted by an eaigr anxie^ for fe Mlvation of men, than by unimpaasioiS^ xalqulattons [to th^ probable results of pious effort towards that .ILEUS IN SODOM HAD A SUFFICIENT OPPORTUNITY. % la.— While we objecfeto the statement as unwar- Ated that the dweUers mSbdom have nc»t yet had their lU opportunity," whatever ibaX mm^mmm to, we Send, on the authority of ^mt,^ri^ » «Jj^ ^e enabled them to obtain thvme acceptance, ^d aJl It it involves. ;n his l^ddfcss to Cornelius, the jstle Peter utters these most assuring ,words :— *. i5.-^**Bttt in ew iMrtipa ht Art fewteth hum, and wo*. ^ ilgliteoattiai^ l*«ccfpt«d With him. At Lystra, the Afioi^ Paul, along with Barnabas, jitendii before th^pAcn that they had « f^^SF^'^H y^^m"" '^f ^^'T^T^f^'^, V. ^Having closed their eyes to the sublime knowledge!^ and having, as it were, defied the goodness of God i^ awaken repentance in their hearts, towards which end "^ was ever energeticaUy and with tenderest emotion striij ing, they gradually became more debased in their cpr' oeptions of the Divine, and in the method of their lives Some pf them plunged int6 dark depths of defilemeni, till better minds, for shame, refused even to think cl „_ their low condition. Here are some things recorded .against them, and it seems expedient to quote but little j Rom. i., as.— They " cluuiRed the gloqr of the anoorraptibll God into an image made like to corruptible man, ami ^•*5—''Ai they did not like to retaiii God in their knowl ledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do thostl things which are not convenient ;'' . r I V. 39.-" Being filled with all unrighteottsness, fomiaitionj wickedness," Ac Compare ver»c$ 2^ 26 and 27. 1 Even when prone to wickedness, and having lost, as a natural result, clear perceptions of duty or " righteous'l ness," they were not utteriy bereft of what may be called i instinctive moral checks and promptings. This is fully ^ recognized m that dismal narration in the earlier chap ' ters of the Epistle to the Romans :— • I u., t4.— " For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not thelaw, arealaw unto'themselves." . ^ '''u^\7'*^^'^^ *^'^ **** "^""^ «^ *« ^^ '^"en in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and theii * anothe " ™*""^^"« accusing, or else excusing, one r j^S addition to these great advantages from^iature ( and Providence, common to all outside of what may be described as "law," or the sphere where direct revel- ation^ is known, it is not to be forgotten that, like the Antediluvians, the dwellers in Sodom had a conspicuous wtness^in their midst^Lot, a God fearing, virtuous man, ^ ^ whose^beh^rior lyas a modelto them,-an external and toost intelligible conscience,«*>r which they could not i but be held accountable. They knew his manner of ' — li fe,— a con t r as t , bro a dly mark e d, to their o w n. — Sudr /'•- . ^^M^ 'Si%f '"> A S' tctacles as often met his eye bowed him down with w and loathing ; a rebuke to the vile horde within civic walls, and a warning, prophetic beyond his ^ intention. If these reprobates took any interest in the annuls of ;ir town, they could hardly have forgotten that, not ly years back, their sovereign had gone out to meet heroic Abraham, uncle to Lot, on his return from slaughter of the kjpgs. And if they felt any desire understuid more fully what sort of a pefson this mag- bimous warrior was, they were not unlikely to dis- ^ver, so we venture to conclude, facts bearing on his irvelous faith in the invisible Friend of man, and his rompt obedience to celestial requirements. If known all, the great Sheikh's conduct would thus be a moral i;ht,-^the shining of a pure, and d^cj^rous, and spiritual nstence,-»on the plain of Mamre, not far distant from . ^eir own habitations. At all events, they beheld in Lot's devotion to {hteousness a condemnation of their own yice and fanity. Hour after hour, itnoreover, they had lessons Infinite Goodness whispering to them in gentlest mts : " O sons of men, repent I " And if £ey did >t relinquish paths inevitably fatal, shall we hesitate to ice their irreparable dcfbm completely to themselves ? THE HOPE OF MAN. "^ § 13.— This is the supreme law, and herein is the^ )pe of man through the ages, be his lot on Uie planet hat it may :^ — Acts X., 35.--" In etcry natioii he that feartth him "—God, — *'«iid worketh ris^tconsoen, ii accepted with him." The inhabitants of Sodom wei« imder that benign angement ; and we have noted in a general way me )mplexity of living influences around them, aiming at leir pious and moral elevation. The Sovereign Loid ^ver shows Himself a respecter of persons; makes "' DiMible deinaiids upon none. He beholds th^ vast bue in' the -firmament erected and garnished by His hand This quality approximates His own transcendent excel- 1 lence, and a gleam of it shines afar. Sometimes it is otherwise expressed by a form like this,— being on "the Lord s side." The testimony may be feeble, the homage poor, the obedience faltering, yet whatever in afiis gcnumc finds a place in His book of remeinbniiGe, where no page is reserved for th« mere triumphs or in some way had dis^ cemed that one was to appear at length in wondroia vtaajesty as the Resurrection and the Life, to whom, m the fullness of trust, they prospectively committed the sublimest expectations our nature is able to chensh.! Deep in the recesses of the uncreated Mind, eternal aires had been assigned them as their heritage, and when Se grand hour stnkes within the veil the secret of then destmcd re-animation and unrestrained access to foun tains of perennial joy— that secret wiU, for the first time, be opened up to them just as the new life, with its vaster mysteries, begins. The priceless gift will assuredly be conferred upon them, though they died ignorant of their Father's gracious purpose to enrich them with perman- ence of being akin to that of the radiant hosts who, with li gV»nm g swiftness, execute His commands. I«T ws>-"» ^ 7'ir*, ■•■ ■ ■ ss- . . ■ . ■ ■ R10HT10U8NMS AND HOPI. " I On this matter being attentively examined, we find Iharacter— woHTEOusNEss or character, the warrant )r future hope. To this. God has exclusive regard. It i the element of fitness for the glory »n reserve, ^ It has sUblished, in a way ac<;ordant with the essential nature ,f both, a sweet and enduring affimty between the Omnipotent Father and his intelligent, though feeble, creature : it is a dumb appeal to His care and safe trans- ^ port through the flood of death to the .uncrumbling & and the inextinguishable vitality. "The LorH loveth the righteous," and it would seem to be His benc- Wnt resolve that nothing in which His Holy Spint has )ennanently dwelt; nothing that by the gentle "npulws of His Holy Spirit has paid homage, and finished this transient life paying homage, to the everlasting Pnncip|e8 jf piety, rectitude, purity and love, shall be permitted to^ /anish hot)elessly from existence. I And though Jesus our Lord has been made known las the source of life eternal— life and incorrupyon having Ibeen brought to light through the gospel, still the same- Icssential condition presses itself upon the thoughtt^l Imind Whoever trusts Him, whoever is cleansed m the Ull-purifying stream, whoever directs his steps past for- Ibidden ways, whoever continues patiently doing good, Ishall, when the Lord returns, awate in the beauty of holiness without a flaw, and in youth-bloom never to decay. The plan is defined. The award, the privilege, the crown of being, all ennoble righteousness and illus- trate the perfection of that adorable One who determines the world-movements in space, and the elevations among I His moral offspring He has resolved to introduce. IMMORTALITY FOR THE RIGHTEOUS GENTILE? I May we not conjecture that as for the righteous few who lived before the gospel revelation, there is immor- tality forthe righteous Gentile also? The pious Hebrew who finished his course on earth, iporant of the upspeak- I A arrangement for his admission at the resurrection ' X ■ »- -^ 36 "■"\ among the deathless, shall, nevertheless, spring into im-. mortal being when the time arrives for puttmg the Divine resolves into executito} aqd why may not the same privilege be conferred upon Gentiles who feared God, and governed tfieir lives by wisdom and conscience, though in an order, it may readily be allowedt much be- neath the standard of perfection ? The Pagan has no hope of future being resting on a valid foundation ; no apprehension of Heaven's method of saving men ; an^ really nothing less can be said of those who had ampler light, yet not the light that illumines the great hereafter, and falls in mild and continuous lustre on the Vanquisher of death, now seated at the right hand of Majesty in the heavens. INSTINCT OF IMMORTALITY. § 1 5. In this section, which may be regarded as a parenthetic ope, I would remark, Uiat of immortality, existii^ as a purpose ih God's mind, though, concealed, so far as verbal utterance is concerned, from ages and generations of Jews and Gentiles, there appears to have been an instinct— may it not be thus described ?-^in certain human beings, and even in certain tribes and nations, like the ancient Egyptians, so revealed to us by recent investigation; the Parsees, of Bombay, whose theology is ^roastrian ; the Scandinavians, with their Walhsdla ; tribes lately found in Central Africa j aiid, omitting others that might be named, the'copper-hued Turanian of this cOntiiient,-^Pope's <^poor Indian," '..^who cUscoveredf by the telescope of imagmation, ; , «MdadtiMcload4op^lriB,aiibiim|ltrhM*«a.'' into which, with his faiUiful dog in attendance, he ex- pected to be wejcomed when terrestrial hunting expedi- ti(Mis were dosed. Originally, what ended in fiuth and confidence as to. a heteaSter, likely shaped itself merely as a desire diat existence might not be perpetually obliterated in the tomb. Out of the desire sprang hope, and fiom hope, the enchanter, an assurance that this was not the last of ■ 37 ->. man— an assurance, as many think (and not without ^a certain amount of presumptive warrant), built up loftUy within Ae compass of poor human credulity by the malignant industry of unseen infernal agencies, com- pleting so in its full proportions the Edenic falsehood, « ye shall not surely die!" ° Examining the sentiments^ however left on recowl, of those who stood firmly by the reality of another life, knd viewing them at this time as the product of their own wit exclusively, much assumption may be detected in the structure of the sentiments, and also much that fra& illogical. Yet the whole aberration from well-lwsid, prudent reasoning, is explicable on the ground of wstos anxiety for survival beyond this changing scene. That anxiety took its rise partly in the love of life, and partly in the ardor of human love. We tlm>w aside all the accumulation of mvahd evidence in support of the hope, if evidence it deserves to be styled, and when that is done there remains the widespread idea of immoriality, and the longing after I/, as a substratuin in the mind which it would be unfair to ignore or deny. How did these enter as prominent and permanent subjects of thought into human con- sciousness? Who kindled those lights in the human heart? That, perhaps we may venture to affirm, is a question which without effort answers itself. For aught we know, and here we speak with great diffid^ce and but suggestively, these— the idea and the wish---may not improperly be regarded as a faint out-gleaining of the Divine intention not to obliterate the Adamie race abso- lutely in death, but to. render immortality, through some method yet to be disclosed, attainable by man. Many secrets as to fiiturity in time, and other weighty inter- ests, have apparently landed from the infinite— the in- scrutable— upon the field of human consciousness, or have been intuitively apprehended by spcciidly Jgpfted members of tlic race j and why not an idea indicatmg a possibility of Stupendous magnitude, like the one we are contemplating? It was, let us hold, an encouragement '^^^f^mm^^t i\ x~- a8 to trast God and to fear 'Him; a stimulus to live in > righteousness before the Awful Power irradifiting nature with the splendor of His wisdom and goodness. The conception of immortality as perchance not beyond human attainment/ had in it an antidote to despair, not altogether powerless. In certain minds, and there were innumerable millions of them where the desire had its I yearning and its passionate entreaty heavenward, it seemed to be a hint,-^to carry, indeed, the semblance of a promise, how strong we dare not aver— that, in special ^ circumstances, at all events, the insatiable craving of nature migAt in some way, though instrumentalities lay folded up in mystery, eventually have its appeasen^ent. ^ A RACE FOR ¥lN IMMORTAL CROWN. ^ § i6. TTiere are several verses in Romans, second chapter, of an import, we strongly suspect, not generally understood. They may, and this also is suggested^ for inquiry, be regarded as a commentary on the gracious assurance, "afceptedof himj" and describe the bless- ings at all times within the seizure of Jew and Gentile, and the unalterable conditions on which they are to be -" enjoyed. They who practically acquiesce in the terms, — sii^cerity being accepted as welcome tribute in lieu of faultless service, by Him who knows how feeble humani^ is, — they, we repeat, ^o, not without painful J fluctuatiobs of constancy, acqim^ in the terms, are hdd by die Supreme and A|l-Merciful to be running a frace for an immortal cro^, though they are unac- quainted positively with the fact. (Compare here Mi^tt. XXV., 3J-46.) The prize thus won shall certainly be tiheirs at some epoch in the progress of duration, when, as they contemplate the transporting discoveries expand- ing in their view, hom^will be rendered l^ them in anthems of gratitudeld Ood and to the Lamb. A few verses must be quoted; so that a warrant, Us ife hold it to be, for the remarks pow made inay be fumishedrand which on examination may perhlips pe Approved by the reader. ' ; .. ■ fM it*is*»#na!««*i 39 Ron. ii.,^-~*''^i^^ ^*^ ^'^"'^ ^ *^'*'' "**'^ accordinf to hit deeds. T. 7.