&> 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES

 
 . /'f//i/f,i-/t,-i/ />v /fenry Hvvren ^-In,
 
 SERIES 
 
 LECTURE SERMONS, 
 
 BELIVERED AT THE 
 
 SECOND UNIVERSALIST MEETING, 
 
 IN BOSTON. 
 
 BY HOSEA BALLOU, PASTOR. 
 
 ; Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal 
 and they are they which testify of me." JESVS CHRIST. 
 " Let us go on to perfection." ST. PAVL. 
 
 BOSTON : 
 
 AIVD PUBLISHED BY HEWRT BOW.\. 
 
 1818.
 
 District of Massachusetts, to wit : 
 
 District Clerk's Office. 
 
 BE it remembered, that on the thirty-first day of August, A. D. Eighteen 
 hundred and eighteen, in the forty-third year of the Independence of the 
 United States of America, HENRY BO WEN, of the said District hath 
 deposited in this Office the Title of a book the Right whereof he claims 
 as proprietor, in the words following, to wit .- 
 
 *' Ji Series of Lecture -Sermons, delivered at the Second Univtrsalist 
 Meeting, in Boston, by HOSEA BALLOU, Pastor. 
 
 " Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and 
 they, are they, which testify of me." JKSUS CHRIST. 
 " Let us go on to perfection." ST. PAUL. 
 
 In conformity to the Act of the Congress of the United States, entitled^ 
 " An Act for the Encouragement of Learning, by securing the Copies of 
 Maps, Charts, and Books, to the Authors and Proprietors of such Copies, 
 during the Times therein mentioned :" and also to an Act entitled, " An 
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 ing and Etching Historical, and other Prints." 
 
 JOHN W. DAVIS, Clerk of the District of 
 Massachusetts.
 
 BX 
 
 B2.U 
 
 SERMON. 
 
 1. TIMOTHY, i. 15. 
 
 rt T&ts is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation. Thai 
 Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners ; of whom I am 
 Chief." 
 
 THE subject on which the Apostle was speaking, 
 and which led him to make the important declara- 
 tion contained in our text, is worthy of special 
 notice. Under a deep sense of the goodness of 
 God, the grace which he had received in the Lord 
 Jesus, the distinguished and important station in 
 which he was placed by the great Captain of our 
 salvation, it was impossible for him not to take a 
 most humiliating retrospective view of his past life 
 in the Jews' religion, while an enemy to Jesus, a 
 blasphemer, and a persecutor of the church. All 
 these weighty considerations having their natural 
 operations on his mind, seemed to present, in full 
 view, before his mental vision, the great and glorious 
 errand on which the Lord Jesus was sent into our 
 world. If it could have been so, that the Apostle, 
 while engaged in the ministry of Jesus, could have 
 retained his former confidence in his own righteous- 
 ness, and had been of the opinion, that he was a 
 favorite of heaven, that he was enlightened into the 
 knowledge of the gospel, and even put into the 
 ministry because his former conduct had merited 
 these favors, it is evident that such views could 
 never have led him to make the statement found in 
 our text. Confirmed in such a persuasion, he would 
 have preached a Saviour for the righteous, yea, for 
 
 1273614. '
 
 4 
 
 ibe righteous only. He would have despised the 
 least intimation of the salvation of sinners. He 
 would, no doubt, have looked on such intimation, 
 as an heresy of a most dangerous tendency. But 
 the case with the great Apostle of the Gentiles was 
 very different. He had been led to see, that, not 
 as a righteous man, but as the chief of sinners he had 
 been visited with the abundance of that grace by 
 which he was so highly distinguished. He there- 
 fore looked on himself as sufficient proof of the tes- 
 timony which he bore. Such as the following were, 
 no doubt, the reflections of his mind ; I know for 
 certainty, that I was a mosj deadly enemy of this 
 lovely Jesus whom I now delight to serve ; I jknow, 
 that in my opposition to this religion, I was exceed- 
 ingly mad, and I caused many of the harmless, inof- 
 fensive disciples of Christ, both men and women, 
 to feel the weight of my displeasure. Such was 
 my blind zeal, such the enmity that rankled in my 
 heart against him and his doctrine, who was a friend 
 to sinners, that " I thought I ought to do many 
 things contrary to the name of Jesus ;" and I per- 
 secuted the saints " unto the death." But, O won- 
 derful to behold! I am now a most joyful subject 
 of that grace to which I was such an enemy. From 
 such reflections might very justly be drawn this con- 
 clusion ; " This is a faithful saying, and worthy of 
 flll acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the 
 world to save sinners ; of whom I am chief." 
 
 This testimony, that Christ Jesus came into the 
 world to save sinners is sufficiently corroborated by 
 other scriptures. When those, in the days of Jesus, 
 who thought they were righteous and despised oth- 
 ers, found fault with the Saviour, because he was a 
 friend to sinners, he plainly told them, that he "came 
 not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance;" 
 he furthermore represented the same divine truth in 
 that remarkably instructive saying ; " The whole 
 need not a physician, but they that are sick." 
 Moreover, he enlarged on this subject in several
 
 5 
 
 beautiful parables, th design of which was to re- 
 present the repentance of sinners. The blessed 
 Redeemer testified that " God sent not his son into 
 the world, to condemn the world, but that the world 
 through him might be saved." The declaration of 
 the Angel to Joseph, " Thou shalt call his name 
 Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins," 
 is in direct proof of what is testified in our text. 
 
 There are two good reasons why Jesus was not 
 sent to call the righteous. First. There were none. 
 " When God looked down from heaven upon the 
 children of men, to see if there were ay that did 
 understand, and seek God. They are all gone aside, 
 they are altogether become filthy ; there is none 
 that doeth good, no, not one." After the Apostle 
 had described, in his epistle to the Romans, the 
 abominable character of the wicked, he adds ; 
 " What then, are we better than they ? no, in no 
 wise : for we have before proved both ? Jews and 
 Gentiles, that they are all under sin ; as it is written, 
 There is none righteous, no, not one." Again to 
 the same point; " For all have sinned and carne 
 short of the glory of God." Secondly. If there 
 had been any righteous, they would not have needed 
 Jesus to call them to repentance. It is as improper 
 for a righteous man to repent, as it is for a well 
 man to take medicine. If the man in health should 
 lake medicine, it would be likely to render him in- 
 disposed ; and if a righteous man should repent, he 
 would render himself wieked. 
 
 If it be allowed, as has been proved, that Christ 
 Jesus came into the world to save sinners, and that 
 the gospel seeks, as subjects of its grace, sinners only, 
 then it should never be argued, that there are some 
 who cannot be saved because they are sinners. 
 This contains the absurdity, that, that which ren lers 
 salvation necessary is an objection to it. If we may 
 further notice the observation of the Saviour, it is 
 pertinent to remark on the impropriety of saying, 
 that because the patient is sick, therefore, the phy-
 
 sician will administer or prescribe nothing. Nor 
 would the extremity of a case render the objection 
 in the least plausible, unless the malady was of such 
 a nature as to bid defiance to the power of medi- 
 cine ; but on the contrary, the more indisposed 
 the patient might be, the greater would be the 
 urgency for relief. It is granted, that this calcula- 
 tion is not a little wide from that which is more 
 common, in which it is supposed, that the grace of 
 the Lord Jesus Christ may extend to the condition 
 of those who are sinners in a certain degree, be- 
 yond which point our spiritual physicians justify 
 themselves in saying the grace of God can never 
 extend. However, no small encouragement is de- 
 rived from the divine testimony, that " where sin 
 abounded, grace did much more abound : that as 
 sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace 
 reign through righteousness unto eternal life, by 
 Jesus Christ our Lord." These blessed words are 
 " like apples of gold in pictures of silver," Never 
 was cold water to the thirsty soul so grateful as 
 these words of eternal life. 
 
 The attention of the hearer is now most earnest- 
 ly invited to the consideration of the following 
 question. What did Christ Jesus come into the 
 world to save sinners from ? Your public servant 
 has heretofore laboured this question in this place ; 
 but being persuaded that the general sentiment 
 entertained among professed Christians on this ques- 
 tion is not according to scripture, it is felt to be a 
 duty to endeavour to throw as much light on the 
 subject as the present opportunity will permit. 
 
 No doubt many of the audience have already 
 made up their minds, that the question proposed 
 with so much solicitude is very easily answered, 
 and is too free from difficulty to render much at- 
 tention to the subject necessary. 
 
 Though it is greatly to be wished that this were 
 the case, it is presumed that a concise view of the 
 generally received opinion, on this subject, will at
 
 ence discover, that erroneous notions have beea 
 and still are entertained of it. 
 
 The general opinion, which we shall endeavour 
 to disprove, supposes that "Christ Jesus came into 
 the world to save sinners" from the demands of vin- 
 dictive justice, which recognised the whole sinful 
 family of man under the penalty of endless punish- 
 ment, frequently called eternal death. This opin- 
 ion of the penalty required by the divine law is ex- 
 pressed in the Catechism as follows ; " All mankind, 
 by reason of the fall, lost communion with G<xl, 
 fell under his wrath and curse, was made liable to 
 the miseries of this life, to death itself, and to the 
 pains of hell forever." From the everlasting pains 
 of hell, the same creed teaches us to believe, that 
 Jesus Christ was appointed to save a part, and but 
 a part of mankind. The way by which it is sup- 
 posed that the Saviour undertook to save sinners 
 from eternal punishment, was by suffering the pen- 
 alty in room of the sinner ; so that justice being 
 satisfied, pardon and everlasting salvation could be 
 granted to the guilty without any infringement of 
 strict justice. Dr. Watts expresses this scheme- of 
 salvation nearly as follows ; 
 
 " I was a rebel doom'd to fire, 
 
 Doom'd to endure eternal pains, 
 
 He on the wings of swift desire, 
 
 Assum'd my guilt and took my chains." 4,^ 
 
 Again ; 
 
 " He quench'd his Father's flaming sword, 
 In his own vital blood." 
 
 But it is needless to take up time to be very par- 
 ticular in showing what this common sentiment is, 
 for the most of us have been learning it from the 
 beginning of childhood. 
 
 Some of the objections to this scheme of salva- 
 tion are the following ; 1st. The total silence of 
 the divine testimony respecting this supposed pen-
 
 8 
 
 alty of the divine law. In the divine threatening 
 denounced in the garden there is nothing intimated 
 concerning this penalty of " eternal death," or the 
 " pains of hell forever." In the malediction on 
 Cain for the murder of his brother, there is nothing 
 on this hereafter eternal penalty. In all the law 
 given by Moses, containing a minute description 
 of most terrible curses, which in severity extend to 
 the utmost capacity of man to suffer in this life, 
 there is not a single suggestion relating to this pen- 
 alty of eternal punishment in a future state. 
 
 2. The supposition of such a penalty seems dis- 
 honourable to the divine Being, because it could 
 not have been enacted with any design to reclaim 
 the sinner ; arid must, therefore, be entirely repug- 
 nant to the character of God as a Father of his crea- 
 tures. A parent cannot, consistently with parental 
 love, subject a child to any penalty for faults com- 
 mitted, which in room of being directed to reform, 
 would inevitably prevent repentance and reforma- 
 tion forever. The word of God informs us, that 
 he u is love," and that he is " our Father in heaven.'* 
 Now if this be true, the opinion, that there ever 
 was any vindictive wrath in God, which demanded 
 the sinner's eternal banishment from our Father in 
 heaven must be \an egregious error, and one that 
 very mucji obscures and dishonours the ever bles- 
 sed Father of our spirits. 
 
 3. If mankind justly deserved this supposed pen- 
 alty, on account of sins committed against the di- 
 vine law, how could it possibly be just for one who 
 was not a sinner to suffer it ? To condemn the in- 
 nocent and clear the guilty is strictly forbidden in 
 the law. 
 
 4. The supposition, that this penalty did actual- 
 ly lie against the sinners which Jesus came to save, 
 and that he, in the sinner's room and stead, did act- 
 ually suffer this penalty, embraces the absurd sup- 
 position that Jesus suffered eternal misery in a few 
 days.
 
 3. If according to the common opinion, the 
 alty of the law subjected men " to all the miseries 
 of this life, to death itself, and to the pains of heH 
 forever," if Jesus suffered the penalty for the elect 
 why are the elect any more liable now in this state 
 to the miseries of this life and to death itself, than 
 to the pains of hell forever ? Most surely, if Jesus 
 bore the whole penalty of the law in room and stead 
 of the sinner, then it certainly cannot be just for 
 the sinner to bear one part of this penalty any more 
 than another. But there are none who do not par* 
 take of the miseries of this life in some degree ; 
 and there are none who are exempt from death. 
 
 Having shown that the common opinion respect-* 
 ing salvation is erroneous, having no scripture au- 
 thority for its support and being contrary to all re- 
 vealed justice, we may proceed to notice some di- 
 rect evidence from scripture against it. But here 
 we may be concise. In the law given by Moses, 
 there is a continued thread of plain testimony, that 
 as a nation the house of Israel would be punished 
 accordingly as they should depart from the stat- 
 utes and judgments which the Lord commanded 
 them : and accordingly we are informed in the sa- 
 ered pages, that God punished them from time ta 
 time as their perverse and wicked conduct deserv- 
 ed. So likewise are we assured, that the divine 
 Being punished other nations for their wickedness : 
 such as Babylon, Nineveh, Tyre, Egypt &c. In 
 relation to the crimes of individuals we well know 
 that God instituted penalties according to the na- 
 ture of offences, and gave special directions con- 
 cerning their being duly inflicted. This is not only 
 true in respect to the laws of Israel, but it is like- 
 wise true in respect to all nations. He that holds 
 the sword is the minister of God. Now if all this, 
 which is as plain as any thing in the scriptures, be 
 granted, what room is there for the supposition that 
 the penalty due to transgression is punishment in 
 the future eternal world ? Or what reason hare we 
 B
 
 10 
 
 to believe that Jesus suffered in room and stead of 
 transgressors ? This same Jesus Christ of whom it 
 is believed, that he suffered the penalty of our sins 
 in our room, that we might not suffer it, plainly 
 states, that he will " reward every man according 
 to his works." It seems to be evident, from the 
 foregoing considerations, that no such penalty of 
 endless misery was ever connected witli the divine 
 law of heaven ; and equally evident, that Jesus did 
 not come into the world to save sinners from any 
 su:h penalty. No, nor did he come into the world 
 to save the sinner from the punishment of his sin- 3 . 
 
 We have now come to the positive of our ques- 
 tion, and we will proceed to show from the scrip- 
 tures, what " Jesus Christ came into the world to 
 save sinners" from. 
 
 First, and primarily, he came to save sinners 
 Horn their sins. ]f the hearer be disposed to ask 
 what the difference is between saving a sinnerfrofn 
 his sins, and saving him from the punishment which 
 his sins deserve, the following reply will show. To 
 save a criminal from the punishment which the law 
 holds against him would be a violation of the law, 
 but to save him from his sin, would render him 
 righteous. To save a disobedient child from the 
 chastisement due for his offence, would violate the 
 wholesome law of the parent, and would have an 
 unfavourable effect on the disobedient when refor- 
 mation is the object of the chastisement. But to 
 gave the child from disobedience is the very thing 
 the parental law requires and is all the salvation 
 which it needs. Thus, as has been before noticed, 
 the Angel said to Joseph; "Thou shalt call his 
 name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their 
 sins." 
 
 Secondly, we may notice some particulars, which, 
 however, are all comprehended in saving the sinner 
 from his sins. Jesus Christ came into the world to 
 save sinners from a state of ignorance which they 
 were actually in, which ignorance was and ever fa 
 the cause of sin.
 
 11 
 
 Of the forerunner of Jesus it was said ; And 
 thou, child, shall be called the prophet of the high- 
 est : for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord 
 to prepare his ways ; to give knowledge of salva- 
 tion unto his people, by the remission of their sins, 
 through the tender mercy of our God ; whereby 
 the day-spring from on high hath visited us, to give 
 light to them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow 
 of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace." 
 Jesus said to the Jews ; (t If ye continue in my 
 word, then are ye my disciples in deed ; and ye 
 shall know the truth and the truth shall make you 
 free." In his prayer to the Father, Jesus says ; 
 " This is life eternal, that they might know thee, 
 the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou 
 hast sent." It is most plainly seen by the light of 
 these passages, that the Saviour's grace was design- 
 ed to deliver sinners from mental darkness, and to 
 give them the .true knowledge of God's divine and 
 grac ous character. This is a salvation which the 
 ignorance of mankind rendered necessary. St. 
 Paul, speaking on this subject to the Collossians 
 says ; " Who hath delivered us from the power of 
 darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom 
 of his dear Son." Thte power of darkness is the 
 deception to which ignorance subjects us, from 
 which the true knowledge of divine things delivers 
 the mind. God says by the prophet Jeremiah ; 
 " And they shall teach no more every man his 
 neighbor, saying, know the Lord : for they shall 
 all know me, from the least of them to the greatest 
 of them, saith the Lord : for I will forgive their in- 
 iquity, and I will , remember the sin, no more !" 
 The words of St. Peter are pertinent to this sub- 
 ject : " Grace and peace be multiplied unto you 
 through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our 
 Lord." And we may add, that the mission of the 
 Apostles, to " preach the gospel to every crea- 
 ture and to teach all nations," implies the necessi- 
 ty ot bringing all men to the knowledge of the truth
 
 te 
 
 The same salvation which has already been sig- 
 nified by a salvation from sin and from darknes* 
 or ignorance, may be denominated a deliverance 
 from unreconciliation to God. It is easily seen, 
 that sin and unreconciliation to God are the same. 
 This is the state which the sinner is in, and from 
 this condition the gospel is designed to deliver or 
 save him. Accordingly St. Paul says ; " And all 
 things are of God who hath reconciled us to himself 
 l>y Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry 
 oJf reconciliation ; to wit ; that God was in Christ, 
 reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing 
 their trespasses unto them ; and hath committed 
 unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we 
 are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did be- 
 seech you by us ; we pray you in Christ's stead, 
 l?e ye reconciled to God ! We see by this passage 
 as well as by the general testimony of scripture, that 
 firod did not impute the trespasses of sinners to them, 
 in any way to prevent the manifestation of his 
 grace in their reconciliation to himself. This re- 
 conciliation of the world to God is the salvation of 
 the world, and agrees with the testimony of the be- 
 loved disciple who said, " We have seen and do 
 testify, that the Father sent the son to be the Sa- 
 viour of the world." And to the same did " a 
 bright and a shining light" bear record, saying ; 
 " Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the 
 sin of the world." 
 