— *'To them who, l^ patieift ooatinaanoe in well-doing, leek for fflory, and honor, and immortality "— incorraption —" eternal Ufc/' Thatis, God "will render" to the patient seekers « eternal life," bringing the words needed to complete the sentence, from V. 6. ■, , . W This, of course, applies to men under the Gospel ; -but;Burely also to those who lived before its arrival, or - live now wh^ it is unknown. The one class, those under tiie Gospel, inteUigently seek the final possession of wliat has be6n reveided, viz. > "eternal life f the other, practising ** well dOing;'*^fearin|r God and working righteoiisness-^tfr* Md /«? ** aiming aft^ its receptipn. Such is the predestined climax of their existence, though they pass tnrough the time-sceneft unacquainted with Christ, and the treasures of grace and glory under his command. So living in any agc^and in any clime, they are, we surely ought to believe, like the Old Testament saints, unconscious heirs of interminable being. In this passage, so far as Pagans are ccpcemed, when they are spoken of as actually seeking for "glory, and honor, '%nd ^nmorta]ity"~H»r incorruption — ^^e statement may properly be regarded rathcy as the interpretation of the iintomdous aim' or tmiency of their lives WAder the meidfiil appointment of God, than a declar»ion of any cleair apprehension existing on their side of such a grand issue, and the means of its ultimate achievement And here let it be observed once more, the roots of eternal life are planted in righteousness y for what is -' **patieiit continuance in well doing " but righteousness ? "The woiW passeth away, and the lust"— passion — "theioQf; l^t he thatdoeth the wiU of God ahidah f^r tver^-^i |ohn, ii., 17. It is time,.however, to finish the quotations fi(pm ^ and of Romans^ V. §,— '» B«t «n|D them that are contcntioot and do not o|ct Sim tnlli.JMit pbflr •"•'rightaoa«eas"-fi?^Mrf. ••G«d m ,lll^*W«|«Ngiai4«aad.wi«th. • •I K it v..9.«-**TribiiUtioQ and #ngat«h, amm eteij mwI oium.it duit ddeth evU^tof the Jew fint, Mia also of tlie<;eBHl« ; V. lO.'-^Bat riory, honor, and peace, to emr nam dlat ''■':,■ workethgQod, to tliejciw ioM, and alto to the Gentile: v;^if.—" For there i» no respect of pewonawitk God. V V. la.— * ' For aa many as have sinned without law sluin also niKiSii wiUumt law : and as man/ as hive sinned in "—-or ttnderr-'*thekwshatt be lodged b^ the law"-«neiuiing tiberebjr the revealed or written word of God. J ty. ThuBftoin Scripture we leafB how imfethonabfy fcin^ tlie Eternal purposes are in relatioti to the inhabi- tants of our world. Single atul strong is the ardi that' Ic^ from the mortal to Uie immortal clim&-^RighteouS' ness, reverence for the Divine, adhesion to whiit is neighborly and humane, trutMuI itind just. There is,' to recall an idea almMdy presented, no umeasonable bur- doi laid upon an/ conscience ; no exacting of brides without straw, or figs from thistles. The diemaiid is Insulated by what is known as possible for man to give, and to give without extteme and exhausting effort A will|iurness to obey count! high in God's esteem; deep consGK»u8nes8 of imperfbctioh, tearful contrition for mtmg done, these wm hk sympathy and smile. One has admirabty said ^-' **11ie BiUe is aUqaick ilMthegreattrtfththatnan^i^^ from evU, and that ll* woric to which, the good God has, mott diaa aafthing dp, set Himself to^ is to help hiss to escape. . Vk G^ has left it to man himself to. decide whether he will be a INtssel of. honor or of dishonor." - ■ ALL THK OLORV^^TO WHOM? ■■". If one in human form has an impulse towairds idut is excellent, if |ie buildft up even #ith a trembling hand a virtuous resolVe, if true regret, at conscious fiiilttre agitates his inmost being, if he says Na to passions add ^petites that when indillfed eiifeeble and degiaite his nature, if he throws hhttfuf on ^e^unseen Mercy» whidi he may well beHeve tolM immeasurable as.t^stoy dome, all c^Oiy-^ due 16 whom i6r those moral moi^ mefits HI his humble lifbf To CrOd alone, who by His 4« /\ Omnlpreseiit Spirit inspires vrhat is good} and can tbtidi the most ^^Ucate springs of will and emotion. Pride is veiled from mdrtal eyes, wherever mind may think and heart may feel The infinite Father operates all in all. In these impulses, inspirations, appeids from without^ lemoiistrances from within, die dwellers in Sodom shared, as countless millions, similarly situated, have shared since, down tp the passing day. But how did they respond to the SupreiQe Goodness in the varied aspects it assumed, from material benefits up to the whisperings of the internal oracle— -the flashes of con- viction as to imperious du^? Their iHstory and their dpom furnish die reply.^ ^ #HY tHE MEANS FAlLEb, § i8. * The fiulure of the means employed to win the people of Sodom to righteousness is no proof that they wetfi insuj^enftdeans. /Looking upon God as an infi- nitely wise moral Governor, wd must assume that they were inherently competent for that design. Was there not a bountiful display of goodness on- His part moving thein, if moved they would be, to repentance? And why was it in the end so ineffectual ? Sinipl^ because ^ey willed it to be so. Out of the egg disobedience they hatched, sprang die viper that stung them to death. ** As many as have sinned Without law, shall also perish without law." "He that, being oftea reproved, harden- '. edi his nedL, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that inthout remedy."-r-Rostt. ii., i a. Prov. xxix., i:. £ven if men would be reclaimed under the action of n&ore jKiwerfUi influenees, only rashness wo^d affirm ^t God IS under in oblii^tion to employ such ampler niieasui« for their benefit, or that beyond' 4U question Hii ]i9ve will constrain Him to do so, Blfmy have iidiiilged in this mode of speech, which Climes the aspect of dictating to the Ahm|^ty ; at least, it ventuiea to xledde what in given cvcum- stances wcNiId be* proper work for His haiid. "thtp know perfectly i^hat |ie,can do, ^uld do, andvwall do. •,j». , f ^.,. M rr..-. F^tti dogx&atiziiig about what higher 6ppoitimiti«t i^ effect for waywara, obdurate meintiief glide ea^y.mto dogmatisiii bonceruiiig the. EteitAl himself and His ways. It is not enougl^ that he provides a suJkietU^ opportunity, he must by sbme aitangement or other multiply^ restorative agen<^, and, for attght we know, give, what is called chance succeeding chance in a long series, till the last prodigal is, if possible, brought h6me. To our discernment no such idiea is enfolded in the Bible. Therecertainly He is represented as theGiod of love, and it seems He can merit Aat bleated tide widiout the exuberance— the fanciful superabundance. 9ert, even to hint, that one more and a fairer occasion i^ due, say due as a merciful cofi^ession, not as ati^torclaimvin justice, to those who have alrea4y slimed QouAsel and despised reproof? When disease orlbSdent, each an innocent^vent, terminates ^this life, eie, humanly speaking, its purposes and promises havjc been matured, it is never kmdled anew in the old scene and under the oldjxmditions, by way of compensation. When a diUd is le^ an orphan in di^ morning of its be^ ing-r-the sorest calamity it ^ can endure— no Creative Volition summons back firom the tomb those who woUld^ iratch over its helpless years with the untiring anxieties of love. The wheels of destiny h^ve no reverse motion. The mysterious'current on which we are botne along submerges sooner or later whatever fioatt on its surface, but never Jieaves up die Imt for another passam by the liglit of sun and stars. And if such is Ui^order in one • I i^* . vSi4- 44 \ ' • • sphete, edl it the region of life on this sidci th^ gnive» and it is allowed that the attributes of the Infinite shine untarnished, shall we tefuse the concession that ih pro- viiUng no second "chance " for a future or post^tesur- rection life, with converting and refoimatoty mfluences, to be indefinitely prolonged, He would still be entitled to the unshaken confidence of thoughtful, poised, and pious minds Athwart His limidess domain ? "Just and true are all thy ways, thoU King of Saints.* * §19. We end the first division of our criticisii^th diis general retrospective observation, that the object hitherto contemplated has been to demonstrate how poor a title to confidence the novel exposition of the verse— -^^ It shall be more tolerable,** &&> really pos- sesses. Not a single reason in the passage itself, or in the analogies of nature and providence, calls upon lis to view it after the manner of some recent interpreters. Moreover, in the course of our reflection a number of Scriptures presented themselves remarkably at variance with what we are importuned to receive as the teaching of this text, and some other texts held to be in affinity with it We are profoundly convinced that, nkisunder sttlndlng the verse, brethren on the other side have forced it tb cocmteninoe a theory which we must regard as but an amiable invention of their own. What th^ words of ottr blessed Master do import we shidl now endeavor to unfold. " ■■-/?'.-\- V-' .A--^'-'"\-,/-. :■■■■■■. ' ■ <-■ ^v'V'" ■-r:/.-- • ■- ' ;■ '■ " ' ■ ■ ■'■. -■■ ■ \ ' ' -.■• ■ . > * ■ ■ ■ . .-.■^,^;. ....:,., ;;^.-:;- ;Z'^/ :'^- - -i- '- - ' — * "'"" - ''r , •; ^ . . '...^ .>;r.- ' / ■ -■. " " ■" i' ■ ■ - - - ' ■ ' ■■ . '. '' A-' - - - ■*,? < ' * ■ ,-"■ " ■■ i ., -." , *' - ^■'■'■•v' # V, . . .'■ . -■ . '. :'/■ \ ■, ■ ■ \- ; ■'':■ t '-■.', ' ^ m ■■" ■ .- ■'■ <■ ; 1 m.. r.'. ■!.-'■" '•:--.^^tel:.- . ■■-/■; -■ « , yrjlv A III —SODOM'S JUDGMENT MORE TOLEMBL^ i; THAN JERUSALEM'S. ' §20. >^^ S 20. So wicked had Sodom grown, " being abbmi- nable and disobedient, and unto ever^ good work repro- bate," that the forbearance of Heaven was taxed to the utmost limit, yet there was no haste manifested m bnnj- inirthe offenders to account. Mercy would nave^ tri- umphed in "their case had it been'possible. Butten riehteous persons were not to be found m the whole population on whose account thelest might be spared ; and probably the actual number— the preservmg wit- was considerably less than that. Reformation was hope- less, and as it was desirable to hinder the diffusion^ such execwble.immorality, and the transmission to off- spring of such debased natures, a sudden and terrific stofmof mdignation made an end of their ^eness. ,, Gen. MX., 23-25.—" The »un wm rlMn upon Oie eMrth when Lot entefA intoZoK. Then the Lord rtined upon Sodom ^ . . . brimstone und fire from the Lord outof heaven; And he overthrew those cities, and «1H)»« pl«h*» •»* all the iidiabaants of the cUies," &c. T This was Sodom's ** day of judgment," and such was the form in which the displeasure of God numifested it- self. Awful was the visitation. Yonder the mfamous city stiU smokes and flames in the remote p^t as a warning to the impious down the centuries till the close, oftiritel The offenders had to be cut off, and the work was swif^ completed, with the smaUest amount of suf- fering too, that could be apportioned in the execution. For while fire was rained upon them, the fire was nam- gled with brimstone, in the sufifocating fumes of ^ch, evolved by the flames, consdousness would mstanttoe- ouslybclost Mercy was thus, in Ac hour of letnbnr tion, blended n^ judgment ^1 ™fs# ■■;■" '* »f. ■ TT^T 4< ;:#- in Among the victims who perished, \. D. 79, Pompeii, buried in the deluge of Vesuvian ashes and pumice stone merely, charged, of course, with sulphur- ous exhalations, some have heen found, during the exca- vations of recent years, reclining, wonderfully preserved, with a tranquil expression on their countenuices. Mani- festly suffocation overtook them in a moment, and prob- ably they expired without realizing for the shortest mter- val the tremendous catastrophe that had ovotaken ^em and their fated cityi Had the lava tide reached Pom- peii, those unfortunates would have been consumed on the spot ; still they would have borne no agony, in con- sequence of the insensibility that must immediately have been superinduced by the fumes from the fire-shower and the molten stream thrown out by the volcanic pulsa- tions. So, in like manner, perished the guilty natives of the plain, for whom Abraham interceded till, it would seem, he had courage to p|lead on their bej^alf no longer. The red curtain fell, and the tragic retribution was over! Likely not a wail rose from street or square, mansion or rustic home, and in pne huge pyre — symbol of the future Gehenna—- the irreclaimably depraved throng vimished swiftly from the scenes of life. § 21. Except Jerusalem's, the history of no city in the woridis marked with such reverses of fortune, such pitiful scenes of distress when invaders laid waste its battlements, enslaved its population, or delivered It over to fiuooine and the sword. Wailing and desolation meet within its walls age after age. For a score of times it was captured, and often razed to the ground. Bftt the fellest woe that ever visited the nation and its capital was when, in the ybur of Grace 70, Titus planted the Roman legions round about the glory^of Palestine, with a fixed resolve, in one way or another,^ to sweep the chosen peo- ple from the land of their fatiters. * Moses foresaw the terrible visitation and minutely described its features, rather as if he narrated actual <)ccurrence8 than fore- shadowed events in the distant future as they rose In 47. ahastly colon before hJs prophetic virion. P«^l^ of the real misery and, overthrow correspond wiA e^ry fncdenMhat the heaven-illumined Seer foretold in the LuS of the then existing nation. A few quoUtion. from his address, contained in Dcut. xxvin. chap., is all that we can afford to introduce in this place. There we are informed the Lord would bnng against them a nation from far— a nation of fierce countewnce anTstrange language, having nojpity for the youtiifti or the aged : they would be besiegai m *dl their gates ; to the straittiess and distress hunger would compel them to eat the flesh of their sons and daughters ; even the ten- del' and delicate woman among thcni would mm her eye . of evil toward her husband and her children, in tne eagerness of her desire for ^od ; plagues woj^d come and devour multitudes of them, till they should be left few m number, the remnant spared would be scattered among aU people the world over, and experience at their hand the sharpest woes ; when, so manifold and crushing would be their oppressions, fear would baunt them day and night-m the mommg, they would say, Wqu d God it were even I and at even they would say, Would God '^ "^I^ Sc"wuSe chapter their calamities are all repre- sented as issuing from disobedience to GoiTs will, who, in His sovereign mercy, had originally elected them to > be a happy and exalted people before Him. Vewf X8. <9.^*' If thou wilt not obMnre to do all the wordii Z'^UiTuVthat «e written in *«• hook, tli^ thw^«g«t Stf thi. gU)rioM and fewfnl n«ne--THE Low THY^O^^^ S^ thelord sluai mike thy pUupiet wondei^, wd A« plignet of thy leed, eycn gieat piiigoe^ ^ of loii|[ \ '?«0s«tf*-l.?M. bondsmen and outcasts of the Abrahamic linei were treated on foreign shores with envenomed scorn, and subjected to insults, exactions, and barbarities, that no pen, however gifted, could portray> " ** Sd many woet we see in many landi, So manj itreaming eyes, and wringiitf hands*" , " Whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken ; but on whomsoever it shall foil, it will grind him to powder.'