 This condition of sinners, from which Christ 
 Jesus came into the world to save them, is repre- 
 sented to be death. Jesus says ; " The dead shall 
 hear the voice of the son of God, and they that hear 
 shall live." St. Paul says to the Ephesians ; " And 
 you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses 
 and sins." Again ; " But God, who is rich in mer- 
 cy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even 
 when we were dead in sins, hath quickened ustoge^ 
 tlier with Christ." Was there ever a representa- 
 tion mqre erroneous, than that which has for
 
 13 
 
 led men to believe that there was a divine wrath 
 in God, from which Jesus came to save sinners ? 
 In the passage just recited it is declared, that on 
 account of the great love which God had to sin- 
 ners, who were dead in sin, he quickened them to* 
 gether with Christ. 
 
 Our Redeemer represents the salvation of sin- 
 ners by seeking and saving something lost, " The 
 Son of man came to seek and to save that which 
 was lost." Time would fail us to mention all the 
 ways by which sacred truth has represented the na- 
 ture of sinner's salvation by Jesus Christ. 
 
 The hearer is now called on to observe, that in 
 all the representations quoted from scripture, there 
 is no intimation of saving sinners from any punish- 
 ment to which they were exposed, nor from any 
 -condition that they were not already in. 
 
 Being in possession of what the foregoing argu- 
 ments seem plainly to prove, the mind of the hearer 
 will devote its attention now to the consideration 
 of the question, why " Christ Jesus came into the 
 world to save sinners ?" If the object of the Saviour's 
 mission was to suffer the penalty of eternal punish- 
 ment, which all our Doctors agree cannot be suf- 
 fered in this world, why did he come here ? Why 
 should he come -into a world where this supposed 
 penalty never was designed to be executed ? If 
 Jesus undertook and did actually suffer the pen- 
 alty of eternal damnation in a future world, in 
 room and^tead of sinners, surely there was no need 
 of his coming into this mortal state to do it. But 
 he " came into the world to save sinners." And the 
 reason why he came into this world to save sinners, 
 was because the sinners which he came to save were 
 in this world. To make use of the parable of the 
 Saviour, we may remark, that the physician goes 
 to the place where the sick are, that he may ad-r 
 minister what may relieve the patient from sickness, 
 The goodly Samaritan went to the place where the 
 bruised Jew lay naked and half dead, an4 there he
 
 u 
 
 poured into his wounds the mollifying oil and the 
 life restoring wine. The shepherd went after the 
 lost sheep until he found it, and from the place 
 where it had wandered he bore it on his shoulder 
 to the fold, rejoicing. 
 
 The common doctrine, which teaches us, that 
 Christ Jesus came into this world to save us in ano- 
 ther world is contrary to all the representations 
 which are found in the scriptures. If in a future 
 world men are sick, then in a future world men 
 will need a physician ; and if in a future world 
 men are lost, then in a future world they will need 
 to be sought and found ; but if " the inhabitant 
 shall say I am not sick," no physician will be want- 
 ed. If sin shall exist in a future state of existence, 
 no doubt pardoning mercy will flow as freely there 
 as it does here. God will be the same, Christ will 
 be the same, and love divine will be the same. But 
 none of our creeds teach us that man will sin in a 
 future world, and surely if they do not they will not 
 need to be saved from sin, for they will have none. 
 
 We are not informed in the scriptures, that 
 Christ Jesus came into the world to procure for 
 man a state of life and immortality ; but we are in- 
 formed, that he " hath brought life and immortali- 
 ty to light through the gospel. This divine inheri- 
 tance was given us in Christ Jesus before the world 
 began, but was " made manifest by the appearing 
 of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath 
 abolished death," 
 
 The attentive hearer is in the next place invited 
 to spend a few reflections on the fullness of Christ 
 Jesus to accomplish the work of saving sinners. 
 Remember, " The Father sent the Son to be the 
 Saviour of the world." Permit your humble ser- 
 vant to ask you, if you had any important con- 
 cerns in a foreign country, which required the at- 
 tention of one deeply skilled in such matters, would 
 you not send one on whom you could depend ? 
 And would you not furnish him with all the neces*
 
 15 
 
 sary powers, to settle your concerns In a just and 
 equitable manner ? You answer in the affirmative. 
 
 Then it seems, that your Christian candor must 
 lead you to allow, that ample power is given to Christ 
 Jesus to save the chief of sinners. If God himself, 
 who is acknowledged to be omnipotent, had power 
 sufficient for this gracious work, he surely would not 
 send his Son with too little. " All power in heaven 
 and in earth is therefore committed to the Son." 
 " In him dwells the fullness of the Godhead bodily ," 
 Jesus " made unto us, wisdom, righteousness, sane- 
 tification and redemption." Are sinners ignorant 
 of God ? Jesus came with the true knowledge of 
 the Father, whom to know is life eternal. Are 
 sinners sick with spiritual leprosy ? Jesus is that 
 phisician whose very word can heal. Are sinners 
 lost and bewildered in the wilderness of sin ? Jesus 
 is " the way, the truth and the life !" Are sinners 
 dead in trespasses and sins, the life giving power 
 of the gospel quickens them together with Christ. 
 Here is a fountain opened for the cleansing of 
 the unclean, here flow medical springs, teaming 
 with health for all who are sick. Here grows the 
 tree of life, whose fruit is for food, and whose 
 leaves are for the healing of the nations. In a word, 
 there is no infirmity in the sinner for which there is 
 not a cure in Christ Jesus. ' . 
 
 To conclude ; My Christian friends, is not our 
 duty, as disciples of Jesus, made plain by the doc- 
 trine of our text? "It is enough for the disciple to 
 be as hie master." The blessed Redeemer labored 
 incessantly in the great work of saving sinners 
 from their sins. He exercised his miraculous pow- 
 ers to convince men of the divinity of his mission, 
 he taught the people the unchangeable love of God 
 to sinners, he loved sinners himself, and his very 
 breath seemed to be forgiveness. We are called 
 on to exercise all our abilities in this blessed cause 
 of salvation. That we may do this to the utmost.
 
 we must strive to increase in the knowledge, and 
 grow in the grace of divine truth, that we may be 
 enabled to communicate it to others. Jesus said 
 to his disciples ; " Let your light so shine before, 
 men, that they beholding your good works, may 
 glorify your Father who is in heaven." If the 
 vain imagination were true, that the work of saving 
 sinners was accomplished by Jesus* suffering some 
 penalty of the divine law, of which we have no 
 account in the oracles of truth, of course further 
 labour would not be needed. But if the salvation 
 of sinners, consists in delivering them from their ig- 
 norance of God, from the power of darkness, from 
 the death of sin, and from alienation to a blessed re- 
 conciliation to God, then all that we can do, by the 
 help of Grace, to enlighten our fellow men, to re-t 
 commend the character of God to sinners, to magni- 
 fy the beauties and exccellencies of a life of piety 
 and virtue is of service in the cause of Christ. But 
 let us remember, first of all, that example is more 
 than precept ; and that this " Grace of God, which 
 bringeth salvation to all men, hath appeared; 
 teaching us, that, denying ungodliness and worldly 
 Justs, we should live soberly, righteously, and god- 
 ly, in this present world ; looking for that blessed 
 hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God 
 and our Saviour Jesus Christ ; who gave himself 
 for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, 
 and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealou* 
 of good works."
 
 No. 2. 
 
 LECTURE SERMON, 
 
 DELIVERED AT THE 
 
 SECOND UNIVERSALIST MEETING, IN BOSTON. 
 AUGUST 16, 1818. 
 
 BY HOSEA BALLOU, PASTOR. 
 
 Published Semi-Monthly, by Henry Bowen, Devonshire-street. 
 
 MATTHEW, v. 48. 
 
 " Be ye, therefore, perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is 
 
 perfect." 
 
 EVERY scheme, whether human or divine, must, 
 in order to be rationally planned, have some prin- 
 ciple as its foundation. This foundation must, in 
 all respects, be sufficiently extensive and firm to 
 support the superstructure to be raised on it. 
 
 The gospel or doctrine of Jesus Christ, being a 
 scheme planned by infinite wisdom, is established on 
 a principle which is in all respects, both in regard 
 to its extent and stability, amply sufficient to sup- 
 port the divinely glorious edifice designed to rest 
 upon it. These remarks are evidently analogous 
 to the subject of our text, and correspond with the 
 manner in which it was presented to those who 
 listened to the gracious words of the divine teach- 
 er. In his sermon on the mount, Jesus noticed ma- 
 ny particulars, which had formerly been taught to 
 the people and religiously believed by them, which 
 were not consistent with the heavenly wisdom and 
 grace of the gospel. He therefore, endeavored to 
 present to the people the distinction between those
 
 18 
 
 traditions which had long been established, and that 
 which was harmonious with that special " grace and 
 truth," which came by him. 
 
 The particular subject under consideration is in- 
 troduced as follows ; " Ye have heard that it hath 
 been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate 
 thine enemy ; But I say unto you, love your ene- 
 mies, bless them that curse you, do good to them 
 that hate you, and pray for them which dispiteful- 
 ly use you, and persecute you ; that ye may he the 
 children of your Father which is in heaven ; for he 
 maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good 
 and sendeth rain on the just and unjust." What 
 the doctrine of Jesus requires of his disciples is 
 here plainly laid down ; and the reason why love 
 and good offices to enemies were enjoined is shown 
 in the manifest goodness of God to the evil and 
 good, to the just and to the unjust. The divine 
 teacher then proceeds to illustrate the propriety 
 and fitness of his doctrine as follows ; " For if ye 
 love them that love you, what reward have ye ? 
 do riot even the publicans the same ? And if ye sa- 
 lute your brethren only, what do ye more than 
 others ? do not even the publicans so ?" 
 
 Having thus evidently shown, that corning short 
 of that love and goodness to enemies which his 
 doctrine requires, was to stand on the same ground 
 and to act on the same principle which characterise 
 the most illiberal and irreligious worlding, he en- 
 joins as expressed in our text ; " Be ye, therefore, 
 perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is 
 perfect." Our text, thus introduced, seems to in- 
 vite the attention of the hearer to the considera- 
 tion of the following proposition, as a distinct sub- 
 ject for investigation ; (viz.) The gospel of Jesus 
 Christ is a dispensation of grace which naturally 
 and necessarily flows from the nature of God, and 
 obtains its peculiar character from the love of 
 God to sinners.
 
 19 
 
 What we mean when we say, the gospel of Jesus 
 Christ flows naturally from God is, that all the 
 causes which produce it, or cause it to flow forth to 
 man, are in the nature of the divine Being. He is 
 self-moved in all he does, and of course he is self- 
 moved in the dispensation of his grace. Even the 
 Mediator himself, who is stiled " the Captain of 
 our salvation," had no occasion to influence the 
 Father of our spirits to be merciful to sinners, for 
 it is the unchangeable nature of God to be gracious. 
 The divine Being is wrongly represented, when 
 it is said, as it often has been, that Christ has, by his 
 life, death and resurrection opened a way for God 
 to be merciful to sinners ; because this evidently 
 supposes, that he was not merciful to sinners before 
 this door was opened. 
 
 The testimony of Jesus evidently corrects this 
 error, and abolishes at once all vain imagina- 
 tions which have been built upon it. Hear his 
 words ; " For God so loved the world, that he gave 
 his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in 
 him should not perish, but have everlasting life.'* 
 It is surely a very great error to suppose that the 
 gift which the Father's love bestowed influenced 
 him to bestow it. Such a mistake, we may pre- 
 sume, never was made on any other subject or in 
 any other case. Were the unhappy children of 
 wealthy parents, whose prodigality had reduced 
 them to wretchedness and want, to receive from 
 them a gift of immense value, would they be like- 
 ly to conclude, that the worth of this invaluable 
 treasure was the cause of their parent's love and 
 pity ? No ; but however highly they might justly 
 prize the favor sent, they would consider it as the 
 evidence, not the cause of parental affection. This 
 is evidently the sense of the Apostle who says ; 
 " But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, 
 while we were vet sinners Christ died for us."
 
 Here notice, ihe death of Christ was not the cause, 
 but the commendation of the love of God toward 
 us, while we were yet sinners. Again ; " Herein is 
 love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, 
 and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our 
 sins." This propitiation for our sins, so far from 
 opening a door for God to be gracious, was an ef- 
 fect and a manifestation of the divine favor. 
 
 These arguments are designed to illustrate the 
 proposition, that the grace of the gospel flows 
 naturally from God to his enemies. 
 
 It is believed that no subject in divinity is of 
 greater moment than the one under consideration. 
 For if it be not the nature of God to be gracious, 
 and to love his creatures, and to do them good, 
 even though they are enemies to him by wicked 
 works ; but if he require vindictive retaliation on 
 his enemies ; and cannot, consitently with his true 
 character, show any favor to transgressors, without 
 being first reconciled and influenced so to do, it 
 is to that which produces this reconciliation and 
 effects this influence, that we are to look for mer- 
 cy, and not to God. Moreover this doctrine, could 
 it be maintained, would overthrow the doctrine of 
 our text. " Be ye, therefore, perfect, even as 
 your Father which is in heaven is perfect," by lov- 
 ing your enemies, by blessing them that curse you, 
 by doing good to them that hate you, and by pray- 
 ing for them that despitefuily use you and perse- 
 cute you. If it be allowed, that our Father in 
 heaven so imputed men's trespasses to them as to 
 render it impossible for him to extend mercy to 
 any until his vindictive wrath was appeased, then 
 may we reply to the requirements of the Saviour 
 in our text, and say ; First let us have satisfactory 
 vengeance on our enemies, then we will love them 
 and do them good. Suppose our Redeemer had 
 taught the people, as our professed Christians be-
 
 21 
 
 lieve, that he had undertaken to appease his Fa- 
 ther's wrath towards man, by suffering the penal 
 tortures which vindictive justice had laid on the 
 sinner ; and that by this mean he should procure 
 the favour of God for them, would he not thereby 
 have furnished them with a reply to his injunctions 
 expressed in our text and context ? Might they not 
 have said ; When we can obtain as ample vengeance 
 on our enemies, as you have to suffer in order to 
 render it proper for God to love his enemies, then 
 we will love ours ? But no such doctrine can be 
 found in the recorded testimony of Jesus. What- 
 ever the blessed Redeemer is to us, he is made such 
 by the Father of our spirits. Speaking to the 
 Corinthians of Christ Jesus, the Apostle says ; 
 " Who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteous- 
 ness, sanctification, and redemption." To the 
 same church, speaking of the ministry of reconcil- 
 iation, the same author says ; " God was in Christ, 
 reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing 
 their trespasses unto them." But the error which 
 we disprove, supposes that God did impute our 
 trespasses to us, and that Christ reconciled him. 
 
 There is a passage the common use of which is 
 against our present argument, which we will here 
 notice. " We have an advocate with the Father." 
 The common opinion supposes Jesus Christ acts 
 the part of an advocate, by pleading our cause be- 
 fore God, to incline him to show mercy. This is 
 totally erroneous. The advocacy of Jesus is ex- 
 pressed thus ; " Now then, we are ambassadors for 
 Christ, as though God did beseech you by us ; we 
 pray you in Christ's stead be ye reconciled to 
 God." Thus we have an advocate with the Father 
 who pleads with us to be reconciled to God ; not 
 with God to be reconciled to us, for " God was in 
 Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not im- 
 puting unto them their trespasses."
 
 22 
 
 That the character which we attribute, by these 
 arguments, to the divine Being, is really what is 
 due to him, may be made to appear by refering to 
 his providence. This we are specially authorised 
 to do, by the example which the Saviour has fur- 
 nished in our context, and which was evidently de- 
 signed by hi HI to inculcate what these arguments 
 are designed to prove. He directed the attention of 
 the people to two sensible objects, which the di- 
 vine providence continually holds out to our view ; 
 the sun and the rain. " For he maketh his sun to 
 rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on 
 the just and on the unjust." By these ocular proofs 
 the divine teacher inculcated the impartial love and 
 goodness of our Father in heaven toward all men 
 of every description of character. 
 
 It may be necessary to notice, in this place, what 
 an objector might be disposed to urge against this 
 impartial goodness of the divine Being toward the 
 evil and the good, the just and the unjust. 
 
 Objection ; If God be equally as good to the evil 
 as he is to the good, to the unjust as to the just ; 
 and if he love his enemies as well as he does his 
 friends, then there is no difference between the re- 
 ward of righteousness and unrighteousness. To 
 this objection the candid hearer will accept the 
 following reply. Keeping in view the character 
 of God, as set forth in the passage under considera- 
 tion, as our Father in heaven, we say that a father 
 may love his obedient and disobedient children 
 impartially, and yet, in relation to their conduct, 
 may treat them as differently as they conduct one 
 from another. But however different the treat- 
 ment may be, it must, in every case, proceed from 
 the same principle of impartial love in the parent. 
 To illustrate this we may observe, that the parent 
 who is visited with sickness among his children will 
 naturally love those who are sick as well as he does
 
 23 
 
 those who are in health ; and yet, from this equal 
 undimished love, he will treat them as differently 
 as will exactly correspond with their different de- 
 grees of health. Now, you who are parents are 
 called on to determine whether it be right, and con- 
 sistent with your character as parents, to love your 
 children and to do good to them when they are 
 disobedient ? If you decide in the affirmative, as 
 you most surely will, then you justify the argu- 
 ment, against which the objection we have noticed 
 was stated. 
 
 If the objector should be disposed to contend, 
 that we extend our argument too far by endeavor- 
 ing to prove that the sinner is equally the object 
 of divine love as the righteous, we rejoin by re- 
 fering the objector to the full extent of the evi- 
 dence already adduced, and to the consideration of 
 the following remarks. 
 
 First ; If we carefully examine the conduct of 
 the divine Being toward Adam before and after 
 transgression, shall we find any thing to justify the 
 belief, that Adam was not equally the object of 
 divine favor after he sinned as he was before ? 
 Whose voice did guilty Adam hear in the cool of 
 the day, expressive of parental solicitude, crying 
 Adam, Adam, where art thou ? It was the voice 
 of the Lord God. In that memorable hour of retri- 
 bution was there the least sign that God's love to- 
 wards his offspring had suffered any diminution ? 
 Does not the promise, that the seed of the woman, 
 should bruise the serpent's head, bear date from 
 this eventful period ? Surely this was a time of love. 
 