^-~Matt xxL, 44. 1^4^ We have been enumerating some of our Lord's prophecies bearing on the fkte of Jerusalem ; but there is still another^ — a very affecting one, truly — which ought not to be overlooked in this connectioi|. ^ The re- cord of it .is in John, 7th Chapter and 34th v. :—" Ye shall seek Me, and shall not find Me; and where I am tiiither ye cannot come." Words, I am inclined to think, having reference not to the personal salvation of those addressed, but rather and exclusively to the na- tional ruin to be consummated shortly before their eyes. The Saviour's mind is obviously dwelling on the near future, and cdhtempladng the progress of events in its bearings on Himself ^and those amongst whom He tabehfacled, accomplishing His glorious mission^ In the immediate foregoing verse He says : — " Yet a little while am I with you, and then I g^ unto Him that sent Me." Following which stands, of course, the passagib, ** Ye shall seek Me, and shall not find Me,'' &c. He seems to represent them in the hour of their approach- ing calamity, earnestly imploring the advent and aid of the Messiah, whom by profession they were looking for, . acconlingto the announcements in their holy Scriptures. The Messiah of God had already appeared, and they had closed their ears and set dieir hearts as a rock against His gentle admonitions. A niotumful picture it is 4iat arises before our imagination while we meditate on these pathetic words of our Redeemer. Never was a nudity friend so needed as now ; but the loudest ^• treaties bring no response. The heavens above them v!^— ^ .';;'., ;-'^ . ■. ./ ^:',' .-v ■-:'■•'■; \/.>#c ^ .,.■^^"■ Lam. iv.^ 4.^^^" The tongue of the nidciog cJiU^^leaveth to -- -. the .roof of his month for thiigb ; thmds of the pitiful women have sodden their own children ; Uiey were their meal inthe destruction of the dMgfater of my people V. li.^*'Tlie«L(Nrd hadi' accomplished His fuy ; He hath , ' poured but His fierce ai^^, and halh kindleda fire in Zion, and it hath devoured the foundations, thereof JP( Put Jerusalem as it was situated about forty years after our Lord ascended to glory in room of the same city as it was in Jeremiah's (lay, andneed anyone fail to comprehend this l^npia|;e ?— " The punishqient of the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the puiiishin^t of the , sin of Sodom.'* Or, looking on % few yefurs fix>m l^-^ia^<>f tMii' 1^^ PfUe the horrors of the siege, then read the prediction : — *'* It shall be more tolenble for Sodom ... in the (a) day of judgtnent than for that city,", and who. shall venture to di^y ^t its in^port is lunitnoai and impressive? There is no mystery about the lines j no warrant to find in thenH eidier future^world terrors or ™as earth, and time has tnadT a record of their diit^ -trous peculiarities lon^ago. i_, >\w, j, v,^^:;^ ^^ i^ . How^natural Jestis was ! Tor the dead ^.JJfl^ cause he understood th«r condition was ^^^^/^ sentence or pretence^ as it would haire been »«d A^ me^ty^ndergone a'ie««K>vja in flieir^sent-aen^ ^espoJsible agents, to another chamlwj>f ^«_J^»^- Over the doomed Jerusalem, for instance, He wept, Realising iir his thou^ts how sad it was to be cut off un- . Sg^ the endSUnts ^^K^'^^^^^J^ after the iorest ^gs ^^*?W?f ^Jj^'^^ aWevto inflict. There bcmg in His^fiuth no •W-tor- ment such as dismal creed-makers haye^magmed. He S permit the woesthatthe siege anj the ^^^^l Soccaiion io affi^it His heart wWi^so^«^ the dtfstined^^i^r?tt wei«?imquesU<^^ righteoui^ess, and could not ewapc^the P^^^J^ ^^i« hastening to^^rds I but though theyjrei«A^^ toSi^^Sfand would ere l^dye th^»rhan$i nj His blood, Aey wei« m ^^^^ ^^^^^'^'^^^S^^ pain, and for whom slow a|;ome5 Were m prepara^ Not Wre^y had they such a terriWe ordinal ^^P'We^ but in the deaths of His nature, he estimated the lo«. robUvion of capabilitieslthat might^haye BloMom^ through endless years; the loss, in the .g^r«'« J'^ silenS, of ^ngs that might have been as mcf^J^e^burt^^ before God's throne dijring the same cycles l^J^ places notljing ; never merges and lows f^« P^«^*. "J 5iemteftitude of the future: sunply becaw« ewryt^g , stan^t befoit Hhn and Js measured by Hwimd^r. standing in its true nature and proportions. Haa HC beheWwith propljetic clearness in the reg^nsof Ac^ great hereafter aU those *i»oughtiess members of omr famUy le^dowed with Ufe and envur^ed ^^ trims- form^ moral influence, magical in its Voif^ned^ with Hnni^:— " It is a waste of pity, a usele^ lexpen- -1- . A ^ • '- — , ' '■'* * '•' ■, ■ 'JtJfc ■ ,?'v , ' .*■■.■ ■I,;,.- :W /" >'5« tliture of sympathy j their sorrow abides only for a mo- tncnt, here or anywhere else, bift eternal blessedness shall at length crown their renovated natures." But He wept, because His infallible penetration came^ close up ^ to nature, and the unalterable purposes of His Father's will. No delusiveness made sport of his eyes. Hope —there was none, and he could but melt in sadness as ; the vivid and painful truth came forth to Ktis unerring ^ ^perception. . ^ § 28. In the month of November, 1882, when the author was collecting materials in view of composing i this work, a couple of sad events happened in the same ^ week, if not on the same day, about fifty miles west of this city, which fimiish substantially a parallel to the in- cidents referred tp by our Lord, and may aptly ilhistrate His prediction in the comparison instituted between ,them. The j^r/^ event, that of a man accidentally struck by the fly-wheel of the engine under his manage- ment, and killed instantly. There was no reason to think he was conscious of the briefest pang, nervous or mental : it was life, it was death ; it was light, andm a moment, the thick darkness. The *^«?«rf, that of a clever young person in charge of extensive refinmg works, with whom the writer was well acquamted. Duty required him to proceed from one department of the premises to another, and in the transition he had topass over a large tank filled with boiling water. Unfortu- nately the plank snapped asunder as he went along its surface, precipitating him in the boiling cistern. Though ahnost hnmediately drawn out, the injury he received was beyond repair, and in a few hours, partly df suffering, partly o? insensibility through opiates administered to save him from torture, he breathed his last. The sym- ' pathy felt for him, while he lay a doomed maii, was in- tense and universal in the district, and fer beyond it Both of these Wer6 pitiful accidents— judgments we have no authority to call them,— yet who would not join in saying, certainly it was more tolerable in the day of calamity for him whose life vanished Ukc a gleam of ikhtnintf, than for the other unfortunate who Jmgered foi S, death staring hun in the face, and had .uch - sMffering, whfle it was permitted to exerase its pow^as no one of us is able to fiithom ; ahd such at, m Gods mercv.mav we never have to endure.. « . 1% It only remains, in this division of our sub- ject, to guard against the least misapprdiension of the ftat^mentr-^U Mo// b, mon» tolerable, e^"'^e Divine Speaker has his tho^ts concentrated 6n Ac future; butVn whatiuture? Not, we repeat,^on )»^hat m denominated the future state, or^a future world, or poJ^ resurrection mode of being ; bu^on a crisis m the ^en yet unaccompUshed history of the i«rticjto city he happened to mention, o* on any city of the day bJL lalcSine that should reject his message and ill-treat hi^l consecrated heralds. When 4he^calamitics app^a^ the chosen land begin to descend on its «Jie8,,Jeruadem S particular, then^ if he had^stified, shall it be more , Sl^le, or'then shaU it be reckoned^, that the fo^e of Sodbm was mdii^aaiirable than any city's is feH to be ^^Siitemned the Son of God. ,Who is tojnstitute the compkrfeon? Mainly those who^are plunged mjhe flood of woe when it rolls over the land. In Aeur terror and protracted miseries they rfwll rem-Moberhow the judgment that came uponSodom wm swift, exemp^ ing th? doomed from any agomes ^ Lericon. timi, ^ Ifc ^~~ — — M \. s« IV.— SODOM'S RESTORATION. TV •J:5' i-- 1^- „ 30. Even Uiough it can be shown that the words! . spoken by Jesu»— ^ It shall be more tolerable for Sodom," etc., are forced by a certain school of interpreters to express what they never were intended to conyey, 'other passages ip more ancient Scriptures are appealed to as warranting hope hereafter for the flame-devoured sinners^ and by parity of reasoning for jdl who may have died irreconciled to the Lord of heaven and earth. Let us prbminently exhibit those passages that the supposed autliority for a " second-chance " doctrine may be fairly] iepresented in this scrutiny, which spires to be candid and friendly. Jerusalem is thus addressed in ..i^^ Ecek. xiri., 49.,—" Behold; this wit the miquity of thy sister Sodom, prkle, fqlness of bread, And Abundance of-idleness, y," ; was in her and in her daughters, neither did sh« stren|{then , the huid of ^ poor and needy. ;"*; ▼. Sa—" And thqr^we haughty; and committed abomina- tion before life: therefore I took tl^em away «• J saw good. 53^^<«\Vlien fsha)l Mn^ again ike caftivUy of . ' . then' will I bring again the captivity of thy o Sodom cap^ves .thii midst of them. -**lWheti thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters^ diall riium to Ooir fiinmtr estott . i, ^ then thou and thy daoghlers shall return to yon^ former estate." ' Bringing again their captivity—rv. 53 — is. clearly par- allel to what in V. 55 is described as ** a return to their former estate ; and accotdirigto Extract «, printed on p. 8, both of them imply "their resurrection from the grave."^~Compare Extract ^ <»i p.'9i - At a " Salvation Army ** meeting in this caty tf few months.ago, among other exercises the ist chapter of James was read by a subordmate official, in which occurs the s t a tem e nt , " s in , wh en it is fini s hed , -bri ng et h. forfli irni*w \ •^ n I * death." Vere plain words, not needinj; much explanar 'tion. surely : but the Captam, one obvwuily " luckled tin a creed outworn," ad pli'osantly efficient, tiU some mtdl^ct acute ^ M '"*•'. 'U m^^,"- «« '^' ./ and critical ilepi forward with power to enow the artifice— iimoQent, though not exempt iioin da^ger,^ and dipioWe the charm. y ; ; - . I Si. The Qld Tegtament hai no revelation in difect and explicit terms of a future life for anjr human •being j which leaves it unnecessary for us to remark, that the same volume contains no threats of vengeance beyond the grave, either of Umited or limitless duration. TlK! later Tcstoment affirms that "our Saviour Jesus Christ hath • • v brought life and fanmortahty to light through the gospel," a Tim. i., lo ; a text which may be suffidently confirmed and illustrated by. such verses as the^: — ^ I am the bread of life; he that eateth me SoTlive by me ;" " God so loved the world _that he wve his only begotten Son, that whosoever bclictveth m him should not perish, but have eyerlastipg :lifc.*' ^; ■.:.■■.■■■'.-;; ■■-•.■' ■■■■. .■.'-:■■-■ One may respond, so far is that fifom beug true, here in the verses about Sodom's captivity beipg brought again, and about her return to her former estate, is a veritable announcement of a /^/-resurrection life for those who perished in the wram-flames of old. To which we answer, gr«at ingenuity will be required to find it there. The words of the prophecy do not necessarriy convey such a meaning; and unless we are guided by unerring authority to understand them in that sense, we had better try and find some other an4 more probable wgnification. . ." . . . So far from being guided by plam predictions m the more ancient volume of inspiration as to a hereafter awaiting man, there is really no such testimony addressed to his hope or his fear, and on that account we feel stnmgly authorixed to protest against the wqrds of £ze- kiel concerning the captivity of Sodom being broiwht back again, having this new and exceedingly weighty meaning imposed upon them. Adopting such a method of exposition is a tadt confession that the latest restoiir tion £eory, like others that have gone before it, is greatly in need of support ^ - - ^ "A. ,.■,::..^^■^.•^■- ••. § t J . Hftfteg found (sec SeeMn 30) that bringing the captivity of any place or city, means to restore the district or city to its " former estote," we have made one sure step towards solving the problem as to Sodom occu- Dvinff our serious attention. The next point is, if pos- sible, to determine the manner in which such expressions are used by the sacred writers ; that is, the sense in which ^hey empl«r «"ch language; and, of course, the sense in which we are expected, nay bound, to under- stand it- AH of which can only be accomplished by a patient study of the Word, so far as it bears on the question ; and, in an inquiry of the kind, anythmg hke assumption is reverently to be avoided, if we expect to comehomewith a sheaf of truth rejoicing. The inquiry need not detain us long ; but it is unavoidable, if exist- ing difficulties are to be removed. § 33^ -There is something like a key tothe phrase- ology, in Job xia... 10 -" And the Lord htrmd tfu capHvity */ AJ ■' " T . ; tlio the Lord gitTe Job twice w mtieh ss be had To turn the captivity, and to bring agam the wptiv- ity, arc, it must be remembered, exchangeable modes of speech; and the explanation of one of them becomes, of necessity, an explanation of the other. When and how was his captivity turned? On bis bemg restored to ic health, riches, family; and, in numbers greater than fonncriy, sheep, camels, oxen and she asses ; for disease had assailed his person, and ruin had swept over his household and possessions.* In his case there was a merciful "restitution of aU iingsf and fortunately the narrative, in the same chapter from which the verse is brought, furnishes details so minutely as to leave us thoroughly informed in regard to the sense m which his " captivity " was turned. The restoration was %n kmd or valtuy but not in respect to identity. He was re- suppHid, for enu n ple, wi th ox e n, but the old anm iais . A- V ?,# '•.' ^ ' ■ . ' ■ ■ never came back ; he rejoiced once more over children bom under his roof, but the beloved ones who had per- ished suddenly in their bloom and vigor never returned from the land of gloom. In Biblical phraseology, there- fore, a captivity is turned when what is lost happens to be restored, as Job's sons, and flocks, *and herds, and camels ; and in what sense the restitution did take place no candid mind can by any possibility misapprehend. § 34. Guided by what we have found in Job, is there not authority to say, for instance, that turning the captivity of a ruined land, would signify renewing its prosperity ; turning the captivity of an overthrown city would mean having it rebuilt, though not with the old stones, and mortar, and iron, and timbers ; ^nd having it re-peopled, but not with the former (Citizens ? And when God decrees that any land or city shall remain desolate perpetually, his pumose might be expressed by the formula, — their captivity Is never to be turned, or by some such statement as this-r^they are never to be re- stored to their former estate. r CAPTIVITIES TO BE TURNED. I 35. Now it happens that in Scripture we have examples of captivities that are to be turned, and cases in which it is clear captivities are never to be turned, though the formula in a negative shape may not be em- ployed to express their doom. These cases will help us to uliderstand the language about Sodom, — simple lan- guage, yet sorely removed by the " second chance " in- terpreters from its legitimate import. « a^^Tke 7:aptmty 'of Moab is to de brought agai»tOr\ ^- turned. ''''\ ■■■,■ ^^^^^V ;T^ of Moab, distinguished by mountains | and fertile valleys, lay east and south-east of the Dead Sea; its capital was Ar, -the ancient site J^g **JP known as Rabbah. The inhabitante were called Moab^ ites, as they were descendants of Moab* son of Lot. ^Mi ght again, or\ #f ' • • On the approach of Israel from Egypt, they acted, selfish fear, with great inhumanity towards the passi refugees, wlio were traveling under the special guardu ship of Heaven. Gross idolatry was their religion, an, Chemish and Baal-pcor were worshipped with impure ceremonies ; with human sacrifice, sometimes. % Kmgs ii., a?. The Jewish prophets delivered many threaten- iiigs against these hereditary enemies of God and his^ people, as may be seen in Num. xxiv., 17; Ps. Ul, 8> Ixxxiv., 6 ; Jer. xxv., 9^10 ; xlviii., 42 ; and Aihos u., 1,3. One passage has B^n reserved for quotation, it is 80 graphic in depicting ruin : — ^ '' m Z«h.(B.C. 630) ii.,8— "I h«ir«mfd the reproach ol MMb . . . whereby they hare reproached my people, and magnified themtelvet agaiott their border. ▼. 9.—" Therefore, as I IWe, aaith the Lord of hoato, the God of Israel, Sarely Moab shall be as Sodom . . . evaa the breeding ofnettles, and saltpUs,and.a perpetual --lonf larting — "desolation." f ^ la—" ^is shall they have for their pride, because thef^ ' have reproached and magnified themselves against the peo- ple of the Lord of hosts. ▼. II.— "The Lord will be terrible unto them, etc." Ah travelers, to use the words of another, concur ia attesting the fulfilment of these gloomy predictions ; they also describe the country as abounding in ruins — shat- tered tombs, cisterns, walls, temples, &&, proving that it once was a densely inhabited section of the earth. But the sun of Moab has not set for ever, as we find in the 48th chapter of Jeremiah (B. C. 607), just noted, where, in its closing verse, this gracious oracle ia written:— « Yet will I bring again die captivity of Moab in the latter days, saith the Lord." This becomes the more remarkable, when in looking back over the chapter we meet such records as these :^r* y 4a.— "Moab shall be destroyed from being a people, be^ ' canse he hath magnified himself against the Lord. . • At.— "Fear, and the pit, and the saiue, shall be >_ •'■■ ' thee^ O inhabitant of Moab. saith the Lord. mpoir :;'■■'.'/■'?■ ' ■■ .^'''- ■" ''■ " ■ • '■' • ' ' V. 46.-" Woe be wtto Jhee, O Mqab I thy people ol Che- i!osh perisheth : forthy •ontwre taken captlTet, and thy daughters captives." ' Th6 landof Moab is still under the curse, for the "latter days"— on God's part days of exceeding mercy to this long-polluted region— have not arrived. But ^un- erringly, as the threatened judgments responded m due timd to the prophetic voice, laying waste the towns and villages, and corn-bearing dales, so certamly «halLthe jrood— the blessed renovation^foretold by the same word come with itS gc^dep harvests of plenjjr, and songs of mirth and praise. The ancient capital wiU no doubt start up in architmurAl youth with its beautiful streets, and towers, and aqu^es. It and other towns to be cr^ ated will be distinguished fof a population bet|er far tha^ the haughty, idolatrous hordes that were swept from thte high-ways of lifei wad plover the wide expajse decor- ous and devout httfcbftn^di and shepherds will cultivate the prolificfields «iid vineyards, and tend the flocksthat Whiten the. hiH^U^S, to be ^^^^^ no njore with idola- tiotis UnixiMki a*d Heaven's anger, Thus^shall the^ captivity dl'.Mositb be turnwli thife, as with .the man of S sm tSipT^d, now a w&ste,1)e brou^back to its fomicr condition; yea, to k condition of higher prosper- ity, giving peace and abundant supplies to a community 4)ettcr fitSd to appifeciate, Mid more tdlbng to «ccto^- leie, ^ tQtd*s gbodii^ tiian the debased multitudes of oWf>1ib perished in th^ir sms.' ' : . _ , EGYPT.- • ' '''--'' :'^: - -■ " 0pA i^apmiiy of Egypt to be brought again. ^k. (B. C. s^) x»«., i4.T-"\wilV^ •«?*» *J5?FS vttvof Esyptt ftud will cause them to return into the land ^pShrff^-ttSit Egypt-" into the land of their habi-^ tation ; w^ thejr shaU be ther^ a base kingdom. ▼ t c-^" II shalite ^ h<»«t of the kingdoms ; neither shall * it «oatlt«dfaat«^o»»bow the nations," etc* ^ In the lath verse, it is said the land and cities of Egypt are td be laid waste for forty years, andthepeople ftiSitterod fc mony the nation^. Then, we are assured. «•'• '"^^r.'" * ** ndtlter shall ■;■■■•;■; ^^ r-- ■■■:■■/■ 65: ■>■■■: V-:.^: ,: ^'^^'-'yK I . ■ ■ . ■ » . » '■ ■ .!,.„ .r. to he aathered out from among the peppl* *>* . !^So.n.?v hK^mpelled to mingle. Theu return " toXkoW£X«nd thVrevival of fonner mdujwe^ ^-i A^ S«tabliAment of national function's " bnng- Sn »*«> S S^d supernatural changes m Aeit «>«»« »"^" S^^^^»Ser:faStri» te"^m;^d'&^seS^%o thegreatf^nily while m '^wSded with the Uving »«^.'^*«]^rL,^ faces towards what was knoim in their hearts, ana annais, and traditions as— fetherland. ^ ■• » JERUSALEM. V.-7»« CaptivUy itfJenmOm and theHOrew Nation • • to be turned again. ' '» , * . 3»?;*v r: 66 - '.«■ je6eratic^^|urmg the dispersion that followed the razing of the city under Titus, the imperial general Not, again, the^ miracalous reproduction of all who perished at the time of the great siege, and during the scattering that followed its complicated horrors. Here are specimens, and only specimens are required, of the rich prophecies bearing on the mag- .iTiiificent prospects before ^e nation and their capital :— V Dent. . Joel (B. C. 800) at. i.-'« Beholl, in tium dayt. Mid in time, when I ahaU Mtig again fhi tafitvUy of Jfndah Ternsalem* . * ^ •«V 17.— "So ahall ye hiiow that I ani the Loidyonr 1 dweDine in Zion, my holy moontaia ; then ihaUfwim be ho^ and there shall no itranfer pass thkwigh her.anyj V. ao.-^"Jadah shall dwell tot ever, an4 Jemsalem fromj a5S*U? c/^T^IIl!, M.-**Aiid I wm M^<'g^, ^\ fa^tMtyiA my people o(lMtMfA, and they dujllbnild the wute dties, abd mhabit th«i> j and they shag i^t Tine- yards, and drink the wine theitof ; they shall also m«]K saidens. and eat the fruit of th^. . , , -. ' . ^^. V. It— .'And I will plant them upon their land,. •»? *"^ shall no more be pulled up out oi their land whidi I have giTcn them, saith the Lord thy.God:" v Zeph. (B. C. 630) iiL, aa -" At that tune will I bnng you aftain, even in the time that I gi^ther you : for I #iU make you ajuune and a praise amongaU people of the earth wh«n I turn your captMty before your eyes, saitb the Lord. All ^f which, a Uttle time since, was summed up thus by " Rabbi Ben Esdia" in an epistle to his dearest friend, "Rabbi Ben Israel," both fictitious characters, and written from Rome, as the author feigns, sOme time during the isth century >— r ^ And then in sorrow fiw thug:rievon» «Uc . __ In i^ch we are plunged, 1 comfort mie with thia— That He, the Eternal One, hath promisjod us That we at last slttU frmn our sorrow vest. An4 from our fear, and from our bondage dise, , And buiW ae«iii our new Jcrusaledii.* - ^ V § 36. in Aese instaiicfes, lilbab, Egypt, Jerusalem — ^ turning of their captivity is announced; sig^tiifying their bemg restored sooner or later to their original ilAte. In odier words, there is to be a reversal of the jwdgBWiits executed upon them. (t ♦ ^ •■-■'■'wi 00 .. - ' ' CAPTIVITIES KOT TO W TURNED. ' § 37- ^e shall now take $x6. example of a rejsion [whose captivity is »^/ to be turned, though that form of |»peedi is not used to express the doom ; to put it other- Iwise, prosperity shall, by Divine ordination, revisit it no Imore while the world liist^. The land referred to is , • ♦ * EDOM. ' «... Mai: i., 4.—" EdoB» i«ith. We «re imfpTcriihed, but we will Jt/taxnMaiA build ibe desolate places; tbus saitb tbe . Lord of hoatsf fhey iball build, but 1 will tbrow down ; and thc^ dildl- oall tbtta, .The border of wickedness, and. The people afeeinst whow the Lord hath indigtiation for evet." Tl^e £dom spoken ^f is a mountainous country soiiUi .J the Dead Sea, extending to the Gulf of Arabia, with a [rich soil in the valleys, and a salubrious climate. 'It was led after Esau, or Edom, brother of Jacob, who «et- Itled there. The territory ijras about 100 miles long, by 115 or 20 wide. From the Greeks it received/ the naipe " lof Idumea. In the time of their prosperity, one has itten, the £dQmite|^ were wperous atod powerful, ievdted to commerce % land aPSl'sca > also to jagricul- ^ure and the raising of cattle. But ndther their strong rock fortresses, nor their gods coi^d sa^ Ae-oountry^from being turned into a desert; and in W becoming ^ striking monument of the truth of prophecy. Traver|bj^ [itid over its sur&ce^ oncct^'^ignalized^ by fertility, tra^^ [)f many tdwns and villages, long since laid waste* At Ills day, wi&in the ancient boundaries, des9lation reigns ^upreme. The Lord was greatly ofended by . Ae inhabitants of 'Edom,-ahd commissioned his iUume4 ^ Servants to publish his resolutions»:that as a people they Ihould at lengths be blotted out for ever, as a cloud bvanishes from the sky. Their offence in his sightmay be gummed up, as gross land inveterate idolatry, ia the first place; and secopd, as cruel treatment of his chosen people, who, by the way, were their blood relations, and bntitled, therefore, to kindly sympathy in the hour of Iheir afflictions. Amos writes m this manner ^— \ ' ^i i^^y. \ ^1^' Egypt tctwar !Ecioiii, they, tb the led undisturbed trai it^j liiid wheiji^ Nebuclia< l^ieg^Jerusal^ ibe .^ encouiageid his violen^ *' ti^, 30; E2ek.)acv.^"*i4;'^^ 14,; xxxv.^ 2^15; and Oba diah. Though, the 3pe^^ words about mt tueninj ;! Edpm^fi captivii^r are t^eijaplo^ed, its appoink^^ " nent ruin^undei^ 0od^ " indignatioii fbr eveFffili(4 ' ] iivi^nd, and) in fact, is ;^vai more e|^^ ^ r'f ^^}^han the fbnnula itseU; umiccdiRipanied wittt alii aUthe^ ', ^ ^ > • tic e^cpIiMiation, w^uld be. Edoni then, UxUike Moab, Jl_ • hopelessly exiled from the Di^e fevor., "Thus sait '^' "thf Lord 6od, when the Whple fearth rejoiceth, I wi "^make tjiee "-^Edom--** desolate.* WEzek. a:3^>, i4- , ' Suppose it had tietin; ii^en, ^e Loi again the captivity of Edoi^, what .would ^ ^be htt,M|^i|M« she, as a \ (iity, remains, by ordlpSlli^C^ prostrated \ lipraU.time.f**::,.^^'^^^ . I • A word of ewlaninLtidii isb^ore^ reading %r Hooi)^. f^ f» Tyre, like Sidon, ncair athan4 i«^as an ai^dent Jhoemdan ^*# lity located in! tiie western part of Jud^a, tr •» the sea causeth his wates to ■'■ - come up* <"■ i-ii.i„^i I • ^—••AndthCT shaU destroy the walls of Tyrts,sndbfeak 6^wn hSi^n; I wiU also ^rape her dnst from her. ^nA\ make her like the top of a rock. /,- •• \. 5.-« It shall be a p&U* for the n)readiiig of nets in. toe | midst of the sea, ftc. V , ^ Ak 1 ^^; ,4.- ..;••/*«# skaUsh MU m tmn.foi I ^ie| * Lord hate spdkeii U.** , / Compare chap. »Vii., a, rj> 35 ) Joel *»» 4-8; Adbos "' Ve'L^si^ed'mi now the two follo^g passes on Ae perpetuity of the ruin in whidi the aty wap snb- ^,i^lcrged :—•■••■■■■■ . ;, \- ■ .^ J ^K; Eiek. «ti.» SI.-" I will -Mdce thee atenw. "J^/jta" ^ Vyb»Ww«.,saith the Lord God. ' ' ,L^.A^ Esek «w.. 36.-" Thou shiat be a terror, and iwwr ^» ■^''''^^'Ijit. in this resembling EaomlisT^ pe^ iH«kStX;n the Lord hath '^^""^l^r^^^^: X«ui distU comfort from the ^^^^s i^bayc^ ,S^ to both has a ^^?^^ "i^^^^iZm- J^ndeflul than his who could extract «iW fijom snow drifts, and nourishment from grams of 8^0. & 18 Whatwe have perused in Sfci:iptureconoern- ^derstand fie prediction in favor bi Sodom ^\^ -^r that to, villag^ a n d tow ^ s m her neighbor- \i' ice covered f the costly irere author-. yruf hfXh uid ai the gates of I « rtpleniihcd, Behold, I wnl way natioM to I hi» wavei to : from her, fnd of nets ia* the I ^/ i«^; fot I the I /■ u,4.8;Ai;ttOs • ■ /'. ^g passages I city wajB sub- shaU ikoHnnur] vbA jiuvtr fjklt\ -f is/the pcpjge ryfever, andpfe. hayeti$|o- immand ntote Id from snow- d. ^ pture concern- > us readily to Idom and her her neighbor- hood, that she as a centre and fountain of population has helped to create (Jer, 1., 40), remaining yet to be accom- plished. T^i« words of promise read m this way t— Esek. xvl!, W-"l •!»•» Mng again tkHr eaptM^tihM osp- UTity of Sodom and her danyhters. ▼. 55.— " thy (Jerusalem's) sSstersj Sodom and her daugh- ters, shall return to tMrfbrmtr tAatt^'' rtc. Here we have the- same forti of speech that has oc- cupied our thoughts ahready, *riVi^«j' again capHvitp which in verse 55 is repeated, though in different words, somewhat explanatory alsoWf the first statement, retttm- ing to VI former estate, whatteyer both of them may mdi- cate. .--..■■■■■>-•:■-■' ■:•.■■:' ' -■■.a- -" ■ ;■■■■ •■ ■■ '^.^ ' '.. ITow, here we solicit special attention to thft condi- tion; which seems to be esseiitial, that no explanation can ^ be satisfactory that does not include the hteral restora- tion of Sodom, the city, as its prominent and cenM idea. Sodom was destroyed, and that we aU under- stand, wifliout a Daniel's help to make it intelhgible to our faculties ; and therccan be no mystery about her re- storatioD— another Sodom wiB ultimately be constructed on the site of the ancient town. Job's cattl^^i^ restored? not^ the old aniidals that once grazed his fields, however. Job's wealth came back> but not the old ri^es, dissipated in the crash of ruu). In receiving these-^ijcw cattle and new riche^^his captivity would be sofiir turned. But fMc « new Sodom, like the re* stored Jerusalem of tfiKJPphets, wijl spring up some time in Ae futur^^ffirmg die ground^ w^ere the ancient ^ stood, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it, new inhabitantswiU also occupy its extending streets. The ojd^^pulation thgtperished m the bummg ? ^ NoJ Wl^ as to his fiwnfly Ws dil)tivity was turned, ftc old €ear ones who perfehdPso „suddenly.jretumed|Botvfrom the dust to his' oDfce-morc prospeipfls home,* other sons and daughters were born to him stead, not <|tte aliaymg» it ma^ be supposed,. man's paternal sorrow. K. new city, then. v«^ ''I MCient and ft lity, t »4 ■^■J '« t- - I--:.'