 Secondly ; Was it when the world was righteous, 
 or when it was " in wickedness" that God so lov- 
 ed it, as to " give his only begotten Son, that who- 
 soever believeth on him might not perish, but have 
 everlasting life ?" Was Saul less the object of the 
 divine favor before- his conversion than afterward ?
 
 24 
 
 Were we less beloved by him, " who loved us and 
 washed us from our sins in his own blood, before 
 he washed us, than afterward ? The hearer will ea- 
 sily perceive that these queries all tend to show, 
 that no change in man can effect any change in 
 God. And 
 
 Thirdly ; The acknowledged unchangeabili- 
 ty of the divine Being furnishes sufficient proof, 
 that his love to his creatures can never increase 
 nor decrease. Entertaining a hope, that what has 
 been offered, designed to explain our meaning re- 
 specting the dispensation of divine grace flowing 
 naturally from God, may be acceptable to the can- 
 did hearer, we will say a little on what we mean by 
 saying, that this dispensation of grace flows neces- 
 sarily from the nature of God ; and offer some ar- 
 gument in its support. , 
 
 What we mean by this part of our general pro- 
 position is, that if we take a careful view of the na- 
 ture of the divine atributes, as they are revealed 
 in creation, providence, and grace, even as short 
 sighted as we are, we become convinced that all the 
 ways of God, all his works, all his mercies, and all 
 his judgments are unalterably established in truth 
 and rightousness which never vary. It is not con- 
 sistent with the atributes of God, to suppose, that 
 be can design to do any thing, and afteward alter 
 his determination. Nor is it any more consistant 
 with the divine atributes to suppose that any 
 of the designs of God, which in different ages of 
 the world have been revealed to man, were less an- 
 cient than the design of creation ; which carries us 
 as far back as is of use to our researches. When 
 the Almighty was pleased to reveal himself to 
 Abraham, and call him from his people, and pro- 
 mise him the land of Canaan, and to multiply 
 him, and to bless him, and to bless all the families 
 of the earth in his seed, however new and unexpect-
 
 ed this might be to this " friend of God," it could be 
 no new thing with the God of Abraham. And so 
 we may say of any other particular manifestation 
 of the wisdom of God. " Known unto God are all 
 his works from the foundation of the world," and 
 he declares " the end from the beginning." It is 
 furthermore said, that he " cannot lie ;" and that 
 ts he cannot deny himself." 
 
 Having presented the hearer, in our imperfect 
 manner, with this short account of the foundation 
 of the doctrine of Jesus, the attention of the audi- 
 ence may, for a few moments, be devoted to the 
 consideration of the following inferences, drawn 
 from premises already proved. 
 
 1. As we have seen, that the grace by which man 
 obtains salvation and eternal life, flows naturally 
 a*nd necessarily from the nature of God,and is known 
 by its peculiar characteristic of love to sinners, we 
 infer that this salvation will eventually be as ex- 
 tensive as the love of God, from which it proceeds. 
 If the love of the divine Being insures salvation to 
 any of the sinful race of Adam, it equally favors 
 the salvation of all men, as all are equally the ob- 
 jects of divine love. This inference relies on the 
 fact, that the same cause will always produce the 
 same effects. A parent has a number of children 
 all needy and dependent on him, he loves them all 
 equally, it is granted that this love will certainly 
 favor and support some of these dependent off- 
 spring; the conclusion is, that it will grant the same 
 favor and support to the whole. Should the speaker, 
 this evening, inform you, that there is a parent of 
 great respectability in this town, who has a numer- 
 ous family of sons and daughters, that he is vastly 
 rich, has all at his command that heart can wish, 
 that he most tenderly and affectionately loves his 
 children, and loves them impartially, that this par- 
 ent has favoured your servant with a knowledge of 
 4
 
 26 
 
 his domestic economy and government, that lie of- 
 ten invites him to partake of his bountiful board, 
 and of the refreshments which his generous favor 
 constantly provides, would you not reply that all 
 this is very probable, and that you know of many 
 such families in the circle of your acquaintance ? 
 But should the account proceed and state, that of 
 this numerous family of children only a fourth part 
 were ever indulged with the society of their par- 
 ent, that the other three fourths were the most 
 wretched beings ever seen, that they were as near- 
 ly starved the whole of the time as they could be 
 and live, that they were excluded the society of the 
 favorites, and that their extreme misery was for the 
 honor and glory of the merciful parent, and to en- 
 hance the unalloyed happiness of the others, could 
 you freely give your candid assent to the proba- 
 bility, the consistency and propriety of this ac- 
 count? Would you not say, that if one part of the 
 story be true, the other must be false ? You cer- 
 tainly would contend, that if the parent were im- 
 partial in his love to his children, he never would 
 make the distinction reported ; you would revolt 
 with horror at the declaration, that the extreme 
 misery of the greatest part of the family was neces- 
 sary for the honor of the parent, and to enhance the 
 felicity of the happy few. Such doctrine as this, 
 you would say, is totally without foundation, is a 
 superstructure having nothing for its support, and 
 is proof positive that the mind of the reporter i 
 deranged or corrupted. Why then will you con- 
 tradict your own candid reasoning, and contend 
 that our Father in heaven loves his offspring im- 
 partially, even his enemies, that his divine fullness 
 is infinitely extensive, but that by some special 
 grace which has been made known to you, you are 
 authorised to believe and say, that but a small part 
 of the human family will ever be made partakers.
 
 27 
 
 f the rich bounties of salvation in Christ, and that 
 far the most numerous part of Adam's posterity- 
 are doomed to unspeakable tortures eternally for 
 the glory of God and to promote the happiness of 
 a few ? It is charitably believed that your candor 
 will lead to an impartial decision of this momentous 
 subject, and will incline you to admit what is so 
 fully and clearly proved by the unerring testimo- 
 ny of truth. 
 
 2. We infer from our general subject, that the 
 common doctrine which teaches that our Father 
 who is in heaven, loves those who love him, but has 
 treasured up everlasting vengeance against his ene- 
 mies, is subversive of the gospel and religion of 
 Jesus, which he preached on the glorious founda- 
 tion of the divine love to sinners ; and equally sub- 
 versive of our duty as disciples of Christ. The 
 common doctrine, against which this inference is 
 drawn, seems to adhere to the old tradition, "Thou 
 shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy," 
 against which our Saviour labored in the place 
 where our text is found. " If ye love them that 
 love you, what reward have ye ? do not even the 
 publicans the same ? And if ye salute your brethren 
 only, what do ye more than others ? do not even 
 the publicans so ?" Those who pay no attention to 
 religion, whose thoughts are wholly engrossed by 
 the things of a temporal concern, who lay up their 
 treasures upon the earth, love those who love them, 
 do good to those who do good to them, and cour- 
 teously salute their brethren. Now if God love 
 none but such as love him, if he be kind to none 
 but such as are friendly to him, what does he more 
 than publicans ? What reward hath he ? Most 
 surely Jesus never would have inculcated the duty 
 of loving our enemies on the principle that God 
 hated hi?. But he seemed to come directly to the 
 understanding of the people through the medium
 
 28 
 
 of the rising sun and falling rain, and presented 
 them with the real character of our heavenly Fa- 
 ther as a perfect pattern for our imitation. Sup- 
 pose some of the disciples of Jesus, on this oc- 
 casion,had asked him whether he meant to be under- 
 stood, that our Father in heaven did really love the 
 evil and the good, the just and the unjust, as im- 
 partially as he granted them the light of the sun 
 and the rain from heaven ? What answer may we 
 believe the divine teacher would have returned ? 
 Would he have said, I solemnly charge you not to 
 be deceived by these temporal things ? You see that 
 the sun makes no distinction in bestowing its influ- 
 ence on the nations of the earth, it bounds not its 
 blessings by any distinctions in the characters of 
 men, it is prodigal of its innumerable blessings on 
 Ihe evil and on the good ; so is the rain likewise 
 ns entirely impartial ; it sheds its generous favors 
 on all without partiality ; but you are not to sup- 
 pose that these are true indications of the real 
 mind and disposition of your heavenly Father. In 
 temporal things God is "good unto all, and his 
 tender mercies are over all his works ;" but in re- 
 spect to the spiritual and eternal concerns of men 
 he has made an infinite difference. Those who 
 love him and keep his commandments, he really 
 loves ; but his enemies are the objects of his burn- 
 ing wrath, and on them will his vengeance be pour- 
 ed forth forever. In reply to such an answer, 
 might not the questions which Jesus asked be re- 
 turned ? If ye love them that love you what re- 
 ward have ye ? do not even the publicans the same? 
 But the divine teacher would not have been so ab- 
 surdly inconsistent with himself ; he would have 
 answered the supposed question in the affirmative. 
 We have full liberty to believe this and ample au^ 
 Ihority to support it. The contrary is the very 
 ftiing that he was dissuading the people from ; but
 
 29 
 
 (lie affirmative of the supposed question is what 
 he endeavored to impress on their minds.. 
 
 This inference will be found to be greatly strength- 
 ened by a careful application of our text to the sub- 
 ject, "Be ye, therefore, perfect, even as your Father 
 which is 'in heaven is perfect." We are here re- 
 quired to have the same quality of perfection as 
 our Father in heaven has. If his perfection is qual- 
 ified with hatred and unmerciful wrath towards 
 his enemies, then our perfection must be qualified 
 by the same temper and disposition towards our 
 enemies. But if the perfection of our heavenly 
 Father is rendered gloriously bright by a constant 
 display of unchangeable love and mercy towards 
 his enemies, then it is plainly our duty to strive to 
 the utmost to qualify our Christian profession and 
 discipleship of Jesus, with this blessed temper and 
 good will to those who are our enemies. Jesus 
 said to his disciples, " The disciple is not above 
 his master, nor the servant above his Lord. It is 
 enough for the disciple to be as his master, and the 
 servant as his Lord." Those, therefore, who pro- 
 fess to love all mankind, who pray for all men. 
 who say they fervently desire the everlasting hap- 
 piness of the whole human race, and yet contend 
 that their divine Lord and Master loves but a few, 
 and has determined the everlasting destruction o< 
 all the rest, are guilty of supererogation. So far 
 from being contented to stop at the bounds by 
 which they limit the holy one, they profess to 
 love those who are held by their creed to be the 
 objects of the divine indignation. But here let us 
 
 pause ; Are these pretentious all real ? Oast 
 
 aside all prejudice, and examine and answer the 
 following question : Have professors generally, who 
 have maintained limited views of the grace of God, 
 and yet pretended to love all men themselves, ac- 
 companied those pretensions with that spirit an.rl
 
 30 
 
 temper of love and compassion toward those who 
 have differed from them in opinion, which seem 
 necessary to prove the sincerity of their profes- 
 sions ? If this should be allowed, how can we ac- 
 count for all the persecutions which have charac- 
 terised the Christian churches for ages ? How shall 
 we account for that mutual bitterness, coldness 
 and deeply rooted prejudice visible among differ- 
 ent denominations, and by which they have so 
 much disturbed the peace of society and of the 
 world ? There is nothing of importance ever main- 
 tained in the religious creeds of men, that does not 
 either tend to make them better, or worse ; and 
 that character which we attribute to the divine 
 Being, will more or less mingle itself in our own 
 characters. Hence we account for the endeavors 
 of the Saviour to present our Father in heaven, in 
 a character which he would have his disciples ac- 
 quire for themselves. He knew if men entertain 
 an opinion that the divine Being loves those who 
 love him and hates those who hate him, they 
 would be likely to imitate what they attribute to 
 God. He very well knew that this was the case 
 with the people of his day, he knew it had been the 
 case in past ages, and he knew that like causes 
 would produce like effects ; and therefore as long 
 as men should religiously believe that God loves 
 some and hates others, he knew that bitterness and 
 strife would continue. From this thick cloud of 
 darkness, from this deadly error the doctrine of 
 divine love to the enemies of God, is the only de- 
 liverance. Tt makes riot the least difference whe- 
 ther we profess to be Christians, Jews, Pagans or 
 Mahometans, }f we believe that God is an enemy 
 to those who are enemies to him, we shall be like- 
 ly to exercise the same spirit and disposition which 
 wo believe our Father in heaven possesses ; and we 
 jri^Hfv mirsfJvefl in ^o doing by the divim
 
 si 
 
 authority. Those who have and maintain this eii- 
 roneous belief, are seldom if ever at a loss to know 
 who the friends of God are, and who are his enemies. 
 They are persuaded that they have the true faith, 
 that they are the friends of God, and of course 
 God is their friend ; loves them, and will do good 
 to them ; but those who subscribe not to the same 
 particular creed, are enemies to God, are the ob- 
 jects of his wrath and of their most bitter enmity. 
 Such people will effect great concern for those 
 whom they esteem as the enemies of the true faith, 
 and will frequently exhort them to make God their 
 friend, to delay no time in bringing themselves to 
 those terms and to that condition which will secure 
 the good will of our Father who is in heaven. But 
 the only way that this can be done, is to become 
 conformed to the particular creed and formalities 
 of those who stile themselves the friends of God. 
 Why did not our blessed Redeemer in the room of 
 teaching men that their Father in heaven loves his 
 enemies, and that they must love their enemies in 
 order to be like him, exhort them, as we are fre- 
 quently exhorted, to make our Father in heaven 
 our friend ? Answer, because such an exhortation 
 implies that God is no better than the publicans, 
 who love those that love them, and is calculated 
 to maintain all the partiality in faith and practice 
 from which Jesus came to save the world. 
 
 To conclude ; Let us, my brethren, endeavor to 
 seek to the foundation of our religion, learn the 
 true character of our Father in heaven, and be 
 cautious that we never consent to any belief, which 
 in any way involves the notion that God ever was 
 or ever can be an enemy to any of the works of his 
 hands. And on the immoveable flock of God's im- 
 partial love to all men, let our faith and our hope 
 rest ; but not forgetting that the benefits of thii 
 heavenly doctrine of love divine can never be real-
 
 ised, until it works in us a conformity to its require- 
 ments, and brings us into that heavenly temper and 
 spirit by which we shall love our enemies, do good 
 to them that hate us, and pray in faith, nothing 
 doubting, for those whodespitefullyuse us and per- 
 secute us. Let us open our eyes to the visible 
 signs of the love and goodness of God, and read the 
 instructive lectures, which are delivered by a be- 
 neficent providence every day and every hour, and 
 by them learn that wisdom which is from above, 
 which " is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and 
 easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, 
 without partiality and without hypocrisy."
 
 No. 3. 
 
 LECTURE SERMON, 
 
 DELIVERED AT THE 
 SECOND UNIVERSALIST MEETING, IN BOSTON, 
 
 AUGUST 30, 1818. 
 
 BY HOSEA BALLOU, PASTOR. 
 
 Published Semi-Monthly, by Henry Bowen, Devonshire-street. 
 
 GALATIANS, iii. 21. 
 * 4 /* the law then against the promises of God ? God forbid." 
 
 BY the manner of the Apostle's writing in this 
 epistle, .it appears evident that Christians, even as 
 early as the time of the Apostles, were strongly in- 
 clined to the opinion, that the works of the law 
 were necessary to give validity and efficacy to the 
 gospel of Jesus Christ. To this agrees the account 
 we have in the 15th of Acts, where we are inform- 
 ed that " certain men, which came down from Ju- 
 dea" to Antioch, " taught the brethren and said, 
 except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, 
 ye cannot be saved." From such sentiments it ap- 
 pears the Apostle labored with great earnestness 
 to dissuade his brethren. The chapter from which 
 our text is chosen begins as follows ; " O foolish 
 Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should 
 not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ 
 hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? 
 This only would I learn of you ; received ye the 
 Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing 
 of faith? Are ye so foolish ? having begun in the 
 Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh ?" A 
 5
 
 34 
 
 little attention to this subject will discover that by 
 law and flesh the author means the same thing, 
 He endeavoured to explain to his Christian bre- 
 thren the design and utility of the law, and to show 
 that it had neither power to give the life of faith, 
 or to render the promises of the gospel covenant 
 without effect. He stated the important question 
 on which his whole argument rested, and answered 
 it in our text ; " Is the law then against the pro- 
 mises of God ? God forbid." Whatever is contain- 
 ed in the promises of God, be it ever so much or 
 ever so good, it is not in the least subject to be 
 rendered hull or even diminished in the least de- 
 gree by the law ; and on the other hand the promises 
 of God do in no wise frustrate the law, but the doc- 
 trine of the divine promises does in fact establish 
 the law. To this effect are the words of the 
 Apostle to the Romans ; " Do we then make void 
 the law through faith ? God forbid ! yea, we estab- 
 lish the law." Moreover Jesus himself said ; 
 " Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or 
 the prophets : I am not come to destroy, but to ful- 
 fil.'* 
 
 Our first enquiry may be directed to ascertain 
 what is contained in the promises of God. This 
 subject is of the utmost importance, and if duly 
 considered cannot fail to engage the attention of 
 the hearer, and draw the mind of each individual 
 present to an entire devotion to the enquiry pro- 
 posed. The audience will not feel, on this sub- 
 ject, an idle indifference scarcely to be avoided 
 while listening to declamations, authorised only by 
 human imaginations. Nor can any part of the 
 congregation feel a less interest in the subject than 
 the rest, for the promises about to be examined are 
 expressive of the will of our Father in heaven, of 
 whose divine bounty we are all equal heirs. 
 