. Ipisoii. „ miraculously brought bock to tiew wfth its -JBcs, and timbers, and meUls, and ornaments, fand lines, will reappear on the orimnal loca- r the Jamiliar name, and it may be by the vur- tues 0f its inhabitants to redeem it from reproach ; and » new lace, not those who were swiftly annihilated amid theiViniquities, a>ut a race likely in some way kindred to those consumed in the judgment, will gradually renew ^the hum of traffic as in those early times, and once more gather harvests from the luxuriant fields, over which desqk^on brdthe vengeance orfcemlf fire ;" that is, fire, hke the phrase "eternal judgment," whose consequences are *perpftual. Not a ^p|«avoring ^hopc foL thecon-l iun^ is given. Me^hi to all affl^eaianceFturned its iMGk on fiem tor aye. Their calic woprof ^^rmiatntl retttbution. The city was desttpye^lfo were they. Th« old city never reappears, thoyjB^^ one shall occupy ita groqiMl The repiobate OTw devoured by the UsaSk r^iims no mbre for ^ or «for good, though a tir race shall peoi^ the new «ity to arise where the old e stpod i ahout which exact JocaUty we need not ere ^"litt 1^ omuvea any concern. He who mspnedthe ' sfiSu arrange for its literal fiilfilmcnt in due This' scctTon cannot be better ended ^an by reciting %. the fact that the level land On which Sodom was built r formed a portion of the territory the Xckrd assign^byl V oovenai#to Abraham and his seed for Aperpetuol lii^r- * itance. *iGe^. xv., lo. Over it Solomon acttially had dominion, and over it a greater than Solomon will yet| "- txetoMC benignant sway. Tliis plain-"tfie. plain of Sid- d^—was fiur and fruitful, like an eaxthly paradise, for •i^-* /: .ii^ the soil iPhs of admirable quality, and meaaderiiig streams all over its expanse refreshed and fertilized the fields. The time, surely, cannot be verv^mote now when the long-obliterated dty shall rise from its ashes, and sweet voif^es in the cities and villages, representing those that vanilhed on that morning of fire, echo and re- echo the joyful strains : — " The Lord- turned again our captivity, and we /were like them that dream." -— I 39.-'Jto the "introductory" portion, it was ex- pUnned tha^fce /author had ipt time to examine all the arguments oJ^ose who contend for "another chance," and that attera^ would mainly be directed to the case of Sodom, on WWi great stress is laid in productions advocating tlM^eW tli|pry. That case we have exam- hned at length, and aMprly as it was in our power to discuss its merits. GOT gnpt that what has been pre- sented may tium out exceedingly useful in accomplishing the olSject for which the exammation was written. •%;. M' *i; ' ■ .M: •" i*^^' \ < f:*^*-': *! ♦ Jt» ..v.- V.—OTHER PASSAGES SUPPOSED TO FAVOR RESURRECTION TO A SECOND OPPORTUNITY. -\.'K'-^-..tf:fi^; : 1 40J Before winding up with a few parting words, it may not be unprofitable to mention, however briefly, •eveial of the positions in the form of passages that might have been more fully, considered had circuhi8tan9es Sermitted the author to do so. Other laborers will oubtless perform the service^ in the interests of truth, and as a guide and solace to perishing men. A— PmIib InU., II.— "AU nations stuOlwrre him.** T. 17. -*'AU nations thaUaOlHiAbletwd." ; | By general consent, this is* Messianic Psalm, for to no one except the world's coming King can its ex- alted representations be applied. Before Him alone ■hall all Monarchs and President! bow ; His regal name alone shall endure for ever; He alone is able to confer blessings on earth's continents and islet, 'f All nations shall serve Him." All the dead nations, it hasbten said, called up from the grave, in addition to all the then breat^ng nations, and their subsequent representatives in the line of iptHiiddescent while me Adiunic race continues to be jwpjgated. unfortunately for such teaching, the dead are not specified here at all. Of coursf^ it is easy to say "die dead nations," but it would be jtist as easy to say, half of them, a Uurd of them> f tithe of them, or anything else; and thev would all be equally itttauthoriied. I doubt not had the prophet witnessed in vision the buried nations resurrected and ultimately rendering hoaage to the Christ of God, he would hav» said so ; but, to all appearance, no sueh specU|g|k presq^ted itself to his t^ii ^«^" '"f^/;?^" "*.' ' [ fj. illumihed foresight. The fair and natural course is to take this, and all kindred language, just as it stands, adding nothing to it, taking nothing from it. Then it expresses the blessed certainty, a certainty so oAen fore- told in the hallowed writings, that when "the latter . days" have commenced, and earth's predestined Sover- ; eign, in glory worthy of His name, has visibly begun to exeidsc His benign control over all kindreds and tongues alive at that period, they will own His right to ~ supreme dominion, and partake of felicities such as the long distracted planet had never seen from its earliest hours. In other words, piety and righteousness, as a rule, will be the promipent characteristics of the nation- alties inhabiting the globe then, as ungodliness, paganism, immortality, vice, and, where Christianity has been pro- fessed. Christian formalism, as a rul<:, characterized the nations during antecedent times. i^.— Isaiah sxv., S.— *' Hf will twallow up death in victory," ' ,«ic* ■.;. ■■■;"■' This passage will come ■ natanthy into vie^ iilong with I Cor. XV., 54, to be found in its proper place hereafter in this series of texts. Y.~^EMik, nocriL, la.— <*Thas saith the Lord God; Behold, /O my people, I will open your gnVi^ u^Mvmi jw tfl^ I oome up flpt of yotu gnvei, aii4 >^^ It is impossible to manifest in a better way that this passage encourages nothing like " another opportunity," or restorationism, than by offering an interpretation that seems foirly entitled to be pronotmced shnple, natural and satisfactory., '^o reach it, the investigating mind will please observe: — ist— That the subject of the prophecy is '5 the WHOtE HOUSE of Israel,"— V. li. and.-— That when the "Lord God" says to Ezekiel,— /'these bones are the whole house of ISraeV^— v. 11, he- mijces no reference whatever to dead Israelites; nor^ doM he liken his people in their then Babylonish cap- tintf, not at any period of their judicial sufferings there- 4^ ■f^ K'h ^^ \' Mksumfsitt'tiur.f tan, j *■■',>■ ^.'>- '% '<.•) afti^ reside among the nations where they may, to' mar- iowl^ss bones, such as the prophet beheld in the valley (6^yi|k>n. All this we hold to be warranted by — - y ^ I i— "Then he"— *Hlie Lord God," t. J.— «« Said unto me. Son of man, these bones •re,*'-'th»t is, represent—:*': ^he Whole house of Israd r.behold tbxY'SAY, our bones are dried, and our hope is lost ; we are. cut oflF for our parts." We are justified in making the w6rds " they say"' emphatic, as we have done al^vej'for there li0$ t^ k^y ^j to the 1 2th verse, and there is the origin of the tjone- symbolism explained. " They say" : it was not the Lord who said so t ox authorized them to' speak in that fashion. ^^ ' •* Our bones," they wailed outi ''are dried-^^ur/hope is lost— »weare cut offfor our parts,"or,asfor us W6 are -cut oflf. Palpably the language of . guilty unbelief. Promises, made long centuries before the speakers lived, that thby would be restored to the land of their fathers, were to all appearance an utter JiEulure, and despair was their song^" Our hope is Ipst r As if they had ex- cli^ned :— " We can only compare ourselves to the dea<]^ for there seeliis to be as much proi^pect of the grand sayings bearing on our national future coming true, as there is that dried bones will again be clothed, with desh, and re-animated for the functions of life." Rank unbelief, isn't it?— often illustrated in Jewti^ history, and, £^ me 1 in other histories beside. 3rd.^ TaUo^ their own graphic representation of themselves, . . the Ix>rd God says to his listening prophet:-— Iniese '^ bo^ are (tiiat is, stand for) the whole house of Israel; OT) ily peq^ represent themselves, and their prospects,, by bones t^R are very dry. Then having tmvell|e(l> as V it were, tj^eir symbolic picture of^theniselyes, jwd^tiT^" apparent destiny, suggested by tiieir unbroken j—""'" ^ot by nispired predictions, the Lord proceeds rebuke tiieir lackpf &ith in his pronuses^ and, , mercyj to add anotiier.assurance \ that he ^vill ' them yet to their own Vales; in a word, "turii captivity," and convert into solid fact all that he ha# eVer iqH>ken.conceining their exallbd/ national fortunes/; .X J^ I I »;,'?■ t|S5!» 79 /, ■•#. Thus we may understand him to expo&tula|e wi^th th^n : "Though, in consequence of delays, you recl^on y6ur '^ase desperate, even as ihe Hope of dry bones becoming living men seems to you; ills not so. O my people, for Ibe made good ;^ though it n^ not be restricttPil^ them. Many a time^isiiiie Ezekid de- • liveired lii^^den has the complaint been heard from Jewish li|)s|POur bones are dnied—our hope is lost;" * yet the Lord h^ never banished the knurmttifers from hi% afifectibn and care. His promises ja^e yea and amen. , At lepgth as ai people they shall possess the soil owned by the^rimcestors, and witness there amid ti:ansiK)rte of ' joy notf merely a political |>ut also a religious restitution^ for the^outh of the Lord hath spp^ei it Read verses 13 and 14. 5th;--7The unKmited power of " the Lord God" is ^rst repjgesented as operating j^|iarvelously in the ^ision-ialley so as to pKlpare the way for the most gracious declaration in"^ v. 12. — "O my people, I. will open your graves," &:c. Their case on their own esti- mate included Apt one atom of encouragement ; yet the Lord cotild triumph over difficulties even more formid- ' able than their unbelief conjured into . being* Thie very* :!^^s^ ImAj^uM were' that essential to the comple- &>& ofm'l^imDs. "Is anythmg too haid forthe l^r: ■■■'•■■J' -■^■■::'/.r'^; ■■■■:' ..-^--^a v'"' ■^::-v ■.*':-:■■:■■-::.. i: :- S^kf-^^HMe^^.^''t4'--"^''>nl^ ransom them firom the fNoWor '^hh/epi'fe ; I will r<^eem them^m death : O dditb, I • ,• , will be thjfcplagues'MgplMoe ?)V" O gtave, I wiU be thy "' destraciioii ; itoentance imll be hid from miiie eyes." ■ifry :/4l W.!f! :■<. ■.^\ ,. " c :'; ■il'^' .:rfcii ■fi T^e circumstances iii?iw$iclv ihiaVieWfe Was written- enable us to understanq; its meaning. The date of^e composition by the prc^het, who seems to have resided iii Judah, was some five )^ears before the teij tribes, com- 1 posing the kingdom of I«eael proper, were carried off by Shalmanezer from the lamd of thqil; fathers jwjiichevefef; happeneidt 730 years bfej&jtte phristii The whble' fourteen chapters have almost ei^^lusive r^t^rence to fitose tribeSj and Hosea seems toAave beep ri|ised up to expose jmd condemn their persistant idolatrii?? i to an^oimce; us a final warning, their .capprQju:hin^coli4uest^ with accompanying terrible slaughter,- by the proud Assyrian monarch, anid their removal chii^fiy eapi- ward to- his land, and also to (^oyAtries beydnd it. " My G|kl will cast them away, because 4hey did hot' hearicen to him, and they shall be wandererfi'iintbA^ the nations."— Hos. ix.yftf^ with which compare.. 2'' KJDjgs, chap, xvii, and xviii., qtI a. Apparently, „ while Ihe niass of the peoplfe'Were to |^ carried towards, Babylon and adjoining quari^ers, sojne' of diem would fihd their way to Egypt, either by ^ight or military transi)Ort, s^s we are told in chapiTix., 3ra v.i*-i"'I'Jiey shall not dwell' ii the Lord's land, but Epl)(raim''---cliief tribe of the ten, and in a sense t}^»:al of tihen^ so &r as iDii^e fitvor was concerned-^" sl^ii«tu|^tOvEgjf^ v. 6., " Egypt * shall ^gadilier ^ theni- up/ Memphis shall '/bury them." TTiere Is %0 fivide^^^ that after their removal, from Palestine by Sliajttiajie^er; ^py^ a^ tcVter came back to their oy';n"ftn^la^ JLJp to this hour, m ft^, Hosea's p^edjdtiisns: ;are iu|filling ; tl^ifey are stilf witibout a Tung and %.j^n^ iiii, ^^ still wander- ing, obscure an4 we^i^Ies, among the^na^ ^ For a kingdom. like tn^t of Is^el, smtdl and insigiii- ficant besides the ^eathatic^Bijiities of earth, and what of the people as w6^«p^l^^edihth^ sieges j^d conflicts to be carried off f>f the victor, and hitl^ieili^MJfiveaii to- wards every point, lifc^^dhafi' befon^ |jKe imd,^^ but a prelude to their final bbliterationy Eyery rofid was rough, every privation wearied" their endurance, eveiy ■M. M' '\ it /*■ ;':!''?,(.■.:■ ■!r*f. ■•■'. I . ■■»..■ ''i^ ■ , I ■ • - J \ »' '' i ' '■: i I •"■■'■ -■ '■'' ■■*-.'■ pan^ that tlie wretched can sufia-wduld|ii«t upmiieiy in their daily experiem^. Strangers in >trahge lands, with- ■ but fn^ndsto aUe'idate their .inisfoituhe^, without one kindly, siista|ning,gl^m of hbpe:-*so the stars beheld them i^ their nightly c6iirses- Xifc in such drcum- stances was bereft of the last sdace, aiid grew all but intoler^jbl^, > Death, -to use ^e^ljhic language of this prophet, stc^dih front oif diem, a h^e wild beast, wi^i elpaaided laws-ready t5& dev|}tfr theontcastsv Human reason would naturally eicpect that their memorial woul^ soon perish utterlvj^ Tiiey.surf ly threatened to become 4s '" godomft, and^ . .. '. ^e.tmto Gomonrha." v , >. But the God^ the Pajtriarchs, 'ftpm whoin they ar^ descended, has ot^erfrise decreed; H^ wills that:natural " de««^«,Auperiijdia:ed by .strange c«mate» and other khi- • dred influences, shall «Gt waste t%to to the Iwt-i^divi-' | ; dti^, as some races have ^en ^ade to deel% andpear. He wins in defiance of tbil,*:4nd bart)yDipM^ / I oppression; inflicted by"*their tytannical nwBters; whe# ' ,li kyer they miy„ reside, to preserve the "stream of th^ |P^ tnbal^and histofjr, generation after fi;eneratidn,"flo#^^ |Pg d4P tiniejand m "the ktter days^" t3&pejfi5^ , injarvej^on their behatf. And it is this v^f^'tiiilfc-- . I their preservation as a r^«— 'that we und^tl^ditd bi^- ^ \ announced in these mghly-wrottght ^lauset »^ - ?■ *'IwiU ransom thfetfi from Ae power oL the ffhi4; X will redeem them from death j O death, I wfll be Ay^plamwt" "-plagute ?