 It is natural for children to listen with attention
 
 35 
 
 and solicitude to the reading of the will of an earth- 
 ly parent, even where there is but little left for 
 the heirs, for they greatly desire to know if the 
 same good will and impartial favor be discovera- 
 ble in the last expressions and latest testimony of 
 parental love, as had evidently marked the parent's 
 conduct through life. But where a vast fortune is 
 left in legacies, self interest, that ruling passion of 
 the soul, renders attention active, and every one is 
 wide awake ; and anxious to know the contents of 
 this final testament. How much more then shall 
 we be desirous to acquaint ourselves with the pro- 
 mises of our heavenly Father which express what 
 he hath laid up for us in the covenant of his grace ? 
 With what impressions of mind ought we to com- 
 mence this research ? Is it proper that we begin 
 this examination with prepossessions of mind most 
 favorable to limited and ungenerous principles, or 
 guch as better correspond with the divine goodness 
 continually manifested in a boundless, rich, and 
 munificent providence ? If simple nature alone had 
 been our instructor, if we had not been educated 
 in a belief which limits the holy One, if we were 
 left to judge of the goodness of the divine Being, 
 respecting the moral and spiritual interests of his 
 creatures from his impartial goodness in his tem- 
 poral providence, have we the least reason to be- 
 lieve that we should be in possession of notions op- 
 posed to the universality of divine mercy ? But un- 
 happily for us, we have early imbibed illiberal views 
 of God and his goodness, and under this embarrass- 
 ment we stand opposed to rational views of univer- 
 sal goodness ; hence in treating the subject pro- 
 posed, arguments are needed which may tend to do 
 away our prejudices, and to establish in our minds a 
 doctrine which will be seen to harmonize with the 
 wonderful works and universal goodness of God. 
 The promises of God of which the Apostle spake
 
 36 
 
 in the text are those made to Abraham, which we 
 may learn from the following in the context ; 
 " Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises 
 made. He saith not and to seeds, as of many ; but 
 as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ." These 
 promises made to Abraham in Christ, the Apostle 
 calls a covenant, as he expresses in his next words ; 
 " And this I say, that the covenant that was con- 
 firmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was 
 four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disan- 
 nul, that it should make the promise of none effect. 
 For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more 
 of promise ; but God gave it to Abraham by pro- 
 mise." By this scripture we learn that the pro- 
 mises made to Abraham are called a covenant 
 which was confirmed in Christ ; and that which the 
 promises contain, is called an inheritance. 
 
 The promises to Abraham are recorded, Genesis 
 xii: 2, 3, " I will make of Ihee a great nation, and I 
 will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou 
 bhalt be a blessing. And I will bless them that 
 bless thce, and curse them that curseth thee ; and 
 in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." 
 xviii. 18. " Abraham shall surely become a great and 
 mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall 
 be blessed in him." xxii. 18. " In thy seed shall all 
 the nations of the earth be blessed." The confirma- 
 tion of these promises to Isaac is recorded, Genesis 
 xxvi. 3,4. " Sojourn in thisland, and I will be with 
 thee, and will bless thee ; for unto thee, and unto 
 th> seed, I will give all these countries ; and I will 
 perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy 
 father. And I will make thy seed to multiply as the 
 'stars of heaven, and I will give unto thy seed all these 
 countries ; and in thy seed shall all the nations of 
 the earth be blessed." The confirmation of the 
 s:ame promises to Jacob we read in Chapter xxviii. 
 11, " And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth ;
 
 37 
 
 and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to 
 the east, and to the north, and to the south : and in 
 thee, and in thy seed, shall all the families of the 
 earth be blessed." 
 
 These are the promises of God, of which men- 
 tion is made in our text, and which our text says, 
 the law is not against. It may be well now to en- 
 quire something respecting the extensiveness of 
 these promises. What is the most natural sense of 
 such language as this ? " All the nations of the 
 earth, all the families of the earth ;" and such as 
 St. Peter used, Acts iii. 25, " Ye are the children 
 of the prophets and of the covenant which God 
 made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, and 
 in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be 
 blessed." Would any person, having the least 
 knowledge of language, make use of such to ex- 
 press something concerning a very small part of 
 mankind ? The learned and pious divines who 
 composed the Westminster Catechism did not make 
 use of such language to express the covenant of 
 grace in which they believed. Their words are 
 the following ; " God having, out of his mere good 
 pleasure, from all eternity, elected some to ever- 
 lasting life, did enter into a covenant of grace, to 
 deliver them out of a state of sin and misery, and 
 to bring them into a state of salvation, by a Re- 
 deemer." Will any candid person say, that this 
 language which the Westminster divines made use 
 of to express their covenant of grace, and the lan- 
 guage which God used to express his covenant 
 of grace to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are of 
 the same import ? No one will pretend this. If it 
 had been the intention of those divines to state the 
 covenant of which St. Peter spoke in Acts iii. 
 would they not have been likely to make use of 
 such language as he used, and as is used in other 
 parts of the scriptures on the same subject ? There
 
 38 
 
 can be no doubt of this. But the fact is, their cov- 
 enant of grace is not mentioned in the whole of 
 the divine oracles. It is a most humiliating thought, 
 that the wisdom of God should have been thus to- 
 tally neglected, and the wisdom, the partial, sensual 
 wisdom of this world set in its stead. It is a matter 
 of most painful reflection, that while the Christian 
 church have made no provision to teach youth the 
 gospel covenant of the God of Abraham, of Isaac 
 and Jacob, unwearied pains and innumerable 
 means have been employed to instruct them, " and 
 that right early," in this covenent of men's inven- 
 tion. But, by attending too much to the vain no- 
 tions of men, we shall get away from our subject. 
 We will therefore observe, that the language in 
 which the covenant which God made with the fa- 
 thers is expressed, is as extensive as any language 
 that could have been used, unless more than the 
 whole human family were to be comprehended : All 
 nations of the earth, all the families of the earth, 
 and all the k indreds of the earth, is universal ; and 
 all the partial creeds of men acknowledge it to be 
 so by carefully and respectfully neglecting to use it. 
 
 Our next enquiry will seek to ascertain the bles- 
 sing which is promised to all the nations of the 
 earth in the covenant of God. 
 
 This question is settled by the testimony of the 
 Apostle in our context ; " And the scriptures fore- 
 seeing that God would justify the heathen through 
 faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, 
 saying, in thee shall all nations be blessed." This 
 blessing then is justification through faith. Of this 
 justification the Apostle speaks to the Romans in 
 language as extensive as that in which the cove- 
 pant of grace was expressed to Abraham. His 
 words are as follows ; " For all have sinned, and 
 come short of the glory of God ; being justi$ed 
 freely by his grace, through the redemption that is
 
 39 
 
 in Christ Jesus." Again to the Romans, the Apostle 
 speaking of Christ, says ; " Who was delivered for 
 our offences, and was raised again for our justifica- 
 tion." The same author in a discourse at Antioch 
 said ; " A nd we declare unto you glad tidings, how 
 that the promise which was made unto the fathers, 
 God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, 
 in that he hath raised up Jesus again." The hearer 
 is requested to notice, that according to the pas- 
 sages quoted, the promise to Abraham is called 
 the gospel. This gospel was preached by God 
 himself, and no doubt was preached truly, and as 
 Abraham believed, and as we ought to believe at 
 this day. We also see that the thing promised, 
 which the Apostle calls " the inheritance," is jus- 
 tification through faith, the word jaith meaning 
 covenant ; and moreover, that all that have sinned, 
 and come short of the glory of God, are thus 
 <f justified freely by his grace, through the re- 
 demption that is in Christ Jesus." Should the trite 
 objection, that this doctrine justifies men in sin, be 
 moved in this case, we reply in the words of divine 
 truth, which never speaks of justifying men in sin, 
 but "from, all things, from which we could not be 
 justified by the law of Moses." St. Peter applies 
 the blessing which God promised, in his covenant, 
 to Abraham, as follows ; " Unto you first, God, 
 having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless 
 you, in turning away every one of you from hii 
 iniquities." One important object which we have 
 in view, is to show the nature of the gospel salva- 
 tion, which is salvation from sin and all its evils. 
 
 The hearer is now requested to consider the 
 terms or conditions of the promises, the covenant 
 made with the fathers, which embraces the salva- 
 tion of all the nations, all the families, and all the 
 kindreds of the earth in Jesus Christ. If these 
 promises were made on any conditions of obedi-
 
 40 
 
 ence on the part of the heirs of this inheritance, 
 then unless these conditions are fulfilled we have 
 no right to the promises. But blessed, forever 
 blessed be the name of the God of Abraham, this 
 covenant rests on no conditions of man's obedi- 
 ence. There is not a word in the promises made 
 to the fathers, that intimates any condition on the 
 part of those who were to be blessed. Our heaven-. 
 ly Father here manifests his own unchangeable, un- 
 influenced, unconditional good will and gracious 
 purpose concerning all the sons and daughters of 
 Adam. " God, willing more abundantly, to shew 
 unto the heirs of promise, the immutability of his 
 counsel, confirmed it by an oath ; for when God 
 made promise to Abraham,; because he could swear 
 by no greater, he sware by himself." And the de- 
 sign of this oath was, " that we might have strong 
 consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold on 
 the hope set before us." 
 
 Corresponding with the unconditionality of the 
 ^'covenant of promise," we may notice a passage 
 or two from the prophet Isaiah and St. Paul. The 
 evangelical prophet uses language in his 26th 
 Chapter which corresponds in three important 
 points with the language of the divine promises. 
 1st. It is universal. 2d. It contains the testimony 
 of life ; and 3d. The language is positive, not con- 
 ditional. The passage reads as follows ; "And in 
 this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all 
 people a feast of fat things, of wines on the lees ; 
 of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees 
 well refined. And he will destroy in this mountain 
 the face of the covering cast over all people, and 
 the vail that is spread over all nations. He will 
 swallow up deatli in victory ; and the Lord God 
 will wipe away tears from all faces ; and the re- 
 buke of his people shall he take away from off all 
 the earth ; for the Lord hath spoken it." In his
 
 41 
 
 9th Chapter, speaking of the Messiah, he says ; 
 u For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, 
 and the government shall be upon his shoulders ; 
 and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsel- 
 lor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the 
 Prince of peace. Of the increase of his govern- 
 ment and peace there shall be no end." No com- 
 ments are necessary to show, that the language 
 quoted from the prophet corresponds with that in 
 which the " covenant of promise" is recorded. 
 
 That the salvation of the gospel is not accord- 
 ing to the works of men, St. Paul's testimony to 
 Timothy fully shows ; " Who hath saved us, and 
 called us with an holy calling, not according to our 
 works, but according to his own purpose and grace, 
 which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world 
 began ; but is now made manifest by the appear- 
 ing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished 
 death, and hath brought life and immortality to 
 light through the gospel." To Titus he says ; 
 " Not by works of righteousness which we have 
 done, but according to his mercy he saved us." On 
 the same subject, to the Ephesians lie says ; " Not 
 of works, lest any man should boast." The pas- 
 sage just quoted from the epistle to Timothy is 
 remarkable for its clearness on our subject: " Who 
 hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, 
 not according to our works." If this salvation and 
 calling were not according to the works, of those 
 who were saved, then it must be according to 
 something else. And this something must form a 
 principle on which God could act with perfect con- 
 sistency with holiness, justice and truth. The 
 Apostle says ; " But according to his own purpose 
 and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus be- 
 fore the world began." Thus it is plain, that God 
 purposed in his grace, before the world began, ttf 
 6
 
 42 
 
 aave men, not according to their works. To this 
 argument the objector will reply, that it is evident 
 according to scripture and according to reason and 
 the fitness of things, that men should be dealt 
 with according to their merit and demerit. The 
 objector will coritenp!, that this is according to the 
 law given fo Israel by Moses, and is likewise ac- 
 cording to the law given to the Gentiles, written in 
 their heart. To all this we give our full and cor- 
 dial consent, and proceed to show that this is no 
 real objection against the salvation for which we 
 have contended, by illustrating the fact stated in 
 our text, that the law is not against the promises 
 of God. 
 
 This the Apostle has done in our context, in a 
 very able and concise manner. His argument is 
 the following, which has been already quoted on 
 another subject ; "And this I say, that the cove- 
 nant that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the 
 law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, 
 cannot disannul, that it should make tne promise 
 of none effect." 
 
 Never was there an argument more clear and 
 conclusive. In order that the law might have any 
 power to control the covenant of promise it should 
 have existed prior to, or at least simultaneous with 
 it ; and then there must have been conditions in the 
 covenant of promise of which the law should have 
 power to take cognizance. If the objector fur- 
 ther contend, that the moral nature of the law did 
 exist at the time and even before the promise was 
 made to Abraham, we grant the fact, and say ; if 
 it were consistent with the moral nature of the law, 
 for God to make such promises, it certainly can- 
 not be contrary to it, for him to fulfil them. It 
 was the same God who gave the law to man, 
 that made the promises to tti& father of the faith-
 
 fill ; and nothing can be more unreasonable than 
 to suppose, that he either made a law against 
 his own promises, or promises against his own 
 law. 
 
 The true design of the law, in relation to the 
 gospel which was preached unto Abraham, is re- 
 presented by a well chosen metaphor in the chapter 
 where our text is' found, * Wherefore the law was 
 our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that 
 we might be justified by faith." As the appoint- 
 ment of a schoolmaster is certainly for the benefit 
 of the pupils ; to instruct and discipline them for 
 advancement in duties and in enjoyments, so the 
 law was designed to instruct and discipline man- 
 kind for the sublime duties and enjoyments of the 
 religion of Jesus Christ. While his children are 
 at school, or even before they are of age to profit 
 by such an institution, the kind affectionate father 
 may will to his children independent fortunes. 
 These minors may, notwithstanding they are heirs 
 to this testament of their father's, be kept at school, 
 be instructed and disciplined by a faithful master 
 until the time appointed of the father for them to 
 come into possession of their inheritance, and to be 
 free from the government of the school. In this 
 simile it is easy to see, that the children were dealt 
 with according to their merit and demerit ; the 
 schoolmaster could do his whole duty to his pupils 
 without concerning himself about their father's will. 
 His authority did not extend to take cogni- 
 zance of that instrument of grace, nor did that 
 testament which made these children vastly rich 
 infringe in theleast on the authority of the school- 
 master. There is no power in the will to screen 
 the disobedient scholar from the faithful hand 
 of righteous discipline. These two dispensations 
 harmonise in doing good to the same persons?
 
 44 
 
 fr their respective ways, In relation to our sub- 
 ject, the Apostle says in connection with our text; 
 " Now I say, that the heir, as long as he is a child, 
 differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord 
 of all ; but is under tutors and governors, until the 
 time appointed of the Father. Even so we, when 
 we \vere children, were in bondage under the ele- 
 ments of the world." 
 
 But the objector urges that it is written ; " cursed 
 is every one that continueth not in all things writ- 
 ten in the book of the law to do them ;" and " the 
 soul that sinneth, it shall die." Let this all be 
 granted ; and let it stand without attempting to 
 weaken it in the least ; but let us remember with 
 gratitude and joy of heart, that " Christ hath re- 
 deemed us from the curse of the law, being made 
 a curse for us." And also, that those who were 
 dead in trespasses and in sins, hath God quickened 
 together with Christ. It is true, " the wages of sin 
 is death ;" but it is also true that " the gift of God 
 is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord." 
 
 Will the objector now say, that the curse of Uie 
 Jaw is eternal death, and therefore if this curse 
 came upon any, they cannot obtain salvation ? Then 
 we reply and say ; this objection does not rest on 
 the divine testimony. The words " eternal death," 
 are not in the scriptures. The objector, therefore, 
 lias no right to require any further reply. The 
 text says ; " cursed is every one," &c. It does not 
 say ; cursed shall be every one in Ike eternal rvorld> 
 who continueth not in all things written in the book 
 of the Jaw to do them, in this world. 
 
 To the Corinthians the Apostle speaks of the 
 ministration of the law as a ministration of death, 
 but he by no means allows it either an eternal 
 duration, or pow3r to prevent in the least de- 
 U;e ministration of life, He, speaks as fol-
 
 45 
 
 lows ; " Who also hath made us able ministers 
 of the new-testament, not of the letter, but of 
 the spirit ; for the letter killeth, but the spirit 
 giveth life. But if the ministration of death, writ- 
 ten and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that 
 the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold 
 the face of Moses, for the glory of his countenance, 
 which glory was to be done away ; how shall riot 
 the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious ? 
 For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, 
 much more doth the ministration of righteousness 
 exceed in glory. For even that which was made 
 glorious, had no glory in this respect, by reason 
 of the glory that excelleth. For if that which is 
 done away was glorious, much more that which re- 
 maineth is glorious." 
 
 We see, by the Apostle's reasoning, that the law 
 dispensation, being a ministration of death, " was 
 to be done away," and succeeded with the minis- 
 tration of righteousness ; but that these dispensa- 
 tions are opposed to each other is not allowed by 
 any scripture argument. 
 
 This doctrine, that the law is not against the 
 promises of God, which we find abundantly prov- 
 ed from the scriptures which have been noticed, is 
 a doctrine which is plainly taught in the economy 
 of divine providence and in the most essential gov- 
 ernment embraced in human concerns ; I mean the 
 government and economy of a family. In the divine 
 providence, God has promised (and he fulfils his 
 word) that there shall be summer and winter, seed 
 time and harvest. These blessings do not depend 
 on men, men depend on them ; man's labor does 
 not call them forth, but they call men to their 
 work ; and accordingly as they labor and wisely 
 improve their advantages, they are rewarded. If 
 they neglect tbe duties of the season, they are re-.
 
 s 
 
 compeused wilii want. In a family government 
 ami economy, there are many favors bestowed on 
 children, that in the nature of things, cannot depend 
 on the obedience of those who receive them. How 
 many favors does parental love bestow on infancy, 
 favors essential to life, long before the subjects are 
 capable of knowing on whom they depend for sup- 
 port ? And in the last will and testament of paren- 
 tal provision, how many valuable legacies are be- 
 stowed on children, to which they had no other 
 claim but heirship ? But all these blessings which 
 are entirely independent of the conduct of chil- 
 dren, have no power to prevent the reasonable ex- 
 ercise of a proper discipline during that period in 
 which the offspring are subjects of such an economy. 
 And on the other hand, it is as plainly seen, that 
 this discipline has no power to oppose the interest 
 which the child holds by beirship ; but then one 
 seems to establish the other ; for that relation which 
 gives the right to administer discipline, holds also 
 the right of heirship. 
 
 From the several points of doctrine, which we 
 have endeavored to support, the following inferen- 
 ces may be drawn. 
 
 Jst. There is, according to the scriptures, in the 
 moral government of our heavenly Father, a wisely 
 concerted discipline, by which the faults of men 
 are duly noticed and faithfully and compassionate- 
 ly chastised. But it is not consistent with the de- 
 sign of this dispensation to extend correction or 
 punishment for sin, so as, in any way, to deprive, 
 even the sinner, of the everlasting inheritance which 
 belongs to the sons of God. 
 
 The opinion, therefore, that the law of God de- 
 mands the everlasting, or eternal punishment of sin- 
 ners is, by no means a scripture doctrine ; for sure- 
 ly such a doctrine would prove that the law was
 
 against the promises. Su-ch a law, in the room of 
 being a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, would 
 be an unmerciful tyrant, like Pharoah, who held the 
 people of God in bondage, and refused to let them 
 go. This divine law and discipline of our heaven- 
 ly Father admonishes us to take heed to our ways. 
 Hereby we are advised, commanded, admonished, 
 rebuked, warned, threatened ; and in case of obsti- 
 nate disobedience, and continuance in sin, we are 
 severely punished. But let us always remember 
 that the chastisements of our heavenly Father 
 are for our profit, that we may be partakers of his 
 Holiness. 
 