-" O wave, r will be tliydeitri|«tioit;imiit- > ^ ance shall notbe hid firom mtoe eyes. ',. ■ . ; ^ l3eath, like the grave, is here personified, aiid sur^y [ft is4inqpcessary to observe, that "" death " is' no more # V la beipg than is fainit^, fever, jplague, or anj» other in tfl^- '^ Iwhich men are exposed. We must n6t suffer ouTsefves |to be carried away by the Istojiiage of imajpiation. i'oetry sijits the prophetic- mmd,^ if ye are to uplef< . , stand thihgfi clearly, we mtist Iddk bej^onll 'Cores' t^^^^^^ sifmile and exact idea which, as a garmeiit, &ey cover* ajid reryder picturesque. Dgath is merely the Itfss^of life* Victory, over dea^, may be ol^med;„or man may '■-■*■ 1 •w*.v| iV'-:- • ■?); m. -- *. ■J/":- :i'' ''fez-x «MMailfiWB«Mne«»*Mu«x>'-- ■»' %i b»savifed from death, in one of two iipodes : firsts by being I pipMerved from dying ; or, second, by being endowed with - incorruptible life at the moment of resurrection, which revival is thie transcendant gift of Divine power. The] second is a New Testament idea, or prophetic intima- tion, and we fear there is a tendency with interprifetersl to put New Testament ideas mto Old Testament words, when words are found, as here, capable of being so treated, without any great apparent violence to the! phraseology. The practice has a pious aspect, but it is] essentifiJIy at variance with defensible exegesis and! Scriptural warrant. It rests in the soui)^ of terms, rather than penetrates down to their accurate meaning, chiefly determinable by tlie connection in wlucli they stand, and] die time and circumstances in which they were spoken. By a close examination of this remarkable text, itj will be discovered that it consists of two parallels—] statements of equal or similar import. The first con- sists pf the two first clauses, the one beginning, " I will! ransom them," etc. ; the other, " I will redeei them, "etc. Parallel second consists of the third an< foi^rth clauses,/* O death, I will be thy plague/' audi "Ogiav^, I will be thy destruction." As to the clause, " rep^tance shall not be hid from mine eyes,** i^ is simply a declaration on God's part of his unalterable Resolve to execute what has been ^mnounced m the ante- cedent members of the passage. According to this promise, then, the Israelites, or the ten tribes, for they are the subject of the prophecy, are £6 be ransomed from the grave, or redeemed from deatl] ^tiliat does that mean? Resurrected, all of the»« at length fi^om t^e dust ? No , that is not the idea. Tl ideals tiiis : tJiey shall be saved fsom dying out, or national extmction. In otl^r wotds the people w^ . providen^flOy kept in being as*a nuxf—a mte tibat to ^^^aaaim a||)earii^^ seem^ most likely to ovei '' It is ndt a qiiestioi), we cUiiteiCly and most rc- „Jly contend, of individuals, eti o^ personal sdvl^ of^ysmrt^ ]^ of xa6e or tribal perxMnuity. Indi^i nine eyes, it duals will die, generation after gfeneration will die; biit the Abrahamic blood, the race issuing from him as a fountain, shall continue in being in spite of everv element adverse to its indefinite prolongation/ Often, we need hardly observe to one familiar with the Bible, is this style of speech, or a form identical with it, exemplified in the more ancient Scriptures, and more particularly ^p the Psalms. We shall now quote some instances :— Job v., ao.— «' In famine he shall redeem th«e from dead!.!* Not out of death, but keep thee from dying. Job nKiii., 3© —"To bong l>ack hU soul "— his life, or him- ' self— ♦' from the pit "—the grave—" to be enlightened with the light of the living." That is, t© lave him, not out of death, but from dy^'"- in|^ that he might continue to enjoy the light of the living. -'^'"r/ .-■ "" Psalms xJtx., 3 — "O I^rd, thou has brought up my soul" ' -2'Bae-'*'fmm^%e gmve ; thou hast kept me alive, that I aould not go down to the pit." " < Here the second part of the verse clearly explains }>salms jofwC, t^-^'^-^t delivec their soul "~or them— from -Seath, and keep them alive in famine,'* Deftvering them frojn death is, keepings them alive [ Ib the time of £Hiine. ^; Psalms Ivi., 13.— "thoa hast delivered my soul"— or me — *'frooi death." , . " * tlMi* is, preserved my fife. • ' , «!«.. 7'— "None of them"— (who trust in th^ir weiith, T. 6>w" can by any mtians redeem his brodier," not give to God a ransom for mm. ,, V. ^— " Tfc«e he dioakl live tor ever and not see corruption. " Not redeem, or ransom^ him out of the grave, but |sav^ l^is life— preserve bim among the Kving. I^salms Ixxxix , 48.—" What man is he th«t liveth, and shall not -see death? shall he deliver his fibul*'— himself— "from the hand of the grave ? '* ' *" ^, \ V V*., '#. : ■*!.' , ^"ii ,f ?*/ ' " Deliv^ hi dying. ^^^ " T^ 4.-i«« Whd redeemeth thy life "7-or, th«e— "ftom limself," meaning preseirve himself fronj ion. \^ R^8eeibe«h, sjives thee from dying, in oiher words* . The j^^;/tfra/Af/is- •• O death, L will be thy plagne ;" " O grave, I will be thy deatruction.* . ♦ ' ^ N6w, the import of these lines is really the same substantially 9S that of the former two, only it is intensi- fied, and more perfectly, as it were absolutely, expressed. The meaning of the four is— the people, or tribes, about to be exiled from their homes and country will; as we •M^Talready stated, be providentially, miraculously— almost^© at the least— preserved ; that is; their seed ^all be presewed to far distant ages, and for grand pur-. p>^ges top, when the plans of God qome to be translated ^ into historical events, and those plans or purposes we shAlLdiscovcr iix a little while. ^^ar as their interests extend, death is a^it were to be fatally smitten by the plague ; ahdwhen^an animated creature, for such by a vigorous stroke of imagination, death is here represented to be, is so visited, its injuri- ous capacity is over. Likewise, do fa^ fs their interests extend, the grave or Shepl, also personv&ed, is in truth destroyed already, and when dest^pycd*it can swallow victims' no more. In other words, |hey, as a race, can no more be deprived of life thanlf such a thing as dymg aod the grave were unknown in t^e world. Individuals and generations bes^ring their ancient name may die and go down to the dust; but widuring existence is reserved for the race, as a race, to which tiiey belong. ^ Thejrst parallel ^represents them, or the Israelitish race ^ r^^erved from the dominion of , de^th and the gumj jthe s^(^ndi afi a higher pledge, of safety, repre- sents d«5»th an^tbe grave>s he^^ft of power to do Aeni imm'; in fact, if we. can aspettd to the ifleaVas for them, w 'feeirr raicef done„ aWay iB^thj-rr-Jion-existent; AH of V " '■/ '^ "i'-'-zf.-'*' u^ . ' 4'- - v ' "^ .;■ ■■""> *■ 1 r ; . >; m ■'^ ^sr A ' *l ''■>J which #heii reduced to its simple iemd final conception " is» they are destined to continae, under God's care» as a people unto perpetuity. V ° ; ' *yhile this verse is an assurance of the most positive kii^ fhat no circumstances, however malignant, in Uieir S»ptbachinff banishment would be permitted to wither em on fie stem of being, and so terminate God's ,^alings with them for ever, it is surrounded with pas- sages uttering 10, effect the same thing in another form, with the addition of intimations bearing on the grand iiitu!-e in reserve for them. So the two prophecies con- firm and in a measure explain each other. €hir reference 18 to such announcements as these >«* ' * - ChApter iiL, 4.— "For the childfeii of Israel sliaU Abide i many days iHthont ft kiog, and without a priace, ftc. ' ▼. 5^r-*< Afterwards shall the children of Israel return, ^nd seek the Lord their God, and DaTid their king -.and shall fear the Lord and his goodneu in the latter days." . If they are to be alive " in the latter days," then God must have redeemed them " from- death ;" that is, ac^ cor^g to the explanation given before, preserved them as a people for sqvereim reasons anjd gracious purposes of hisown. ^ They art to return, and seelc "0avid their King" Not the historical David," but an idieal David,— the Messiah,— emphatically Sovereign of the Jews, who is yet to be nuin^ested in surp^^ssing splendor as die head of the Kii^dom of God. In Hun the promises made to the historical David are to receive dieir perfect reaU- zation. That ^vereignty is drawing near, and when ^Tli« Christ rules over the nations, Israelites will come back fnnn their long exile, and seek to behold His iace in peace., Nor will they entreat in vain. Chapter xiii., 9.--" O Iscail, thou hast destroyed thyself ; bat in ne u thine h^." » _ These obstinate idolaters were about to endure un- told, and apparently interminable calamities, but God, the God of their fathers, will not cast them off for aye. He will be their help. 3 'f.: -:;:k-:-{a. „!' USt^ -^■^ffi," rv. 7.-.««I wUl be thy King." ' And such He will be in the person of his Son, whose rightful throne is Mount Zion. Finally, the 14th chapter is, so to speak, prepared for loving proclamation when the time to favor the exiled tribes is come. The Lord hath said, chap. xi„ 8, " How shall I give thee up Ephraim ? " the word including all Israel j and tWough the night of ages He has beheld the objects of his mysterious affection far frorii the clune of promise, anH far from rest. He longs for their return ; and he has tender things— things of infinite pity— to say in tjieir hearing, when, like prodigal children, they begin to consider their ways, and the meaning of the i:''_ sorrows heaped on their hearts. 1^ ; _ ^ % Chap. xiT., I.— •"O Iwtd, return unto the Lord thy God ; for thon hast faUenl^ thine iiuquity. ▼. a.— "Take with you words, and turn to the Lord; si^ X : onto him. Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously : "^^ -,_ so wiU we render the calves"--ofieriiigB, praises— "of pttr '" Ups. T, ^''I wUl heal their backsUdlngs, I willlove theds fredy ; for nine anger is turned away. T. 5s.— "I will be as die dew unto Israel : he shall grow as the lily, and cast fort^ his fruits as Lebanon. ▼. 6.— *'His btanches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the oUve tree, and his smell as Lebanon. w^ ▼.8.— "Ephraim shall say, What hav| I to no .^y MO:|B WITH IDOUI?" - %"" A— Acts HI., ai.—"Widm"— Jesus Christ-'Uhc heaven must nanft until th^ times of restitution of all things, which Ood had spokeffby the mouth of all -his holy prophets tiaet the world began." Of course, it is easy to assert that this "restitution of all things " includes the resurrection of all the dead, and their ultimate salvation under exti-aordinary influ- ences! but to back it with substantial proof is altogether V a different matter. And it must be proved. The spe- cial revelation as to Sodom, does not, when closely in- vestigated, favor the supposition in any degree, though it is S6t forth as of gigantic force in support of the latest tiieory of universal human recovery. %. >> "P** '4T-'- ^.."^f!** ' ■ ' ' >f ■ ^ «"■ It , 87 - ■, . - ■ .\ < Another fatal objection is, that the restirrection never happens to be plainly revealed by any of the more ancient prophets " since the" world began/' In- deed, a future life is unknown in. their writings for any ' class of men. The prophets do foreshadow, in> count- less passages, a coming King and^ glorious kingdom ', but he who seeks for light on the secrets of the grave will search the old scriptural pages wearily in vain. The ^ restitution granted to pious ji)b, when his captivity was turned, may well place expositors on their guard when they meet with language resembliiig that we are remark- ing upon ; so apt, from its unlimited nftUire, t^M mis- understood. 1 *^*^^Ar-^^ / -^Rom. xi., a6b— ♦* Andjoall Ittel slM te^ul^ ; Mit is V written, There ih(dl come oat or Zion the DeUverer, and shiiU turn away ong^lineM from Jacob." In this chapter the renowned Apostle describes with amazing foresight the transition and hopes and prospects of his t^loved people when the Deliverer, loaded with celestial gifts, issues forth from Zion — " All Israel shall be saved/' then. At the date of his epistle tcl th^ Romans, only a few of them were converts to Cii^s- tianity; when the prediction is fulfilled, and faiV it cannot, the great mass will own him as their Saviour and King. Eyes have been opened, and his glory has at length been discovered. So tiiat^en the moral condi- tion of the nation sh^ll be reversed from what it yns in ' the earliest years of Grace, and from what it has been since the &iviour presented himself as the man of sorrows. From that hour, speaking generally, all of Abrahamic descent have been hostile to ^e Son of God;^ at the era of manifestation to dawn.yet, sdl, Ispeakipg ij " the same manner, shall be friendly. ^ ": To assert that the sacred writ«t n^hen he declares,^ '' AU Israel shall be saved," in the latter d^y, embraces #^ within the compass of the "all" the mighty seriies of^ Hebr^ generations past re-animated miractilously,'i$^ constraining^ the passage to utter what, we firmly believe, it was never deigned to communicate. Such a stu-. a^ ••^. Pi' 88 \- pendout event is never once even dimly suggested in the prophetic book, or in other portions of the Old Testa- ment, from whose profound silence comes no answer to the most urgent personal inquiries concerning the future. It is the. living, when the Deliverer appears, as he ap^ p^ared to Saul of Tarsus on his cruel mission, who are to bcf disarmed and renewed ; which puts the oracle at a long remove from " another chance " or Universalism, pro- perly so called. The passa|;e is but another illustration oi that national \akity — thgptee' conceived as a river flowing down time — ^^^SmI^P^^^^' ^^ which there are multitude of ^^^^^^^'^^(^Kmm^^^ ^^ sacred Volume. The stream has Idng ^^^f^prbid and troubled ; then, reverence for Christ mark^^he people as a whole, it will be clear and tranquil. So interpreted we arrive at the simple and natural sense of the Apostle's delightful prediction, and we are acquainted with no authonty in Scriptures old or new* that sanctions the latest discovery concerning the impenitent dead, — here, of course^ they are of Jewish descent, — to be suspended* pn his words. >.— I. Coir., XV., aa.— "For Min(AdiMn all^ Chrift sIuOl aU be made aliTe." even so u I have met nothing better on this verse than what was presented to the public by Mr. Allan B. Magruder in the Restitutiont May 9th, 1883, ^<^ shall quote freely from his article, at the same time thanking him for his lucid paragraphs. By him the verse is thus unambiguously rendered :— > ^' At all that are.in Adam die, so aU|that are in Christ (or, in ^ At Christ) shaU be mad* alive." JNIt. Mi^[ruder adds :--- ** "TO me it seems clear that the natural sense of the words, and I the order and collocation inHvhich they stand, give the rendering the preference over any other readings I have seen. >i <*The common verrion :— ' As in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alve, ' conveys the meaning that the re-living „.V- 89 of our race will b« at nirtreml u their 4eath ; whilst the reading proposed limits the resurrection tlMt Paul is writing of to tnose who are in Christ, viz. : ' As all that are in Adam die, 10 all that are in Christ shall be made alive." ' The Kinf^i translators evidently supposed and believed that Paul was.teaching the resurrection of all who had ever died, and they made their translation to comport with their creed. 4 But a more careful and correct study of the context shows plainly that Paul's doctrine applied only to the saints*— to those who were in Christ, and nad no reference to a resur- rection of all — to a universal resurrection, and hence affirms nothing of any other class than those in Christ. This is proved to demonstration by reading in connection the 33rd verse, in which he defines his meaninj^ of the word 'all,' and restricts it to 'those that are Christ's' — having no reference to a general and universal resurrection. The new reading proposed is quite in harmony with the Apostle's E remises and argument, whilst the other is contradictory to oth." (« Thtold reading gives undue support to universalism.' To which I may be permitted to subjoin this obser- vation : — That ' if the common version should be retained, the fair and proper course in order to reach the correct interpretation is first to determine the limit of the "allj" in other words, is it ali saints, or all mm t Till that is settled, nothing is settled. In explaining an author it is just to accept his terms, like the " all " here, as t|ie drift of his argument requires, assigning them a comprehensiveness neither more nor less. The ch£ipter from which this verse is drawn seems to be exclusively occupied with the resurrection of the sons of God. The irregenerate are not mentioned in its progress ; the im- munities and glories of the saved shine all along its wonderful verses. Saints, like other human beings, die. in consequence of their relationship to Adam ; saints rise tY a new life — an angel-like existence— in conse- quence of theii^ relation to the Ix)rd Jesus, who is the Conquero r ^ Death and the Grave. 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'-i ^- ■4- of the Adamic iamily is nuuiifestlf the subject of Divine instructioiL ^ " "The luC efkemy UuU ihaU be destroyed is / 4.— Verse j6.- death." *.<- A•^, In verse 92, we hear the A^tle. for himself and all the regenerate, saying, in Adam all, mat is, all of us die, and in Christ shall ul, that is, all of us, be made alive. He intimates in v. 33 that the resurrection occupying his thoughts is to happen after a God-appointed arran^- ^ ment, " Every man m his own order," or band ; " Chnst ^e first-fruits," or earnest of the sainted sleepjprs in the dust ; *' afterward Uiey that are Christ's at his coming." Perhaps there is implied in the latter statement, tbuit there will be companies of the godly resurrected, some immediately on the Lord's advent, other& at different periods, it may be at long intervals thereafter. He is to reign ^ he has put down alljulverse " rule, authority ind power," as it is iirritten in verses 24 and 25. The text then comes to assure us "the last enemy that shall be destroyed i» death." As die verse stands it fails, as we think, to express what the writer intend to make known. For to say of any adversary, that he is the last one appointed to d(^ struction, does not necessarily mean that every foe shall be utterly vanquished and made an end of.' Death might only be ^e fiiud one selected for perdition ; the rest hem^ allowed to retain their places and powers. This ambiguity can easily be removed by omitting the^ two words " that " and " is," supplied in our common -vcfiioB. Then the verse will read, " The last enemy JlBiM^be destroyed — death;" or, as the words may be tunnged, ** Deadi, the last enemy, shall be destroyed /' a statement alike simple and precise. Not one enemy istobespared . How is death the last enemy to be destroyed? By the resurrection of the saints -of "God with natures im- mortal and spiritual After their revival by the Omnipo^ tent fiat, it inll be impossible for them to die again. ■ ^ - >4 of Divine iestrojcd is elf and all of us die, lade alive. occupying darrange- l;«Chn8t '^ >jpn in the i coining." nent, thitit ttedySome different He is to , authority 25. The that shall to express r to say of ted to de> y foe shaU f. Death ition; the id powers, littmg the^ r common ist enemy Is may be Bstroyed/' me enemy yed? By atures im- eOmnipo^ igain. The Lord Jesus abolished or destroyed death, 46 W as He was personally concerned, by rising in an incor- ruptible form ; death has no more dominion over )um. When the sainted are re-called to life and consciousness by his poweiw--power exercised in reward of his own obedience unto death, even the death of the cross, death ' shall be destroyed also so iar as they aie personally concerned, since they enter at the moment of their re^ susdtation on an existence that cannot end. "Because t live ye shall live also." Which is true only for those who believe on him now, and have their names written in "the Book of life." If only a certain number of our family are to be immortalized, the rest being ultimately deprived of exist- ence, how can it ht said that the last enemy has been . destroyed? Has he not, so to speak, vjtality still, hold- ing dominion over the lost? The matter will appear more intelligible, if it is recol- - lected that Uie Apostle is here exclusively contemplating deadi as the enemy of Christ and his church,— tiie i spiritual of our fiunily ; and when they are resunected ^: to unclonng life, the last enemy has been delivered over ' to perdition, so iiEur as they are personally concer^ied. like the last enemy of the Church, " rule imd audior it^ and power" of every kind is to be annihilated by ^ his strength, according to verses 24 and 35. Some en- tering into that hostile confed be crushed out of existence, in fulfilment of this eternal law and prophecy, ** the wages of sin is death," whatever rank of being the ofiender maybdongto. Consigned to death, lie-is held there. If he cannot reimtin in death, or, in other language, if he must be '^. A.\ «* ^T '*'■ , '^f^rfifi'^i Wl^ .'"B''•-''^^^ilftPW■'Si'*'lW■^f^''^''^'f >''J ' ■ 'w:m 9« 1 \f.V. t? .¥ saved out of it, then all threats, all penalties, all s6lemn warnings as to what unbelief entails, all punishment, spoken of in the Bible, are words cast forth without an aim, and rivaling aU hollow speech in their meanjng- lessness. . ■ ■ \f ■■ ^ Verse 54.— ** Detth U swallowed np in victory." Revi- •ion, " Victorioudf." When the corruptible, shall put on |ncomiption, this saying, according to Paiil, shall be brought to pass.* — ** Death is» swallowed up," &c. The quotation seems to be brought froii "-^lis; sbiT., &— "He will^iwaUowvp dcadi in victory j ud the Lord God will wipe away lean frc|in off all^Mcs. and the rebake ^pf his pec^ shaU be taken, away fnm all the .;,'.. earth ; for the Lord hath spoken it." The verse from Isaiah stands in the midst pp^freoic- tions relating to the Sovereignty of Messiah ill the latter days; the deliverance of Israel from prejudices that blmded them to his daims on their lUlegiance ; and the terminadon of the cruelties— mortal^^uelties, to which in inany lands they have been subjected during tiieir protracted buiishment. In the last verse of the preced- ing cliapter we are assured, ", the moon shall be con- founded and the ran ashamed" — that is, U^eir splendor shall be ieclipsed— " when thie Lord of hosts shaU reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously." In the 6th verse of the chapter from which the passage under review is obtained, it is said^ '*in this ffMNintaiii shall the Lor^ of hosts make unto s^ people I ileaat of ht things ;" in the latter part of the verse in .hand, we kam, " the rei3uke of his pedple shall be taken^ away frbm off all the earth f and in verse 9, we hear Uie disprejudiced and enlightened Israelites liftififf up this song m^ thanksgiving, "Lo,isthisotirGod; wehave waited rorhim, and he will save us, * * * we will be glad and rejoice in his lalvation." He will save them from what ? From dispersion, from derision, from rob- bery, from wasting cruelties. Everything seemed to • - / ii 'HiTirfit'iaa I: I iii'i 't -•"* ■"' j-i.— " '-^^ -a ^*i-' -■ . < "'y 'ff Jli6leinn nishment, ithout an mcatiiiig- y." Iteri- >tion, this 5 pass.' — seems to dory; and lAocSf and •lithe the latter ices that ; and the to which ing tiieir epreced- be con- splendor laU reign I ancients >ni which '*in this U people \ verse in be takeuk we hear Sftinff up we have ^e will be Lve them iom rob- emed to 93 .- / betoken their certain^annihi^tion M * race ; but He it pledged to preserve Uiem in all [extremities. His pur> S»8e is, as we discovered in the pfiallel statement from osca, '* to swallow up death in'^vict^ry^ or victori- ously : and when they enter once more nOitt^eir ancestral heritage it shall be obvious to them9etves and to all hearing of their marvelous fortun<^, that he has done so. Then with a loving hand will hef dry up their tears—* tears with which their eyes were reddened and their cheeks furrowed through the gloqm^a^s of their sufler- ing. << r will rejoice in Jerus&lem, and joy in my people ; and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying." Isa. Ixv., 19-25. They have not been the oily sufferers. Hie feast to be prepared is intended for ail peoples, as weU as for ^ them. Joy, in other words, for temporal as well at ' spiritual blessings, comes to others in that day, as well at to the Abrahamic clans. Desiy>tism, and -s]avelg^> add oppression, and extortion, and cruelty, and wv^N„^/ and ignorance, then vanish for ayje from this habitable /\ globe. ^ When the author of this epistie quotes the words from Isaiah, we find no warrant to conclude that he re- garded them as predictive of the resurrection he so sublknely describes, and sp triumphantly anticipates for himself and his Christian friends. He merely brin^ them to his aid as tmns most adequate to express hit thought at the momq^t of composition. Originally they were used to convey,, in effect, an assurance that the chosen people, though driven on account of disobedience * from their paternal hills and vales, would, at a sovereign boon from Heaven, be preserved through aU the sorrows and agonies of exile; but the New Testament writer - sees in them a peculiar aptness to utter, and therefore employs them to utter, a fiur grander thought Isaiah and Hosea described a victory over death that had no outcome of hope except as to the permanence of the , tribal fimuliet— generation after generation carrying the name and blood down the centunet ; but the Gospd seer 3* ^'W#^;. K*: ««.v ■'^ff;' and witneM oontemplatet individuals ixdusiwly^ and they belop^g to aU kindreds and tongues. He be- holds in vision and celebrates in lofty periods an over- throw which the human intellect is unable to grasp in its surpassing magnificence. Which conqueii is the resur- rection to immortahVi in Auroral spendors, of those whoie qames had been written among the sons of God. That idea fulfils the borrowed language— fills it full, £e * vesser chaiged to the brim. No victory over the grim~ foe could be greater. " Neither can they die any more : for they are equal unto the angels.'*'^Luke xji., 36;r Illustrations of the i«me freedom with ancient words are not uncommon in the New Testament Scrbtures. fVir instance >~ ^ - ''SL*t.i.?:r*.!'"T.V^*»" ^ innpowti wei« ikin- '^RTM folfiUwl thiit whieh WM ipokm by Jcnmy the pcophtt/ . ••yng, ^ J^'T " '■ »yaa wM^tlwf a vofet heart, iMMntiitioo, iad WMBteg^ aad tiMtWrniiaf, lUchel weeping for her childmi, aikl ivonld ttot be coafbrted, beeaofee they are not ** ,«; Fulfilled "here is evidentlj^mptoy^ in the seme . or vivKUy exempliftrinff Jeremiah^s woidi, or as describ- ing to perfection the lout-rending grief ocotfioned by tte fittodous deed when the Sa^ur of the woridwas ^^ . jT ^}^ *«^ of speech the pn^het represents Kacbel, dead long centuries before, die mother of ^ *™*^ "weeping over the bloodshed, and the caitying away of herdescendttts into the land of the oiemy,^ . NebuaaBwJan, after his seizure of Jeruw She wept w%Mii|is; and many teara minjM with h6^ ^ "ffffiS^ ^ Evangelist, the murder of the babes ttiM iNiitng such as was known at the time when Ra- cfael a|4)ean imon the ancient scene, summoned by the geu^ of the Fiophet to heighten and yiyify his picture of the national woe. Od« mark more to guard against any muapprehen- •lon: much that has been written in connection with the ▼efijf ftom die chapter already disouased, is applicable to the text unmedlately before us. Saints, and stints / \ t •\ »5«» »n c»rth and heaven has also been ac- complished by the same instrumentality. Now, an un- OTti^^reader is, we suspect, very liable to misunder* stand the sujbjects Q||lie reconciliation here spoken of. ™^yity^^K»xait%A wiU most probably, as a result of tt^tion^t comments,' read the announcement as if the rdernice wap to responsible intelUgences. But the €U«tion IS oneof M%r, and riot of c^ D^n hvmg m opposition to the Divine will llie adjective is m the neuter form, as the correct wordiM m^ version "all things," not persons, may b^ held sufficiently to indicate. This view, moreover, seems to establish a harmony between statement and liMst, for ^pugh sinful men on earth need morally to be reeonalei to God, what sinners are there in heaven requi^ng that gracious transformation? But "thinm" .m b^^rcgioM, we are told, have been reconcUed. t^ugh a may be hard for us GentUes to catch theex^ phcit unport ofykhc statement % is essentially Jewish. oeremMiial, and symbolic Being such, it would com^ MturaUy to the pen of him, "an Hebftw of the Hebrews," who wrote the Epistle, and would be easily uadeittood by such a mind with its natimua assodatioiis and strict re^jious training. , ;prT— ^w— ^ *^Rmn€U$ all things"— how, one may adjh can tbat be doB^ or what does the famgiuge mmifi R .^•,-: Cwdidly, I have not such a dear and weltdeined conccpHm of what die word " reconcile " hnports, when m ""a^^ .#■ J- '/' idriiied. At to encourage me to attempt its exact expret- ■ion. Fortunately there is at this moment no pressing dBl on U9 to search out the correipt import of tlie term lying before us, be what it majf. "f Hias been said here, tfie- language is Jewish and ritualistic ; figuratinre, may also be added to the description. Nor does it a^nd alone in its remarkable peculiarity. Many vvers^ in the Sacred Volume, as might have been expected, have a tide to be classified along with it. tot example >^' ■■... . _ . -H«b. ix., sa.— " It was UMidbn neoenuy that tht pattanit of thingi in the hMTVot **— th« Ubemacte fbr Jewish wor> ship. T. s. etc-^** Should be purified with theie, but the . heavenlythings thenudvei with better Mcrifioes than these '* Here heavenly and also earthly things are said to be purified, as in Colossians the same sort of things are said to be reconciled. "^ Going back to Ezekiel, we meet the same order of ^i speech as in the passage enga^;ing our thoughts. Chapter xlv., sa— «* So shaU ye mmteUt the house." That 19, the temple of the Lord, with the blood of the sin-oflering put upon the posts of the house. ' And going still fiurther back in Sacred History, kindred hmguage may be discovered ; as in % Leviticus xvL, 19.