 2d. We may infer from the doctrine we have main- 
 tained, that the sense of what St. Peter said to the 
 Jews is equally true respecting all men ; " Ye are 
 the children of the prophets, and of the covenant 
 which God made with our fathers, saying unto 
 Abraham, and in thy seed shall all the kindreds of 
 the earth be blessed." Those to whom St. Peter 
 spake these words, were those who delivered up Je- 
 sus and denied him in the presence of Pilate ; they 
 were those who denied the holy One and the just, 
 and desired a murderer to be granted unto them, 
 and killed the Prince of life. " These," Peter said, 
 ** were the children of the prophets, and of the cove- 
 nant which God made with our fathers." Now as the 
 promise of the covenant was to " all the kindreds 
 of the earth, and as the testimony of the prophets 
 was equally extensive, we conclude that all the 
 families, all the nations, and all the kindreds of the 
 earth" are the children of the prophetic testimony,, 
 and of the covenant of promise. The blessing 
 promised was also mentioned by this Apostle as has 
 been noticed ; " Unto you first, God, having raised 
 up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning 
 away every one of you from his iniquities.
 
 48 
 
 Let us conclude with the Apostle's exhortation , 
 # Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty wherewith 
 Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled 
 again with the yoke of bondage."
 
 ;'. No. 4 J r 
 
 <> LECTURE SERMON, .V- 
 
 DELIVERED AT THE 
 
 / i, 
 
 SECOND UNIVERSALIST MEETING, IN BOSTON* 
 
 SEPTEMBER 13, 1818. 
 
 BY HOSEA BALLOU, PASTOR. 
 
 Published Semi-Monthly, by Henry Bowen, Devonshire-street. 
 
 1. JOHN, iv- 16. 
 " God is love" 
 
 IN ^the infinite variety of all important subjects 
 to which the rich treasures of divine revelation call 
 our most serious and engaged attention, this, ex- 
 pressed in our text, is unquestionably entitled to 
 the highest rank. However the thoughtless and 
 profane may treat the Supreme Disposer of all 
 things, however triflingly the name of the Most 
 High may be handed round by polluted lips, one 
 moment's serious attention to the impropriety of 
 such communication is sufficient to convince the 
 reasonable mind, that GOD is a subject infinitely 
 too great to be introduced into trifling conversa- 
 tion, and infinitely too good to be mentioned by 
 profane lips. But notwithstanding the improprie- 
 ty and evil, of which mention has been made, are 
 great and heinous, they bear but a scant compari- 
 son with the impropriety and evil of representing 
 the great Father of our spirits as a character which 
 would be dishonorable to man, who fa but a 
 worm of the dust. 
 
 7
 
 50 
 
 If we lay aside the prejudices which the creeds 
 of men have carefully treasured up in our deceitful 
 hearts, we shall at once be struck with horror at the 
 character which a false education has* given to the 
 best of all intelligent beings. The moral evil na- 
 turally growing from false notions of the divine 
 character, has so established its empire in the 
 hearts of men, and exercises such unresisted con- 
 trol over the temper and spirit of those who are 
 deceived by such notions, that there appears but 
 one remedy ; and this one must be found in the re- 
 moving of those errors, by the clear shining of 
 divine truth in the understanding. The particular 
 and most special object of the present discourse is 
 to contribute, at least, a humble attempt to remove 
 wrong views of God from the mind, by showing that 
 all the divine attributes harmonize in love ; which 
 view of the character of our heavenly Father,seems 
 evidently comprehended in the text of which choice 
 has been made. 
 
 There are but a few passages of scripture which 
 speak in a direct manner of what God is. He is 
 called a "fountain of living waters" by the Prophet 
 Jeremiah. " My people have committed two evils; 
 they have forsaken me, the fountain of living wa- 
 ters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, 
 that can hold no water." This is a most striking 
 representation of true and false religion. Love is 
 a fountain of Irving waters. It is a living fountain, 
 one that is never dry. This is true religion ; it 
 has no hatred in it ; it works no ill to its neighbor ; 
 it measures to others what it is willing to receive. 
 But false religion is any thing and every thing 
 but love. It is something hewed out ; that is, it is 
 the work of invention and art. The living water 
 of divine love is not in it. It pretends to love, but 
 hatred is its most essential ingredient. It is based 
 on enmity. If we disallow enmity, false religion
 
 51 
 
 cries out, heresy, Mie foundation of leligion is gone ! 
 St. Paul says ;V Our God is a consuming fire" 
 Love is a consuming fire to all the hay, wood, and 
 stubble which error has introduced into religion. 
 44 Now, if any man build upon this foundation, gold, 
 silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble ; every 
 man's work shall be made manifest : for the day shall 
 declare it, and the fire shall try every man's work 
 of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which 
 he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. 
 If any man's work shall be burnt, he shall suffer 
 loss ; but he himself shall be saved : Yet so as by 
 tire." The fire of divine love seeks to consume 
 nothing but that which is injurious to the sinner, 
 who is the object of divine love. 
 
 The divine teacher said to the woman of Samaria ; 
 " God is a spirit, and seeketh such to worship him, 
 who worship him in spirit and in truth." Love is 
 this spirit of God, and love is the spirit in which 
 God is truly worshipped. " God is love ; and he 
 that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in 
 him." 
 
 It may tend to promote the object in view to men- 
 tion a summary of moral attributes, and proceed to 
 notice them both distinctly and conjunctively, by 
 which their harmony in divine love may be made to 
 appear. We read in Revelations, of the " Seven 
 spirits of God," which we may suppose compre- 
 hend the perfection of the communicable attributes 
 of the divine Being. Without any design to be ar- 
 bitrary, we will name seven moral attributes ; arid 
 though some may think a less number would com- 
 prehend the whole, and others, that a much greater 
 number should be mentioned, it seems safe to cal- 
 culate that the perfect number, seven, was design- 
 ed to comprehend the whole and nothing more. 
 And if we may be favored with a view of the 
 harmony of the seven which we shall name, no
 
 52 
 
 doubt the candid mind will be sat'-fted, that if mor> 
 moral attributes could be narrud, they would all 
 be found to harmonize in love. 
 
 The seven we shall name are the following ; 
 Wisdom, Knowledge, Power, Justice, Truth, Mer- 
 cy, and Love in which they all harmonize. 
 
 Wisdom is that attribute of mind by which 
 designs are drawn and plans are laid. It regards 
 things, circumstances, causes and effects as they 
 relate to each other. The wisdom of any plan ig 
 seen in the co-operation of its several parts tending 
 efficiently to produce what the projector designs* 
 Should any part of a plan fail of eventuating in the 
 object designed, that failure, were it ever so small, 
 would prove a lack of wisdom in drawing the plan* 
 
 When we view the visible objects of creation, 
 their existence seems to fill the mind with admira-* 
 tion, and as soon as our thoughts advance to the corn 
 sideration of the regular motions of the heavenly 
 bodies, wisdom irresistibly attracts our notice, 
 and seems to wake up a spark of devotion to the 
 great Author of the universe. Continuing to me- 
 ditate on the order, regularity, and harmony of the 
 works of nature and providence ; and to notice 
 the concatenation of causes and effects which pro- 
 duce whatever is fit and good in the order and na- 
 ture of things, no language seems more proper 
 than that of the Psalmist ; "O Lord, how mani- 
 fold are thy works ! in wisdom hast thou made 
 them all." 
 
 Knowledge is a principle of intellectual nature* 
 by which the simple facts relating 1 to tilings are 
 comprehended or Understood. This attribute in 
 God is an all-seeing eye ; from its pervading sight 
 nothing can be hid. Known Unto God are all his 
 works from the foundation of the world. 
 
 Power in the divine Being is that ability by 
 which all the purposes of bje vast and infinite
 
 scheme are carried into execution. " Who work- 
 eth all things after the counsel of his own will." 
 
 Justice is that attribute of God, by .which a righ- 
 teous and equitable administration is directed to- 
 wards all moral accountable beings ; and by which, 
 every such being receives a just recompense of re- 
 ward accordingly as moral powers are exercised. 
 Divine justice likewise requires that all moral be- 
 ings should act in such a manner as to discharge 
 every duty and obligation which the connections 
 and relations in which they are placed render ne- 
 cessary. "Justice and judgment are the habita- 
 tion of his throne." 
 
 Truth is whatever is opposed to falshood, and is 
 the reality of all things, circumstances and events, 
 past, present and future. This is forever with him 
 who varies not, for " He is the Rock, his work is 
 perfect ; for all his ways are judgment ; a God of 
 truth, arid without iniquity, just and right is he." 
 
 Mercy is that divine perfection of God which 
 pities and relieves from sin and wretchedness, those 
 who stand in need of such compassion, " For the 
 Lord is good ; his mercy is everlasting ; and his 
 truth endureth to all generations." " According 
 to his mercy he saved us." 
 
 Love is a property which delights in an object, 
 carefully avoids doing it any harm, and uses all its 
 means to administer good ; " God is love." JXow, 
 as it is the fixed, unalterable nature of love to do 
 good to all the beings who are its objects, and to 
 render them as blessed as possible with the use of 
 all the means which love can command, it is seen at 
 once, that whatever plans are laid so as to promote 
 the best interest of those creatures who are the ob- 
 jects of the divine love, is in fact the wisdom of 
 God ; and as those plans perfectly harmonize with 
 the benevolent purposes of love, it is evident that 
 the wisdom which contrived them is in perfect uni- 
 son with
 
 We here find a fair opportunity to look into the 
 extent of the goodness of God, and that salvation 
 which is brought to man by Jesus Christ, who is said 
 to be " The wisdom of God and the power of God." 
 a For God so loved the world, that he gave his only 
 begotten Son,that whosoever believeth in him should 
 not perish, but have everlasting life. ForGod sent not 
 his Son into the world to condemn the world ; but 
 that the world through him might be saved.* 5 God so 
 foved the world that he sent his own wisdom that the 
 world might be saved by it. If the wisdom of God 
 is not in perfect harmony with his love, he surely 
 would not have sent his wisdom to carry into effect 
 ihe purposes of love. '* Herein is love, not that 
 we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son 
 fo be the propitiation for our sins." Here both 
 the object and the means are clearly set forth,, 
 God loved us while we did not love him. In conse- 
 quence of this love he designed to do us a favor. 
 The means which he used was to send his Son to be 
 the propitiation for our sins. But if by becoming 
 fhe propitiation for our sins, no benefit, but an in- 
 jury should result to those whom God loved, then 
 the means would frustrate the object and prove the 
 want of wisdom in the plan. 
 
 There is a doctrine in the Christian church, thai 
 contends, that millions, yea far the greatest part of 
 the human family will be infinitely more misera- 
 ble in the eternal world, than they would have been 
 if Jesus had never come into the world and died 
 for their sins. If this doctrine be allowed to stand 
 in harmony with the wisdom of God, it must be 
 granted that his wisdom is hostile to his love, for 
 a love worketh no ill." But the divine testimony 
 assures us, that " God sent not his Son into the 
 world to condemn the world, but that the world 
 through him might be saved." If therefore, the world 
 er any part of the world should fail of salvation, and
 
 55 
 
 be made miserable in the future world ia conscr 
 quence of what Christ has done, the thing for which 
 he was sent not being fulfilled, and that 'for which 
 he was not sent being effected, proves the want of 
 wisdom in the plan. 
 
 How is it possible for God to exercise a wisdom 
 which is infinite in a way to frustrate the design of 
 his own immutable love ? If we examine ever so 
 minutely into the plans and schemes, the causes and 
 effects, the immense, the subtle and the various 
 workings of divine providence, are we not the 
 more convinced of the truth of that ancient dec- 
 laration, " The Lord is good unto all and his tend- 
 er mercies are over all his works!" As a proof of 
 the truth of this testimony the Prophet further ob- 
 serves ; "Thou openest thine hand and satisfies! 
 the desire of every living thing." This is the way 
 by which God makes himself known to be good to 
 his creatures, that is, by actually doing them good* 
 St. Paul said, " Nevertheless he left not himself with- 
 out witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain 
 from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts 
 with food and gladness." How immense are the 
 love, the wisdom and the goodness of God which 
 are manifested continually in the temporal bounties 
 of his universal providence. Cast your eyes round 
 on every side, carefully inspect the condition of ev- 
 ery living thing, and say whether the wisdom of 
 God does not harmonise with universal love. And 
 yet the Apostle allows all this luminous evidence 
 to be no more than twilight compared with the 
 more perfect display of the divine goodness in the 
 dispensation of the gospel of Jesus Christ ; for not- 
 withstanding the evidences of divine goodness which 
 were continually manifested in the munificent provi- 
 dence of God, the people, who were the subject? 
 of such goodness, were ignorant of him and walk-v 
 ed in their own way; concerning which the- Apos-
 
 tie says; "The times of this ignorance God wink- 
 ed at, but now commandeth all men every where to 
 repent." This special command to repent and 
 turn from dumb idols to serve the living God, was 
 given forth in the more glorious evidences of the 
 mercy and goodness of God communicated in the 
 gospel. 
 
 An attempt to illustrate the wisdom which char- 
 acterises the scheme of the gospel, and the harmo- 
 ny of its several parts, as set forth in the scriptures, 
 would be a much more extensive undertaking than 
 our present limits would justify, if there were no 
 want of ability to do justice to such a subject. Tt 
 tnay therefore suffice to remark, that by a careful 
 attention to ancient promises and prophecies con- 
 cerning a Messiah, his appearance in the world, the 
 wonderful works wrought by his miraculous power; 
 the shameful treatment which he received among 
 men, his death, and the manner of it, his resurrection 
 from the dead, the infallible proofs of the same, 
 his ascension, the gifts bestowed on the Apostles 
 whom he appointed to promulgate his gospel, and 
 the wonderful success which attended their ministry, 
 by which the religion of Jesus was established on a 
 foundation which can never be removed, we are 
 led to say ; " This is the Lord's doings, and it is 
 marvellous in our eyes." 
 
 Who will undertake to point out a single item in 
 all this vast scheme of infinite wisdom which does 
 not perfectly harmonise with the love of God to 
 mankind. "God commendeth his love towards us, 
 in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for 
 us." " We preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a 
 stumbling-block, and to the Greeks foolishness ; 
 but unto them who are called both Jews and 
 Greeks, Christ the wisdom of God and the power 
 of God." This is that " wisdom that is from above, 
 which is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy
 
 57 
 
 to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, with* 
 out partiality and without hypocrisy." This is that 
 wisdom which was with the Almighty when he cre- 
 ated all things, " rejoicing always before him ; re- 
 joicing in the habitable part of his earth, and whoso 
 delights were with the sons of men." 
 
 That the divine knowledge is in perfect unison 
 with the love of God to his creatures, we must 
 grant for many reasons, some of which are the fol- 
 lowing. 
 
 First, That we may avoid introducing imperfec- 
 tion into the divine nature, which is nothing short 
 of idolatry. Whenever a desire to do good is in 
 exercise, and the person who possesses this desire 
 knows for certainty, that this desire can never be 
 realised or accomplished, there is proof positive of 
 imperfection. 
 
 Secondly, That we may avoid introducing infeli- 
 city into the divine Being. For if his universal 
 unchangeable love run in one straight line, and his 
 infallible knowledge disagree with it, we must al- 
 low that this disagreement produces an infelicity 
 whose magnitude corresponds with the greatness 
 of those infinite, discordant attributes ! Whoever 
 possesses love which inclines the agent to do good 
 to another, and knows at the same time that this 
 will never be effected, must, in the nature of things, 
 be unhappy to a degree which corresponds with the 
 force of this forever unsatisfied desire. 
 
 Thirdly, That we may avoid charging God with 
 folly, which we should most surely do if we sup- 
 pose that in consequence of his love to the world 
 he sent his Son to save the world, when at the same 
 time he knew that this salvation would not be jef- 
 fected. Should a parent who ^tenderly loves his 
 child see it in distress, no doubt he would try all 
 means which should appear at all favorable to re- 
 lieve it ; but, while he had reason, he would never 
 8
 
 58 
 
 make use of means which he knew would, in the 
 room of relieving from distress, increase it seven 
 fold. The divine testimony says ; " God will have 
 all men to be saved," and that as a mean of this 
 salvation, the one Mediator " gave himself a ransom 
 for all." Now if we allow that the divine knowl- 
 edge comprehended the fact that all men will not 
 be saved, we surely charge God with the folly of 
 using means to effect what he knew would not be 
 effected. There are among men, many who are 
 called learned, and many who are unlearned, who 
 are fully persuaded, that all the means which our 
 heavenly Father h^< seen fit to employ for the 
 purpose of saving sinners, will in the most of in- 
 stances forever fail of their designed utility. But 
 have we not every good reason for believing, that 
 if the divine Being had been fully persuaded of 
 this, he never would have used those abortive 
 means ? In order to avoid an endless series of in- 
 consistencies we are compelled to acknowledge a 
 plain simple truth, that the infinite knowledge of 
 God is in perfect harmony with his boundless un- 
 changeable love, which constitutes him infinitely 
 and consummately happy ; and lays a foundation on 
 which the human mind may rest and enjoy the 
 sweetest possible repose. How often is it the case, 
 that we are called to witness and to pass through 
 dark scenes of trial in which our weak discernment 
 can see no utility, and we are pining with des- 
 pair, and sayjng " all these things are against me ;" 
 but how divinely comforting is the thought so hap- 
 pily expressed by the Poet ; 
 
 " The clouds you so much dread 
 Are big with mercy, and will break 
 In blessings on .your head ; 
 Judge not the Lord by feeble sense", 
 But trust him for his grace ; 
 Behind a frowning providence, 
 H6 hides his smiling iace."
 
 That the diviri^F power ever moves according to 
 the directions of the love of God, there is no room 
 to doubt. Power without will to put it in motion 
 and direct it, is dormant and effects nothing. And 
 as it is evident, that God cannot will contrary to his 
 nature which is love, so it is equally evident that 
 his power never effects any thing which his love 
 does not desire. That Almighty Power which con- 
 trols all worlds, all beings, and all elements, moves 
 only as it is directed by the gentle, kind, and mer- 
 ciful principles of divine love. 
 
 The divine attribute which the sensual, partial 
 wisdom of this world has armed with principles 
 hostile to love, is justice. Justice has been held up 
 as an unmerciful foe to the transgressor, knowing 
 no favor, but demanding the everlasting destruc- 
 tion of all who come short of obedience. If we 
 allow this sentiment concerning the demands of di- 
 vine justice, is it not evident that justice is opposed 
 to love in such demands ? This cannot be denied. 
 Those who hold the opinion that sinners must be 
 punished everlastingly in the future state, never un- 
 dertake to prove such an opinion by arguing that 
 sinners are the objects of divine love. But justice 
 is always referred to as the attribute which is op- 
 posed to the sinner's salvation. Now if justice and 
 love are opposed to each other in God, does not 
 this constitute transgression ? " Sin is the transgres- 
 sion of the law," justice is the law ; and if love be 
 opposed to justice, it is opposed to the law, and 
 transgresses the law ! But St. Paul says ; " love 
 worketh no ill to his neighbor ; therefore love is 
 the fulfilling of the law." If love fulfils the law, it 
 certainly is not opposed to justice. 
 
 We will for a few minutes, attempt to examine 
 divine justice, both as to its requirements in ita pre- 
 cepts, and in its administration of punishments ; 
 and carefully compare with the dictates of divine
 
 60 
 
 love, in order to see if there be ny disagreement. 
 What then does the divine law require ? The bles- 
 sed Saviour explains the law as follows ; " Thou 
 shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and 
 with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is 
 the first and great commandment. And the second 
 is like unto it, thou shalt love thy neighbor as 
 thyself. On these two commandments hang all 
 the law and the prophets." This is what divine jus- 
 tice demands of all men ; this is the whole law, as 
 saith the Apostle ; " All the law is fulfilled in 
 one word, even in this, thou shalt love thy neigh- 
 bor as thyself." Now compare this divine requi- 
 sition with what love requires. Love most surely 
 cannot require any thing short of itself. If one 
 person love another sincerely, can any thing short 
 of love in return give satisfaction ? The parents of 
 a family of children love their offspring most af- 
 fectionately ; this love is commended to the chil- 
 dren by a thousand favors, varied according to 
 their wants. Now what does this love require in 
 return ? It requires the children to love their par- 
 ents. The Apostle says; "We love him, because 
 he first loved us." Nothing will answer as a sub- 
 stitute for love. If the children attend ever so 
 punctually to the performance of every duty en- 
 joined in Uhe precepts of the parents, if love be 
 wanting, all is unsavory. Love is the salt that must 
 season every performance in order to render it ac- 
 ceptable. St. Paul must have had this view of our 
 subject when he wrote the following ; " Though I 
 speak with the tongues of men and of Angels, and 
 have not charity, (the same with love) I am become 
 as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And 
 though I have the gift of prophecy, and under- 
 stand a)l mysteries, and all knowledge ; and though 
 I have all faith so that I could remove mountains 
 have not charity, I am nothing. And though
 
 a-i 
 
 I bestow all ray goods to feed the poor, and though 
 I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, 
 it profiteth me nothing." And I think we may 
 say according to divine truth, that, that sort oC 
 justice which is destitute of love, is as sounding 
 brass or a tinkling cymbal ; it has sounded through 
 all Christendom and tinkled in all our ears. And 
 as it is destitute of love itself, so it has produced 
 none in its votaries. 
 
 Now as we have seen that justice and love 'are 
 united in their requirements, it may add no little 
 strength to the evidence already adduced to look 
 at the principle on which they urge their united 
 claim. 
 
 In order for any demand to be just, it must be 
 founded on a reasonable principle. So if justice 
 arid love demand of us, that we love God, and one 
 another, it is proper to ascertain the principle on 
 which the propriety of this demand is seen. Love 
 and hatred are what we are necessaiily inclined to; 
 and we are necessarily inclined to love that which 
 is agreeable to us, and to hate what is otherwise, 
 It would then be a most unreasonable thing to re- 
 quire us to love what is not lovely, and to hate 
 what is not hateful. If then we are required to 
 love God, it is because he is lovely, if rightly un- 
 derstood. If there were any quality in the divine 
 Being which is opposed to our well being, it is a 
 most unreasonable thing to require us to love that 
 quality. The result then of this part of the enqui- 
 ry is this, namely, justice and love both agree in 
 requiring us to love that which is altogether for 
 our own profit, and it is not in the nature of either 
 to require us to love any object beyond our inter- 
 est, I will not say that this may not be considered 
 rather a new kind of argument ; but even if it is, 
 this circumstance ought, by no means, to be urged 
 against the propriety of it ; it may be urged as a
 
 62 
 
 proper occasion for carefully examining it. If it be 
 necessary to make it still more evident, we may ask, 
 what or whose interest is to be served by our lov- 
 ing that which is of no benefit to ourselves ? No one 
 will be so erroneous as to contend that any benefit 
 can result to the divine Being from our love to him; 
 and certainly not from our loving him beyond our 
 interest in him, as it will, at once, be allowed, that 
 it is impossible to love him more than we are bene- 
 iitted by him. This argument holds equally good 
 as it applies to any one, or all of the divine attri- 
 butes. We cannot love wisdom, knowledge, pow- 
 er, justice, truth, mercy or love, to a greater de- 
 gree than we are benefit led by these divine principles. 
 As we have enjoyed the satisfaction of seeing 
 a perfect agreement in the preceptive requirements 
 of divine love and justice, it will now increase our 
 rational felicity if we can see these divine attri- 
 butes equally harmonise in retributive requisitions. 
 But as this argument has been instituted for the pur- 
 pose of showing that divine justice does not op- 
 pose the sinner's salvation, we may confine our 
 present remarks to punitive requirements. The 
 subject now to be determined is, what kind of pun- 
 ishment does divine justice require to be inflicted 
 on the transgressor for his offences, for what* pur- 
 pose, and to what extent? Answer : As it is not in the 
 nature of divine justice to do any thing to prevent 
 its own precepts from being obeyed, it can never 
 punish the sinner in any way to prevent his final 
 obedience ; but on the other hand, it keeping an eye 
 directly on the original object embraced in the 
 very design of the precept, awards that kind of pun- 
 ishment which is best calculated to work repentance 
 and reformation, which is the object of punishment, 
 and administers it until the desired effect is produ- 
 ced. It seems impossible to extend punishment any 
 Further, unless we arm it with weapons hostile to its
 
 6? 
 
 .own requirements. That tke hearer Bray see this 
 subject, if possible, still plainer, we will ask, for 
 what possible purpose can justice require any pun- 
 ishment to be inflicted on the sinner that does not 
 tend to the sinner's benefit ? As no one's interest is 
 the object of the precept, except those on whom it 
 is binding, why should the punishment for disobe- 
 dience seek any other interest than that which is 
 aimed at by the precept ? I know it is said that it is 
 necessary to punish an offender,as a terror to others, 
 to prevent their committing offences. But if this 
 be allowed, in room of its making at all against our 
 argument, it goes directly to establish it ; therefore 
 it is admitted. 
 
 Do you ask how this is ? Answer : If it be right 
 and reasonable to punish an offender for the bene- 
 fit of others, it supposes a common interest exists 
 between the one punished and those for whose ben- 
 efit we say the punishment is inflicted. This being 
 the principle on which the punishment is adminis- 
 tered, it cannot be inflicted beyond the limits of this 
 common interest. 
 
 If we are correct in this reasoning, we have the 
 increased felicity sought, for it will be seen at once 
 that divine love as much requires this punishment 
 as justice does ; for love cannot require less than 
 that which is for the good of its object. O the 
 beauty ! The glory of the scene which here opens 
 on our wondering eyes ! Divine truth, a golden 
 line, appears lovely beyond description, and mercy 
 lies parallel from the beginning to the end. 
 
 To conclude ; The imperfect view we have been 
 able to take of the immense subject of this dis- 
 course, seems amply sufficient to give elevated 
 thoughts of the divine character, thoughts calcula- 
 ted to raise our affections from every meaner object, 
 and place them on God. With what gratitude do we 
 turn our eyes towards heaven, and realize thatGojt!
 
 64 
 
 is love, is our Father; That all his infinitely' 
 glorious attributes harmonise in love ; that they 
 all work in unison, aiming at the highest possible 
 improvement and felicity of all moral beings. 
 With what pleasing reflections do we behold each 
 ether. Children of the same Father, heirs of the 
 same inheritance, pilgrims on the same journey, arid 
 bound to the same eternal home. 
 
 How reasonable it is that we should love, sincere- 
 ly love the God of love. How reasonable is it that 
 we should love one another. Our pretensions to re- 
 Egion, without love, are but frauds practised on our- 
 selves. " He that loveth not his brother whom he 
 hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath 
 not seen ?" Love is a " fountain of living waters, a 
 place of broad rivers and streams," to which we are 
 invited in the following divine language, with 
 which I close ;" Ho, every one that thirsteth, come 
 ye to the waters, and he that hath no money : come 
 ye, buy and eat ; yea, come, buy wine and milk 
 without money and without price. Jn the the last 
 day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and 
 cried, saying, if any man thirst, let him come unto 
 me and drink."
 
 .,.;"' No. 5. ^C'-'t 
 
 LECTURE SERMON, 
 
 DELIVERED AT THE 
 
 SECOND UNIVERSALIST MEETING, IN BOSTON, 
 SEPTEMBER 27, 1818. 
 
 BY HOSEA BALLOU, PASTOR. 
 
 Published Semi-Monthlj, by Henry Bowen, Devonshire-street. 
 
 ROMANS, Vin. 20. 
 
 " For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason 
 of him who hath subjected the tame in hope." 
 
 BY creature in our text, the Apostle evidently 
 means the same as he does by the " whole creation" 
 in the 22d verse. In this connection the whole 
 created humanity is three times called " the crea- 
 ture ;" and once, " the whole creation." The sub- 
 ject of the Apostle's labour in the place where our 
 text is found, seems to be that of presenting to 
 view one of the most pleasin g, consoling, and en- 
 couraging subjects, on which he delighted to dwell. 
 In the 16th verse he notices the testimony of the 
 divine Spirit, that we are the children of God. 
 From this he proceeds to show our heirahip in God, 
 and our joint heirship with Christ. The consider- 
 ation of the infinite riches and glory to which man- 
 kind is entitled, seemed to call into notice the pre- 
 sent state of suffering to which man is subjected in 
 this mortal life ; concerning which he speaks as fol- 
 lows ; " For I reckon, that the sufferings of this 
 present time are not worthy to be compared with 
 the glory which shall be revealed in us. For 
 9
 
 66 
 
 earnest expectation of the creature waiteth For th* 
 manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature 
 was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by 
 reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope ; 
 because the creature itself also shall be delivered 
 from the bondage of corruption into the glorious 
 liberty of the children of God. For we know that 
 the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain 
 together until now ; and not only they, but our- 
 selves also, which have the first-fruits of the Spirit, 
 even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting 
 for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our 
 body." By our body the author means the same 
 as he does by creature, and by the whole creation. 
 Believers, w r ho have the first fruits of the spirit are 
 distinguished in the foregoing quotation from the 
 rest of the one body, called the creature and the 
 whole creation, but in such a way as to show that 
 they were in the same condition with the rest, 
 groaning and waiting for the adoption, to wit, the 
 redemption of the whole body. And it is worthy 
 of special notice, that by first fruits of the spirit, 
 the Apostle evidently intimates that the redemp- 
 tion of the whole creature which was made subject 
 to vanity was considered as the whole or general 
 harvest. As under the law a few only partook of 
 the first fruits, but all were fed of the general 
 harvest ; so but a few seem to be partakers of the 
 first fruits of the spirit, while the whole human 
 family is entitled to the redemption of our body. 
 
 The vanity to which the creature was made sub- 
 ject may comprehend all the imperfections incident 
 to our mortal state, but especially and particularly 
 the sufferings which the author mentioned in the 
 context. He was not made subject to vanity on 
 account of his own will, for he could have had no 
 will until he was created ; but he was made subject 
 to vanity by reason of him who subjected him in
 
 C7 
 
 hope. The opinion, therefore, that man was conr 
 atituted in flesh and blood, first a perfectly holy be- 
 ing, but was made subject to vanity by sin, is as 
 contrary to the plain declaration of our text as it is 
 repugnant to the dictates of reason. 
 
 We shall now proceed to examine the common 
 doctrine called the Jail of man, and to show the 
 want of both scripture and reason for its support. 
 Such language as the following ; " before the fall, 
 since the fall, the fall of man, in Adam's fall we 
 sinned all," is- common among Christian people, 
 and is so much used by authors and preachers that 
 people in general suppose it to be Bible language, 
 and feel confident that the scriptures justify such 
 representations. But notwithstanding all that has 
 been written and spoken on this subject, and with- 
 out calling the sincerity of any in question, it seems 
 necessary to inform the hearer that no such Ian- 
 guage was ever used by the lawgiver of Israel, 
 the prophets who spake as they were moved by 
 the Holy Ghost, the Lord Jesus, or his Apostles. 
 We read nothing in the scriptures of Adam's falling 
 from the state in which he was created, no more 
 than we read of Cain's falling from the state in 
 which he was created. We are informed that 
 Adam eat of the forbidden fruit, and we are in- 
 formed that Cain slew his brother, but we are not 
 told that they did these things in one constitution 
 of nature, and fell into another constitution by 
 so doing. If Adam had not been constituted 
 in an imperfect state how could he have sinned in 
 1hat state ? It is not supposed that Adam fell out 
 of the state in which he was created before he 
 sinned, therefore he must have sinned in the state 
 in which he was formed of the dust of the 
 ground. If he sinned in the state in which he 
 was first formed, then it is evident that he wai 
 possessed ft? no perfection or holiness that secur-
 
 68 
 
 cd him against sin. What alteration was there 
 effected in the constitution of Adam by what is cal- 
 led the fall? It seems according to the account given 
 in Genesis, that Adam was not very dissimilar to 
 men in all ages of the world ; he was led into sin by 
 his companion. She who was formed and given 
 to Adam for a help-meet was the means of leading 
 him into sin ; and how many thousands in all ages 
 of the world have been led into sin by this kind 
 blessing of heaven ! Nor does it appear from anj 
 account we have in scripture, that Adam was any 
 more inflexible than his posterity in general. We 
 have no account of his withstanding strong tempta- 
 tions for a long time ; it seems the first temptation 
 was successful. If we should carefully compare 
 the conduct of Adam with what we read of Joseph, 
 candor would conclude at once in favor of the lat- 
 ter. The former did sin, but Joseph did not. But 
 here we should do great injustice if we should con- 
 tend that there was such a difference in the con- 
 stitutions of the two as to produce the difference 
 which appears in their conduct ; for this difference 
 might have arisen from circumstances distinct from 
 natural constitution. 
 
 The common doctrine on the subject of this in- 
 quiry supposes that there was a real change pro- 
 duced in man's very nature by the first transgres- 
 sion ; and such a change too, as to render the crea- 
 ture radically sinful and totally inclined to sin. 
 But we read no such account where those things 
 are particularly recorded. So far from any thing 
 of this kind, we are not informed that either Adam 
 or Eve ever committed a second crime. The 
 faithful word informs us that these first parents of 
 mankind lived a long time after eating of the for- 
 bidden fruit, but we hear nothing of their living 
 vicious lives. The second sin of which we read is 
 the murder of Abel, and this crime was so heinou=
 
 69 
 
 even in the mind of Cain, that he thought he should 
 have to die by the hand of some avenger. If man's 
 very nature was so changed by Adam's sin as com- 
 mon opinion supposes, why have we no account of 
 Adam's wicked life and of Eve's abominations? 
 Why is there no mention made of the wickedness 
 of Abel ? Did not Abel partake of this fall ? Or 
 was it in Adam's power to communicate, or not 
 communicate this sinful nature by procreation ? 
 The fact is we have no authority for this doctrine 
 which is called the fall. 
 
 The most extravagant part of the common doc- 
 trine of the first transgressor and its consequences, 
 relates to the means by which Eve was beguiled. 
 So immaculate and holy were our first parents, 
 that had it not been for the beguiling acts of a su- 
 perior being, says common doctrine, Eve could 
 never have been tempted with success. This pre- 
 sumed, the next thing is to fabricate a story about 
 a fallen Angel who was once for glory and beauty 
 the morning star of heaven , but who by rebellion 
 fell from the state in which he was created, and 
 was consigned to the burning lake for the punish- 
 ment of his sin. This prince of devils, it is believ- 
 ed, assumed the body of a serpent and persuaded 
 her to believe that she could better her condition 
 by disobeying her Maker. Milton has told this 
 story in such a fanciful manner, that the sentiment 
 lias been incorporated into the Christian faith so that 
 a denial of it is the same as a denial of the whole 
 Christian doctrine, in the opinion which we are ex- 
 
 amining. 
 
 Now if this notion of a fallen Angel &c. be a fact, 
 why are the scriptures silent on the subject ? Where 
 we read in Genesis of the serpent tempting Eve, 
 there is nothing said concerning a fallen Angel 
 called the devil. But let us ask how this Angel
 
 70 
 
 ame to sin. It is contended that Eve was so per- 
 fect that she never would have sinned unless she 
 had been beguiled by a superior mind. Now if 
 this were the case how shall we account for the sin 
 of the Angel who fell and became a devil? Was 
 he less holy before he sinned, than our first par- 
 ents ? If he could sin without a tempter, why could 
 not man sin without a tempter ? It must be allow- 
 ed that this Angel Finned on account of imperfec- 
 tion in his nature, without a tempter, or it must be 
 granted that he had one to tempt him. But whether 
 he was tempted by some other being, or by reason 
 of his constitutional infirmity, both alike prove his 
 imperfection ; for if he had been perfect, tempta- 
 tions could not have risen from within him, nor 
 from without could they have had any power up- 
 on him. This is equally applicable to man. He 
 must have been imperfect, and subject to vanity 
 or he could not have been led into sin by tempta- 
 tions from within or from without. 
 
 The hearer will easily perceive that there is no 
 other way to account for the first transgression than 
 by admitting a constitutional imperfection, in the 
 agent ; he will furthermore see that a sinful being 
 can have no power to lead one who is perfect in 
 holiness into transgression ; all beings, therefore, 
 who are sinful must have been made subject to van- 
 ity, which is the state in which man stood when 
 formed of the dust of the ground, and according to 
 the Apostle's testimony in our text. 
 