— **Aod he"— Aanm^** shall spiinUe of the blood upon it"— the altar-*' with his finfer seven . - - 'tunesL etCa ■■■'•■"■•■■■: "iit ift-^*' And w1^ flia% and the tahensdo of the aMipniiptioa, and the aRai', etc*' v' ,•,-"'■■■.■, Other forms like these may be observed in several placeSf^purgm^ with blood, hallowing the court with oiferingB, ddmsing and purging the altar with bhxxL It may be difficult for us, not of the race familiar duriitt long centuries with these dispnisational peculiari- ties flffqieech, to seise and appreciate the inner sense of tiie passage, and of analogous statements, quoted on this occasion, as to things in heaven and things in earth ; ■»* f7 • but that is noijoiioii why we ihoiUd load the verte, or •ny vene in the Bible, with a meaning favorable, lay. to a theory of Qomplete human recovery at last, when really •uch a meaniqi is not what it embodies. The sound of words is one thing, their real significance another. Those m haste are apt to be content with the first— the sound of words, for the second often *f»m flndff much searching and patient thought. i.— i. Tim., a, 3, 4.^««6od our SaTioni^wiU Iwf^ ttU men to be Mv«d, and to come aato tha knowledge of the — ^ This presents a blessed truth : God desires that all may be saved. But though He may wiU all men to be saved, they themselves may not be willing, jmd in conse- Suence thereof perish at last. Jesus saitflo his preju- iced hearers, " Ye wUl not come unto Me that ye might (-^rpMiVwi— 'may') have life." He rolls the blame of their non^sidyation on their cherished obstuiacy and their aversi^to to His plans, whom they qjaimed as their Father in toven? ^ 1 ^ •.•:..■ '<■ /.—Heb. U.. 9.— "thrt He bjr tiie gvue of God should Uuite deeth for et«7 flUD." Some have reasoned thus :— If he has tasted death, or died, for every man, then every man will ultimately be put in possession of all blessings resulting from hit mediation and sacrifice on the cross. In the Bible, I find warrant for no inference of the kind. He, and only he, that doeth righteousneto, in absence of the gospel, is accepted of God; he that obeys not— believes not— the »>spel about his Son, shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. Salvation is in no sense a neces- sary consequence to any child of man from the death of Christ: it oom^ to him^ under the ordination of grace, who honors the Infinite Lord of All by intelligently and thankfully receiving mercy through his well-beloved ^ Son. m^r^ *^ ***y 9^" The Low» *• . V . not wiUiiig -^ that ray ahollklperill^ bat that aUihottid come to Kptat- 1 % # .-^ ;-^%.,jl> f >*.. *■ •t > 9« This ii lulMttuitially the tame u the vene from He- brews, juit commented upon. It reveak an imprettive truth, that if men perish it is not because the Lord wills so. His will is the verv reverse. Burthere is no com- pulsion in the matter of salvation. His final desdnjr is left in each man's choice. Ruin need not overtake him, since " All things arc ready," on Heaven's part, for his inunediate salvation, however disobedient he may have been. Then, O sinful brother, when God is willing and waiting to be gracious. Why will you die ? V 1 nn He- >reMive rd wills loooni* ttinjr it ke mm, , for his y have ing and W yi.-<:oNCLUsioN '^^ Be the estimftte whaf it may df the foregoing pages, it will likely be conceded that the subject lus not been treated as one of inferior moment. A very serious question it was feh to l)e, and many an hour of thought and anxiety went to their production. Nothing less would have satisfied the demi|;6ds of conscience, when the ''Second chance" theory had to be examined in the '" light of Scripture. The remark may be permitted that the hollowness t>f ,the scheme or proiiiise of another opportunity became more unquestionable the longer it was surveyed ; the teaching in regard to Sodom's Sture based on Ezekiel's language, was felt to be emphatically a delusive dream. ' . While mditing the settions, ^Ikiwiiversalism, and at any ate lome of the supports w^hidi , it is imagined to r^tt.'^^eqiiently before my mind, and as I studied . Scripture atid reflected on many points, I became more thoroughly convinped that it is a fallacious hope,invitin^ * attention mainly by its pleasant hues. So strong is my . persuasion of this, that I admit there Is exact truth m words spoken not long since by a giflfed New England divine i—'ITie BiWe contains," he said, "on any fair interpretation, not a suggestion nor a word extending the ofler ot salvation beyond this world," or, as I under- stand the "^^^pression, beyond the present life of man. Of this I feel profoundly/ assured that if a "second chance," or universalism, was a scriptural doctrine it> would be very distinctly revealed, and dwelt upon at huge, a^iain and again. But instead of having such fo lay before us, the "second chance" and univenal theory appeals to a few doubtful texts, and in the instance of Sodom utterly misapprehends what is so simple, in its anxiety to exalt mercy, and to make the Saviour some- . what better than he appearss, especially in his compas^ tion for man. /.mt '■ * tI "'SfO, y r*?***^ *w :'*:v''- \ ■ 1 Ssu t.*!.. ■ too ..«. To those who think the hope ii counteiuuKxd by the Sacred Writinat, let me 8U«;geft this reaaonable «nd pertinent question : — If converting appliuices ikil here, and confessedly they do fail, may thej not prove eqilaUy fruitless hereafter ? May the Holy Spirit of God not be resisted yonder,— anywhere in the universe, as well as in this state? If the sorrows, and teaifs, and pann of Jesus are inadequate to .melt stony hearts here, is there any hope they will be efficacious in another scene? , Nothing new will be added to the all-glorious character ; nothing to the all-perfect sacrifice of Jesus. His silent, loving appeals are they not tunyied aside now, and what reason is there to conclude they would triumph were the moral or converting experiment repeated m different circumstances? The prospective trial, about which so much is written, brings with it no assuiance of succesii; but in the realm of fancy all thin^ are possible. That man, being a free agent, many resist to the last, ought never to be forgotten. The Itfnger he resists now, the proba- bilities, in fact, would be increased that he would con- tinue in opposition to God's wiU, and only make his existence, were it prolonged by infinke force, the more, degnuled, and perhatHSfhe more wretched. But while these thoi%hts cannot fairly be pronounced a waste of time, they nc^ occupy a considerate m^d but for a little, when it ii known that Scripture foretells no such experiment The accepted time is now ; the day of salvation now 1 At the present moment, men are sowing for ISorruption, or for life everlasting. Only ia i^cat error, great delusion, or great sin, it may be in aXk of tibem combined, can any one resist the ^fessing invitation of Jesus, in expectation of another call in some other sphere, or , circumstances. The promise of such a call may be regarded as a deep-laid scheme on the part of the enemy, going about in quest of whom he may devour. Inspii^ and misled by the deceitfuhiess of evil, as an eloquent jFrench preacher has said, " Wandering from the source of life, the sinner takes his slow funeral way towards eternal \ •I r - , 101 • <)eftth ;" and nothing will tend mbre infallibly to render his perdition a certainty than the notion that thouj|h he may disregard invitations to mercy nbw^ there will be abundant gracious opportiii^lties hereafter for retrieving the loss. ' And if it is considered ^ihat postponing the^ business of salvation is not merely detlining the blessing for the present, as one «|ay innocently delay accepting the gift of a friend ; but is positive opposition to the authority of God Almighty, who commands all men every- where to repent, perhaps a better and surely ah aUiming estimate of his conduct might rise before the conscience of him who continues ufisaved. It is immense ingrati- tude for what the Saviour has done. Would that every one resistingthc claims, and attraction of mercy, would yield nowr\ , ,_ a u Apd while it may be viewed as a device Of the Arch- enemy to Airthe^ procrastination, which is sure to end in ceaseless privatipn of life, it may a^ be vjewed as his malign contrivance to turn men iJiide from present duty, that is, earnestly preaching Christ for palvation now. They, the insensate hearei8> will have another chance, tends and mevitobly must tendi^hiunan nature being such as it is, to quench zeal, to encourage inaction, at least sadly to cripple efforts m heavenly evangelising work, be it on a large or limited scale. These may be denied by some to be natural results of laith in a second season of grace, but any one who has studied our com- mon weaknesses, and especially the disinclination in aver- age m^" even when rei^ly christianized for toUsome effort, knows that such a consequence is ahnost imsyit^ ably to be expected. . , ^" In this theory — another chance for all— some find a relief in meditating on th^ case of friends who died ua- fomven, so^ far as human judgnoent can determine. Per- haps a necessity for comfort in those painful .circum- stances helpedt to bring the new remedial provisipn into existence. And now, unless it be true, what i^ the com- fort worth ? It may have a pleasant \ook, but de<£eption lies under its alluringly-^ted rind. .** Their vine is the loa vine ,of Sodom, taad of tEe fields of Gomorrah ; mefr .tgrapes are grapes of gall ; their clusters are bitter." Ra&ier leave those who have passed away in the Lord's hand, knowing Uiat in each case he will do what is abso- lutely right, than devise comfort that in the end will be put aside as the product of a visionary brain. " To the law and to the testimony, if they sp«ak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them/' To those who, accept, and to those who propagate this, as it appears' to me, exceedingly perilous expecta- tion, I would address my closing words : — O friends, re- flect solcfmnly on the work you have undertaken t To a private mdividual the doctrine you advance may be faUl, leading him to expect hereafter a season when the ^infftHing crown may be seized with impatient liand8,---a season that will never break on him while the intermin- able cycles move round and forward. But to one who publicly, by pen or speech, advocates the misleading idea what shidl be said ? I will not beg such an one to take my word for it that he is in error: that con- viction can only reach his understanding by devout prayer and inquiry. I will not suffer one harsh feelii^S towards him to become a tenant in my breast; for^he is ^ubtl^s sincere and earnest in his testimony, having a desire to honor the blessed Master over all thereby. But I #ill say to him:--My brother in the love of truth, my q»rother in the love of Christ, think most seriously of the risk that may attend a proclamation of what you have espoused. Should it be a mistaken idea, and tAat events^hereafter inay, as in a blaze of lij^t, demonstrate ..H t9 be, for even now on what substantial basis it rests, iineily perplexes me and many others to discover,-should it turn out, Isay^ a thrice-lamentable mistake, how many may come short of eternal life under its misleading ' Section ; how many, the last records will declare, that might have loved Jesus and beheld the glories of his qrown and kingdom have had, in consequence of obey- ing the siren counsels, a portion assigned them in the blackn^ of darkness for ever 1 *.' 103 VII.— VERSES. 9noagh, O Christ, that open foe* should aim To lore men into deadly paths of sin ; To anench the virtue of thj^. saTing name^^ With speech of doubt, or jnockuag: impin grin« But when thejr come who cherish love for thee, With songs of hope, to thy sweet word unknown. For vovagers across this troubled jMa ; Shall eyes not weep, except when hearts are stone f FoigiT^ them. Lord, who bt^ng the specious tale. Not well^lisceming how their woras mulead ; And pity those who when life's bulwarks fail. Shall find the promise but a broken rc(^. .'.::V":.:/: ' ■/ *^^^v^'a-' .' ■* 'f'^'S>^m^'':^';r?f \ ATELY Man' (An "Clear, I, " With K kition (as to tsurrection), « yUe S/a»{farif ** The Ai written,"— written in a fr ".A pain( lice of the il rtFir^to y "Many ( Ipe of Immoi devoted to th rough way." "We gla hyincing/' — i "Ourrej ; maturity o kinued in th «"The blishers nam I order, posi America. That thi ce, the Auth( \pplement', \ ATELY PUBLISHED BY THE SAME AUTHOR, PRICE, 25 CENTS, •I n Man's Only Hope of Immortality. (An Exposition of Christ's Argui/hent against the Sadduoees. J 109 Pages. . . »-♦■« • — ' ■ "Clear, logical and convincing."— /frt/w^ow. . " With great force of reason and clearness of iitatement, this author proves his isition (as to the unponsciousrless of the death-state, anc^the absolute necessity of Itsurrection), whilst doing the fullest possible justice to his opponents' arguments."— '•The Author presents his arguments in a very clear and terse manner." '* It is |ll written,"— "powerful, yet not disdainful; decided, yet not insulting" . . ,. written in a frank and brotherly spirit "—The Chriitian Lamp. ".A pamphlet which should be in the hands of every lover of ' Life in Christ.' "— ]nce of the Word. [rt Firiit of Supplement to "Man's Only Hope of Immortality." S^ PAGES. PRICE, IS CENTS. "Many of our readers will remember with pleasure''Mr. MoncrieflTs * Man's Only peof Immortality.'" . . . "The greater portion of the [new] pamphlet . . . evoted to the last subject ['The Dying Thief], which Mr. M. deals with in his usual, ough way." — f'Me Afesseuger. "We gladly welcome this addenda to the larger pamphlet. It is both clear and lyincing/' — Bible Standard. " Our readers will remember the ' Exposition' which passed through these pages. It maturity of thought, clearness of expression, and admirable logic of that Essay, are tinued in this Supplement. . . . This fin^ pamphlet should be largely iread."— hib&tv. " "■ . ^ tST The above works, as well as the present one, may be obtained from the blishers named on the title page, either of whom, on receipt of the price, will forward order, post free, to any address in Canada, the Old Country, or the United States America. EXPLANAtlON. ^ That this new work, " Sodom ; or. Another Opportunity," might be printed at «x, the Author felt justified in postponing the publication of the Second Part of the \pplenient; which he begs again |o intimate, will be issued without any unnecessary lay. ..-^x»-< *»♦ T . if'* ♦'■ - '■11 N. .♦ -■ t **f?l96l -.v' ^■'* SV ' ■^'Cf^ '!» \ ij (Of 4lViV tm I ¥ // '' ' • ^