 As it seems impossible to avoid this conclusion 
 concerning the imperfect state of man in the be- 
 ginning, we shall consent, at once, to the idea in 
 our text, that i lie creature was made subject to 
 vanity, not because of his own will, but by reason 
 of the will of his Maker, who saw fit, in his infinite 
 tvisdom arid goodness, to subject the creature to all
 
 71 
 
 the vanity of this mortal state in hope f a better 
 and more perfect state hereafter. 
 
 Let us, in the next place, proceed to examine 
 the account which inspiration has given of the first 
 temptation and sin ; and let us do this with honest 
 and candid minds, with a determination to be satis- 
 fied with the scripture account. 
 
 " Now the serpent was more subtle than any 
 beast of the field which the Lord God had made, 
 and he said unto the woman, yea, hath God said ye 
 shall not eat of every tree of the garden ?" To this 
 question the woman returned the true answer, to 
 which the serpent replied ; " Ye shall not surely 
 die. For God doth know, that in the day ye eat 
 thereof, then your eyes shall be opened ; and ye 
 shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.'* Here 
 is the whole account of the first temptation. And 
 here let the question be honestly and candidly ex- 
 amined, (viz.) What is there in this account about 
 an Angel's falling from heaven to hell, and coming 
 from hell to the earth, and of his tempting Eve ? 
 Surely there is not a word that so' much as inti- 
 mates any thing on the subject. But it is contend- 
 ed, that the serpent could not have tempted Eve, 
 if some evil agent had not been in him and moved 
 him to perform so crafty a work. Why then does 
 the account say that the serpent was more subtle 
 than any beast of the field ? If the temptation was 
 the craftiness of some other creature, and not the 
 subtlety of the serpent, it was deficient from the 
 scripture representation, which suggests no other 
 subtlety in the case than ihat of the serpent. 
 Moreover, if it had been some invisible agent, who, 
 entering into the serpent, wrought the temptation 
 in question, it was that invisible agent, and not the 
 serpent that was the tempter, and ought to have 
 been the subject of the malediction which was pro- 
 nounced on the serpent* And the Lord God
 
 72 
 
 said unto the serpent, because thou hast dond this, 
 thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every 
 beast of the field : upon thy belly shalt thou go, 
 and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. 
 And I will put enmity between thee and the wo- 
 man, and between thy seed and her seed ; it shall 
 bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." 
 All this was said to the serpent, but there was 
 nothing said to that abominable wicked Angel that 
 sinned in heaven, and who was banished to hell for 
 his sin, and from hell came to this earth and tempt- 
 ed Eve ! 
 
 By this time the hearer will ask if the speaker 
 really supposes that a literal serpent did actually 
 talk to the woman and influence her to eat of a 
 forbidden fruit ? No, he does not. He humbly 
 conceives that this account is given in a scriptural 
 allegory, which may all be explained by a little at- 
 tention to the scriptures. In scripture, the serpent 
 is a hieroglyphic of wisdom. Jesus commaiided 
 his disciples to be wise as serpents. As there are 
 two sorts of wisdom mentioned in scripture, so they 
 are represented by two kinds of serpents. The 
 Apostle James speaks of wisdom as follows ; " Who 
 is a wise man, and endued with knowledge among 
 you ? Let him shew, out of a good conversation, his 
 works with meekness and wisdom. But if ye have 
 bitter envy and strife in your hearts, glory not, and 
 be not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth 
 not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. 
 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion, 
 and every evil work. -'But the wisdom that is from 
 above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy 
 to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, with- 
 out partiality and without hypocrisy." 
 
 The wisdom of God is represented by the rod of 
 Moses which became a serpent ; and the wisdom of 
 this world which cometh to naught, is represented
 
 73 
 
 by the rods of the wise men and sorcerers of Egypt, 
 which likewise became serpents. The superiority 
 of the wisdom of God over the wisdom of the flesh 
 is represented by Aaron's rod's swallowing up the 
 magicians' rods. Another representation of these 
 two wisdoms we have in the account given of the 
 fiery serpents that bit and destroyed the Israelites 
 in the wilderness, and that brazen serpent which 
 Moses made by the special command of God, 
 whose virtues were a sovereign cure for the deadly 
 stings of the fiery serpents. These fiery serpents 
 represent the wisdom of this world,- and the evil ef- 
 fects of their bite area very just representation of 
 the evil effects of false religion. And our blessed 
 Saviour has made use of the brazen serpent to re- 
 present himself. He says ; " And as Moses lifted 
 up the serpent in the wilderaess, even so must the 
 son of man be lifted up ; that whosoever believeth 
 in him should not perish, but have eternal life." 
 When the Israelites were bitten by the fiery ser- 
 pents, and the deadly poison was diffused through- 
 out their distressed bodies, only a look at the brazen 
 serpent on the pole effected a radical cure of the 
 deadly wound. So by looking unto Jesus, who is 
 the wisdom of God, we are recovered from the 
 dreadful contagion of our earthly, sensual wisdom. 
 Thus the promised seed bruises the serpent's head. 
 Let us look in the next place, and ascertain if 
 possible, the source of this sensual wisdom which is 
 enmity against the wisdom of God, and which 
 tempts us to sin. St. James says ; " Every man is 
 tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, 
 and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it 
 bringeth forth sin ; and sin, when it is finished, 
 bringeth forth death." To the Galatians St. Paul 
 says ; " I say then, walk in the spirit, and ye shall 
 not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth 
 against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh : 
 
 10
 
 and these are contrary the one to the other ; so that 
 ye cannot do the things that ye would." Is not the 
 a'ccount given by St. Paul and St. James a plain, 
 reasonable representation of the power of the flesh- 
 ly nature to strive against the spirit of divine wis- 
 dom in us, to tempt us and to lead us into sin which 
 produces death ? And if this be the way that we 
 are tempted, have we any reason to believe that it is 
 not the way in which Eve was tempted in the be- 
 ginning ? Yea, is not this contentious sensual wis- 
 dom of the flesh, the serpent which beguiled the 
 woman ? And is it not the same serpent which 
 
 beguiles both men and women and leads them into 
 sin and death? Furthermore, St. Paul says ; "Now 
 the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these ; 
 adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 
 idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulation, 
 wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envying, murders, 
 drunkenness, revellings, and such like." These 
 works are all the natural productions of our flesh- 
 ly, earthly nature, and the wisdom which is earthly, 
 sensual, devilish, is the serpent which beguiles us. 
 Now if we have found the real source of our own 
 temptations, we have also found the source of the 
 temptations of all mankind, not excepting the mother 
 of our race. Flesh and blood was the same in the 
 beginning as it is now, its powers were the same, 
 its lusts were the same, its wisdom was the same, and 
 it is to the powers and appetites of the flesh that 
 every sin we commit may be traced. 
 
 St. Paul says ; " The woman being deceived, was 
 in the transgression." Could she have been de- 
 ceived if she had been truly wise ? No, but she 
 was made subject to vanity. If she had been per- 
 fectly satisfied with her condition would she have 
 disobeyed her Maker for the sake of being more 
 wi?e ? And was it not perfectly natural for her to 
 wibh to have her husband with her in this wisdom f
 
 There appears nothing in this whole account that 
 differs from our common experience and observa- 
 tion. There is no condition in which man can be 
 placed, in the present state, that can bound his de- 
 sires, or render him perfectly satisfied with what 
 he possesses. There has been muclj said concern- 
 ing the happy, the consummately happy state in 
 which Adam and Eve were placed in the garden ; 
 long accounts have been dressed up in all the beau- 
 ties of rhetoric concerning the felicity of the hap- 
 py pair before transgression. But to describe the 
 dreadful consequences of the first sin, the calami- 
 tous change which it effected in all nature here on 
 earth, and the endless wo to which the whole pos- 
 terity of Adam was exposed by it, has exhausted all 
 the powers of human imagination. And yet, if we 
 look for these things in the scriptures we find them 
 not. What is said of the happy state of our first 
 parents before they knew good and evil ? Nothing. 
 How does the word of divine revelation expatiate 
 on the miserable state into which the first transgres- 
 sion brought man ? It extends the subject no further 
 than human experience in all ages of the world ex- 
 tends it. Sin was attended with guilt and fear ac- 
 cording to the first account we have of it, and ex- 
 perience has taught us all, that guilt and fear are 
 its natural consequences. But that the first trans- 
 gression was attended with worse consequences than 
 the sins which were committed afterward, we find 
 no authority for believing. And what would be 
 the fruits of our researches should we examine what 
 the scriptures say concerning the state of endless 
 wo to which the first sin exposed the whole human 
 race ? Why in fact we should search in vain to 
 find any thing of the kind in the word of God. 
 Even the serpent had no malediction pronounced 
 on him, that either deprived him of his natural food 
 or extended beyond hi? natural life ; much less, if
 
 76 
 
 possible, was there any suggestion, either to the 
 man or the woman, that the consequences of their 
 sin would extend into a future state. 
 
 All the'vain notions which the earthly, sensual 
 wisdom of this world has framed on this subject are 
 evidences in support of what we have endeavoured 
 to make evident, namely, that imperfection and sin 
 manifest themselves in our strife to be wise by vio- 
 lating the word of God ; and that vanity to which 
 man is the most inclined, is seen in his inventions 
 by which he renders truth, which is perfectly sim- 
 ple in itself, obscure and mysterious. 
 
 But shall it be said, because God has made the 
 creature subject to all this vanity, that he is 
 therefore unfriendly to his offspring ? No, my bre^ 
 thren, this is not the case. Blessed be God, though 
 in his infinite wisdom he saw best to subject his crea- 
 tures to vanity in this mortal state, he has made ex- 
 tensive and ample provisions in his providence to 
 render this vain state convenient in an infinite va- 
 riety of ways, and has so bountifully scattered 
 down his blessings that we have constant reason to 
 rejoice in his goodness. He did not forsake man 
 in the beginning of his career in sin, but though he 
 manifested his holy disapprobation of the defection 
 of his children, he made them sensible likewise of 
 his fatherly kindness and unchangeable goodness. 
 How affecting is the account we have of the voice 
 of the Lord God in the cool of the day calling after 
 'Adam. How tender are the words ; " Adam, Adam, 
 where art t hou?" Who can hear the language of divine 
 mercy expressed in the promises of the seed of the 
 woman who should bruise the serpent's head, with- 
 out emotions of lively gratitude? That all gracious, 
 merciful Creator, who made the creature subject 
 to vanity, subjected him in hope. 
 
 The reason assigned by the Apostle, why the 
 creature was subjected to vanity in hope, he ex-
 
 presses in the verse following our text in these 
 words ; Because the creature itself also shall be 
 delivered from the bondage of corruption, into the 
 glorious liberty of the children of God." Just 
 above he had said ; " The spirit itself beareth wit- 
 ness with our spirit that we are the children of God. 
 And if children, then heirs ; heirs of God, and joint- 
 heirs with Christ ; if so be that we suffer with him, 
 that we may be also glorified together. For I 
 reckon that the sufferings of the present time are 
 not worthy to be compared with the glory which 
 shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expecta- 
 tion of the creature waiteth for the manifestation 
 of the sons of God." 
 
 As the creature was not the author of this state 
 of vanity, so he is not the author of that hope in 
 which he is subjected ; no, nor is he the author of 
 that glorious liberty of the sons of God into which 
 the whole creation shall be delivered, from the 
 bondage of corruption. 
 
 This hope of life and immortality, our kind and 
 merciful Creator has implanted in our nature, and 
 it seems to exist as universally as the idea of a 
 supreme Being. Those notions which owe their 
 origin to the inventions of priests, and their standing 
 to the superstition of the ignorant are not uni- 
 versal ; they are limited to certain denomina- 
 tions or nations, and have nothing in them which 
 compares with the wisdom and goodness of the 
 divine Being. But the universality of the hope of 
 a future, happy existence, very fitly compares with 
 the impartial goodness of God, from which circum- 
 stance it acquires no small share of its natural evi- 
 dence. 
 
 But one of the principal objects of the gos- 
 pel of Jesus Christ seems to have been to present 
 us with full and adequate proof of the doctrine of a 
 future happy state for all mankind.
 
 78 
 
 Speaking of Jesus, the Apostle says ; " Who hath 
 brought life and immortality to light through the 
 gospel." 
 
 The hearer is cautioned against the notion, that 
 our Saviour was sent into the world to go through a 
 process in order to purchase, or procure life and 
 joimortality for man; for he came to suffer, die, and 
 rise from the dead, that he might bring life and im- 
 mortality to light ; that is, that he might make that 
 manifest which the creature groaned and travailed 
 for, and which God had given unto us in Christ 
 Jesus before the world began. 
 
 This glorious liberty of the sons of God, in hope 
 of which the whole creation groans and travails in 
 pain, is the inheritance of which we are joint-heirs 
 with Christ. Jesus our fore-runner hath entered 
 into glory, and being the head of every man, in 
 * the first fruits of them that slept. For since by 
 man came death, by man came also the resurrection 
 of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in 
 Christ shall all be made alive." 
 
 From the doctrine of our text may be drawn the 
 following inferences : 
 
 1st. The opinion which has long maintained that 
 the first temptation which led to the introduction 
 of sin into our world, was the instigation of a fallen 
 Angel, appears to be without foundation or authori- 
 ty in the scriptures, which plainly indicate that the 
 constitutional infirmities of flesh and blood are in 
 fact the Bource from whence all sinful temptations 
 rise. 
 
 2d. That tl*e common notion which Christian peo- 
 ple entertain and cultivate in the minds of their 
 children, of an invisible agent, who was once a holy 
 angel in heaven, that now continually accompanies 
 people wherever they go, and is all the time tempt- 
 ing them to sin, is nothing more than an invention of 
 the wisdom of the flesh, and is supported by no other
 
 79 
 
 means than superstition. Is there even a child, who 
 has come to the years of discretion, that cannot see, 
 that in order for this evil agent to do all that is at- 
 tributed to him, he must be every where at the same 
 time ? It seems reasonable that we should be right- 
 ly informed on this subject, because if we have enev 
 mies to contend with, it is surely necessary to know 
 them and to know their strength. Our appetites and 
 passions are at all times with us ; and though they 
 are all good in the place for which they were made, 
 and for the use for which they were created, yet as 
 they are blind in proportion to their strength, they 
 will surely lead us into sin if they are not governed 
 by wisdom and prudence. 
 
 3d. There appears no authority for the common 
 opinion, that the first transgression produced a ra- 
 dical change in the moral constitution of man, or 
 that in consequence of this first sin, man Became to~ 
 tally depraved and altogether opposed to all good, 
 and inclined wholly to all evil. Nor does it appear 
 that there was any such change effected in the phy-* 
 sical constitution of the creature, as to communi- 
 cate any taint to posterity. If even Cain had beent 
 wholly inclined to evil by nature, he would have 
 been as likely to take the life of Abel without the 
 occasion mentioned in the Scriptures as with it. 
 And if Abel had been wholly inclined to evil, he 
 would have been as likely to take the life of Cain, 
 and even that of Adam and Eve, as Cain to take his 
 life. Before sin took place it required a temptation 
 to produce it, and since the first transgression the 
 case has always been the same ; every crime is pre- 
 ceded by temptation, which would not be requir- 
 ed if man was naturally altogether inclined to 
 evil. 
 
 4th. The religion of Jesus affords us divine evi- 
 dences in support of that glorious hope of life and 
 immortality in which the whole created humanity
 
 80 
 
 was made subject to vanity. How infinitely rich 
 is this blessed hope ! This is the " anchor of the 
 soul, both sure and stedfast, entering into that with- 
 in the vail where our fore-runner hath for us enter- 
 ed." Calmly leaning on this, Faith casts her long- 
 ing eyes beyond the proud swellings of the Jordan 
 of death, sees the inviting land of promise, lays 
 hold of the earnest of the inheritance, and sings the 
 triumphant song ; " O death, where is thy sting ? 
 O grave, where is thy victory ?"
 
 
 . m- 
 
 . 
 
 No. 6. 
 
 LECTURE SERMON, 
 
 DELIVERED AT THE 
 
 SECOND UNIVERSALIST MEETING, IN BOSTON, 
 OCTOBER 11,1818. 
 
 BY HOSEA BALLOU, PASTOR. 
 
 Published Semi-Monthly, by Henry Bowen, Devonshire-street. 
 
 ISAIAH xxv. 6, 7, 8. 
 
 w And in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people <t 
 feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees ; of fat things full of 
 marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. And, he will destroy in this 
 mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that 
 is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death in victory ; and 
 the Lord God vrfll wipe away tears from off 'all faces ; and the rebuke 
 of his people shall he take away from off all the earth : for the Lord 
 hath spoken if." 
 
 THE first subject of inquiry found in this por- 
 tion of divine truth is to ascertain what the in- 
 spired author means by the mountain of which 
 he speaks in our text. 
 
 The same Prophet in his 2d chapter speaks aa 
 follows ; " And it shall come to pass in the last 
 days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall 
 be established upon the top of the mountains, and 
 shall be exalted above the hills ; and all nations 
 shall flow unto it." As the prophet here speaks 
 of the establishment of the mountain of the Lord's 
 house upon the top of the mountains, it seems to 
 indicate the setting up of the divine power and 
 government over the powers and polities of this 
 world ; the exalting of the mountain of the Lord's 
 bouse above the hills signifies the exaltation of tfet 
 
 11
 
 82 
 
 divine economy and government over all the 
 powers of the earth. The same in substance is 
 found in the 2i chapter of Daniel, where the four 
 great empires of the world are particularly cha- 
 racterised, their dissolution represented, and the 
 kingdom of God set up and established. " Then 
 was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the 
 gold, broken in pieces together, and became like 
 the chaff of the summer threshing-floors; and the 
 wind carried them away, that no place was found 
 for them ; and the stone that smote the image, be- 
 came a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.*' 
 This is explained as follows ; " And in the days 
 of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a 
 kingdom, which shall never be destroyed : and the 
 kingdom shall not be left to another people, but it 
 shall break in pieces and consume all these king- 
 doms, and it shall stand forever." 
 
 The gospel covenant is represented by mount 
 Sion, in the epistle to the Hebrews; "But ye are 
 come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the 
 living God, the heavenly Jerusalem," &c. Here 
 the same which is called a mountain is called the 
 city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. 
 In the epistle to the Galatians the two covenants 
 are represented by the allegory of Sarah and Ha- 
 gar; " For this Agar is mount Sina, and answer- 
 eth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage, 
 with her children. But Jerusalem which is above, 
 is free, which is the mother of us all." This is the 
 same Jerusalem of which mention is made in the 
 21st of Revelations, as follows : " And I John saw 
 the holy City, new Jerusalem, coming down from 
 God out of heaven, prepared as a bride,adomed for 
 her husband." This mount Sion, this heavenly, 
 new Jerusalem, this city of the living God is the 
 mountain of the Lord's house which is to be estab- 
 lished upon the top of the mountains, and exalted
 
 83 
 
 above the hills, nnd unto which all nations are to 
 flow. All nations will finally submit to the laws 
 and government of the gospel, and be willing sub- 
 jects of him who " shall have dominion from sea to 
 sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth, 
 of the increase of whose government and peace 
 there shall be no end." 
 
 As the prophet informs us, that alt nations shall 
 flow to this mountian of the Lord's house, so in our 
 text he says ; " In this mountain shall the Lord of 
 hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things," 
 which invites us to the consideration of the uni- 
 versality of the grace of the gospel. 
 
 The divinity of this testimony is visible on the 
 face of it. It is like every thing which belongs to 
 the wisdom and goodness of God. There is no 
 partiality in it. Every thing contrived by man 
 discovers its origin by its partiality ; so whatever 
 is revealed from God proves itself to be from him 
 by its impartiality. This universal impartial Ian- 
 gauge is the language which the holy Ghost saw 
 fit to use to express the extensiveness of the divine 
 goodness. The promises of God to Abraham, 
 Isaac and Jacob, expressive of the gospel covenant 
 are recorded in similar language. God cer- 
 tified the fathers, that in the promised seed 
 all the nations and all the families of the earth 
 should be blessed. These promises perfectly har- 
 monise with the prophecy under consideration. 
 In this mountain, in this seed, in this covenant, in 
 this kingdom, in this city, in this government the 
 Lord of hosts shall make unto all people a feast 
 of fat things. The same universality is expressed 
 in the 2d Psalm. " I have set my king upon my 
 holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree ; the 
 Lord hath said unto me, thou art my son ; this 
 day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall 
 give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the
 
 84 
 
 uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession." 
 Like unto this is the following in the 22d Psalm. 
 " All the ends of the world shall remember, and turn 
 unto the Lord ; and all the kindreds of the nations 
 shall worship before thee. For the kingdom is the 
 Lord's ; and he is the governor among nations." 
 This word kindreds, is used by St. Peter in the 3d 
 of Acts. " Ye are the children of the prophets, and 
 of the covenant which God made with the fathers, 
 saying unto Abraham, and in thy seed shall all the 
 kindreds of the earth be blessed." According to 
 this divine declaration, all the kindreds of the 
 earth are the children, and if children, then heirs 
 of the testimony of the prophets, and of the 
 covenant which God made with the fathers. In 
 prospect of these great and glorious things of the 
 kingdom of God, the prophet David says, in the 
 64th psalm ; " All men shall fear, and shall de- 
 clare the work of God ; for they shall wisely con- 
 sider of his doings." In the 72d psalm we find the 
 following ; " He shall have dominion also from sea 
 to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth 
 men shall be blessed in him, all nations shall call 
 him blessed all kings shall fall down before him ; 
 all nations shall serve him." Psalm 86th, " All na- 
 tions whom thoti hast made shall come and wor- 
 ship before thee O Lord ; and shall glorify thy 
 name, for thou art great and doest wondrous 
 things ; thou art God alone." In bearing such 
 testimony as the foregoing, David was a man " af- 
 ter God's own heart." In addition to what has 
 been quoted from the prophet Isaiah, the following 
 may be mentioned ; Chapter 52d, " Break forth 
 into joy, sing together ye waste places of Jerusa- 
 lem ; for the Lord hath comforted his people, he 
 hath redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord hath made 
 bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations ; 
 and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation
 
 of our God." Chap. 53 "All we, like sheep, 
 have gone astray : we have turned every one to 
 his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the 
 iniquity of us all He shall see of the travail of 
 his soul, and shall be satisfied ; by his knowledge 
 shall my rigtheous servant justify many, for he shall 
 bear their iniquities." Chapter 49th, " And he 
 said, it is a light thing that thou shouldest be 
 my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to 
 restore the preserved of Israel ; I will also give 
 thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be 
 my salvation unto the ends of the earth." Time 
 would fail us to recite all this kind of testimony 
 from the prophets who spake of the coming of the 
 Just One, and of the glory that shouid follow. We 
 find in the New Testament many arguments and 
 declarations corresponding with the promises of 
 God and the sayings of the prophets on this glori- 
 ous subject of universal grace. Jesus said, " God 
 sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world 
 but that the world through him might be saved." 
 The beloved disciple says ; " We have seen and 
 do testify, that the Father sent the Son to be the 
 saviour of the world." Again be says that " Jes- 
 us Christ the righteous is the propitiation for the 
 sins of the whole world." St. Paul bestows much 
 argument to show that " where sin abounded, grace 
 hath much more abounded ; and that as by the of- 
 fence of one,judgment came upon all men unto con- 
 demnation, even so by the righteousness of one,the 
 free gift came upon all men unto justification of 
 life." He exhorts Timothy to pray and give 
 thanks for all men, because God will have all 
 men to be saved, and as a reason for this he says, 
 that the one Mediator gave himself a ransom for all, 
 to be testified in due time. 
 
 Having presented the hearer with this very lim- 
 ited sketch of the divine testimony in favour of the
 
 universal goodness of God to mankind, a humble 
 desire is felt that we may now look with enlighten- 
 ed eyes and candid minds, to see how this doctrine 
 agrees with the works and ways of God which are 
 visible. 
 
 Can we see in all the works of God, any instance 
 where the Creator has discovered any want of 
 goodness to the creature which he has made ? Is 
 there any thing that we can point out in his uni- 
 versal providence that is a proof of a design to 
 harm the works of his hands ? Every animal, ev- 
 ery fish, every bird, every reptile and every in- 
 sect speaks forth the goodness of its Creator. Is 
 there a nation on the earth who are so treated by 
 the divine Being, that they can say to the world, 
 we have never received a favour from our 
 Creator? Is there an individual among men who 
 will stand forth and protest against all the doings 
 of God, and say, I have received nothing but evil 
 from the hand that formed me ? Is there a son or 
 a daughter of sorrow in the hearing of this humble 
 voice, who will assure us that " their light afflic- 
 tions, which are but for a moment," will not " work 
 for us an exceeding and eternal weight of glory ;" 
 and that God is not good unto all, and that his ten- 
 der mercies are not over all his works? 
 
 Much has been said in the Christian church, and 
 much has been maintained by the prejudices of the 
 ignorant against the universal goodness of God, 
 and in favor of a partial system of salvation ; but 
 after all, the great question is, has God furnished 
 those who limit his favor, with sufficient proof 
 that they are right in so doing? In his sun-shine 
 and in his rain does the Father of our spirits in- 
 form us, that he has elected a few only of his ra- 
 tional offspring to be heirs of his grace, and that 
 the remainder are doomed to everlasting wo ? No ! 
 the blessed rays of the sun which makesourday, and
 
 87 
 
 warms the earth, the rain from heaven, which waters 
 our fields and our orchards and our gardens, preach 
 the doctrine of universal impartial goodness; And 
 so do all the elements in the infinite variety of their 
 productions. The water we drink, the air we 
 breathe, the food we receive, the raiment we wear, 
 the strength of our bodies, the abilities of our 
 minds, our health, the sweets of friendship, the 
 beauties our eyes behold, the charms of music, the 
 flavour of fruits, in short every subject of thought 
 agrees in declaring the impartial goodness of God. 
 
 The enemies of this doctrine, would persuade 
 us to believe that it tends to licentiousness, and re- 
 moves all restraint necessary to prevent the gross- 
 est immorality. But have they ever attempted 
 to show that the universal promise of grace in the 
 seed of Abraham, ever tended to make that friend 
 of God, who believed it licentious ? Will they 
 undertake to show that the united testimony of 
 all God's holy prophets since the world began, who 
 have spoken of the restitution of all things, has 
 made the believers of the faithful word perverse 
 and sinful ? Can you my friends, see any thing 
 licentious in the sun-shine or in the rain, of which 
 all are made to share in rich abundance ? Is the 
 vital air licentious because it is free grace to eve- 
 ry living being? Are the cooling spring and limp- 
 id streams lascivious in their impartial favor? In 
 all these things God preaches every day, and his 
 auditors rejoice in his mercy. 
 
 Having noticed the universality of this promised 
 grace of the gospel covenent, it may be proper to 
 inquire something concerning what is promised. 
 " A feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees ; 
 of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees 
 well refined." This is surely a description, of a 
 most sumptuous feast. Here are no indications of 
 poverty and want. This feast too is made for all
 
 people ! I cast my eyes around, 1 rejoice, my iieiiJft 
 swells with joy. This feast is made for you ail ! 
 Can it be possible that this God of universal mercy 
 should have any enemies ? Yes, men are enemies 
 to God by wicked works ; yet for these very ene- 
 mies he has made this feast of fat things. But of 
 what does this feast consist ? Answer, it is com- 
 posed of the fruit of the spirit which is " love, joy, 
 peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 
 meekness, temperance." This is the river, "the 
 streams whereof make glad the city of our God." 
 
 What is richer, what is sweeter, what is more 
 nourishing than love? Love to God and love to 
 man is life, it is peace, it is joy, it is long-suffering, it 
 is gentleness, it is goodness; it believeth all things, 
 it hopeth all things, it endureth all things; it is 
 meekness, it is temperance, it is the fulfilling of the 
 law, it is everlasting righteousness. This is the 
 milk and honey, of spiritual Canaan. This is the 
 feast of which we read in the 9th of Proverbs ; 
 " Wisdom hath built her house, she hath hewn out 
 her seven pillars ; she hath killed her beasts; she 
 hath mingled her wine ; she hath also furnished 
 her table ; she hath sent forth her maidens ; she 
 crieth upon the high places of the city, whoso is 
 simple, let him turn in hither ; as for him that 
 wanteth understanding, she saith to him, come eat of 
 my bread and drink of the wine which I have 
 mingled, forsake the foolish and live : and go 
 in the way of understanding." By the Prophet 
 Isaiah we are invited to this feast in the following 
 language : " Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye 
 to the waters, and he that hath no money ; come 
 ye, buy and eat : yea, come, buy wine and 
 milk without money, and without price. Where- 
 fore do ye spend money for that which is not 
 bread ? and your labour for that which satis- 
 fieth not ? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat
 
 89 
 
 of that which is good, and let your soul delight it- 
 self in fatness." And the blessed Jesus, in the great 
 day of the feast, stood and cried, " If any man thirst 
 let him come unto me and drink." By such lan- 
 guage as the foregoing, from the prophet and from 
 the Saviour, we are assured that this feast is made 
 for " all people." If this were not the case the 
 Holy Ghost would not use general and universal 
 terms in calling on people to come to it. Should 
 one of our wealthy citizens make a public enter- 
 tainment, and send his servants into the streets to 
 invite the people in such language as is used in 
 scripture to invite sinners to the gospel feast, every 
 person who heard such invitations would either be- 
 lieve that he was welcome, or that the man who 
 made the feast was a hypocrite. To talk about 
 general calls and special calls in this case would 
 never satisfy common sense. 
 
 Our brother, who holds to conditional salvation 
 may be admitted to bring his objection against 
 the final salvation of all men, and say, that the feast 
 is made for all who will come, and the invitation is 
 to whosoever will. Reply : We grant his pr6*mises, 
 but disallow his consequences. We will a^k him 
 whether he would be concerned for fear his chil- 
 dren would starve to death, if he had bread enough 
 to give them ? Would any person be concerned 
 for their children or friends, for fear they would 
 starve, when they had enough to eat ? It is true 
 there may be difficulties to be removed ; there 
 may be a case in which though there be a plenty 
 of provision, the children may not know where it 
 is. In this case the parent would certainly use 
 means to inform them. Again, children may be 
 plagued with disobedient hearts, they may wander 
 from home, they may, from being displeased, re- 
 fuse to come to the parental table, but hunger will 
 cure all these difficulties. Let the child that wjl- 
 12
 
 00 
 
 fully refuses to cat, be indulged in its own way, 
 how soon will hunger humble its spirit. How came 
 the brethren of Joseph all to prostrate themselves 
 before him ? These men who were HO determined 
 that the dreams of Joseph should never be fulfilled, 
 who despised the thought of falling on their knees 
 to their brother, were humbled by famine. The 
 stout hearted, haughty prodigal was humbled, 
 brought to himself, and made willing to return to 
 his father's house by the force of hunger. Was 
 there even any uncertainty respecting the re- 
 duction of Joseph's brethren to a state of humi- 
 lity ? Was there any uncertainty about the final 
 return of the prodigal ? No, nor is there any un- 
 certainty that " All the ends of the world shall re- 
 member and turn unto the Lord." 
 
 That law by which all creatures are governed 
 renders it certain that all people will feed on the 
 best provisions they can procure, especially if it 
 cost them nothing. 
 
 If Ephraira of old, fed on wind, and followed 
 after the east wind, it was because he knew of no- 
 thing better. And if people now are as much de- 
 ceived as Ephraim was, they may endeavor to 
 feed on every wind of doctrine that blows from the 
 high places of spiritual wickedness ; but it is be- 
 cause they know of nothing better. God says, by 
 the mouth of the Prophet Hosea ; " My people 
 are destroyed for lack of knowledge." This situ- 
 ation of mankind seems to invite us to the consid- 
 eration of another important subject in our text, 
 expressed in the following words ; " And he will 
 destroy in this mountain the face of the covering 
 cast over all people, and the vail that is spread 
 over all nations." 
 
 This vail or face of covering which has been 
 spread over all nations is the ignorance and unbe- 
 lief of which St. Paul speaks in Romans 1 Jth, "For
 
 God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that 
 he might have mercy upon all." And the same 
 Apostle has more on the same subject in his 2d 
 Epistle to the Corinthians ; " Seeing then that 
 we have such hope, we use great plainness of 
 speech ; and not as Moses which put a vail over his 
 face, that the children of Israel could not stedfast- 
 ly look to the end of that which is abolished : but 
 their minds were blinded : for until this day re- 
 maincth the same vail untaken away in reading 
 the Old Testament ; which vail is done away in 
 Christ. But even unto this day, when Moses is 
 read, the vail is upon their heart. Nevertheless, 
 when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be 
 taken away." 
 
 The gospel dispensation and ministry were de- 
 signed for the enlightening and instrucing of man- 
 kind. Jesus was a teacher sent from God ; the 
 Apostles were commanded to teach all nations, 
 and preach thegospel to every creature. In short, 
 the true knowledge of God is the life and salvation 
 which the Saviour brings to the world ; it is the 
 feast of fat things which is made in mount Sion for 
 all people. Jesus said in his prayer to the Father : 
 " Glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may 
 glorify thee : thou hast given him power over 
 all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as ma- 
 ny as thou hast given him. And this is life eter- 
 nal, that they might know thee the only true God 
 and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." Did eve-, 
 ry child of Adam now know God and Jesus Christ 
 they would have eternal life. We are told, that this 
 is the record,that God hath given unto us eternal life, 
 and this life is in his Son ; that is, the knowledge 
 of God is in Christ Jesus, Salvation then con- 
 sists in knowing God, which makes it evident that 
 the nature of God is salvation. As fast, therefore, 
 as we advance in the knowledge of God we enjoy
 
 92 
 
 the rich provisions which are made for all people. 
 The hearer may now see the nature of the general 
 subject. The love, wisdom, knowledge and good- 
 ness of God are free for all people and are calcu- 
 lated to bless, with fulness of joy, every creature. 
 In the divine economy man is constituted capable 
 of advancing in wisdom, knowledge, and love, and 
 therefore seems destined in his nature to the en- 
 joyments under consideration. 
 
 When " all shall know the Lord," there will be 
 no need of one's teaching another ; the vail then 
 will be gone, there will be no unbelief, and of 
 course no hardness of heart. The knowledge of 
 the Lord shall cover the earth, as the waters cover 
 the sea. 
 
 Will the advocate for limited salvation, and the 
 endless misery of mankind pretend, that those who 
 are to bt> forever miserable are to remain ignorant 
 of the true character of God ? Will the time never 
 come when deception will be removed ? Have we 
 reason to believe, that error will be secured from 
 divine light so as to remain in the mind forever ? 
 Or will the opposer say ; No, error will be destroy- 
 ed, and the deceived will be brought to see 
 and know the truth, but then it will all be too late ! 
 The day of his probation will then be ended, and 
 he not saved? This has an awful sound, and such 
 talk has greatly troubled thousands, but enlighten- 
 ed none. Let us ask, how it can be possible that 
 any rational being should know divine truth too 
 late to enjoy it ? Is it possible to know God and 
 Jesus Christ and not be filled with divine love ? 
 But this subject is erroneously represented, as if 
 we were to receive eternal life as a reward for 
 knowing God in a certain given time, called the 
 time of our probation ; after which it would be no 
 advantage to us to know him. This idea does not 
 acknowledge the truth of the words of Jesus ;
 
 93 
 
 " This is life eternal, that they might know thec 
 the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou 
 hast sent." 
 
 The hearer is now invited to give a moment's at- 
 tention ta another most weighty subject contained 
 in the passage under consideration, and expressed 
 in the following words ; " He will swallow up 
 death in victory." Death is of two kinds, moral 
 and natural. Moral death is the effect of sin, nat- 
 ural death is the effect of a mortal constitution. 
 In order to swallow up these two kinds of death, sin 
 must be finished, everlasting righteousness take its 
 place, aud mortality must put on immortality. 
 The scriptures are clear on these subjects, and leave 
 no room for doubt. The fore-runner of Jesus said 
 of him ; " Behold the lamb of God which taketh 
 away the sin of the world." The beloved disciple 
 said ; " And we know that he was manifested to 
 take away our sins." Again ; " If any man sin we 
 have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the 
 righteous ;and he is the propitiation for our sins ; 
 and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the 
 whole world." Again ; " For this purpose was 
 the son of God manifested, that he might destroy 
 the works of the devil." Moral death consists in 
 unreconciliation to God and is swallowed up in vic- 
 tory by the ministration of reconciliation, to wit : 
 " that God was in Christ reconciling the world to 
 himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them." 
 Reconciliation to God is victory over moral death. 
 St. Paul says to the Romans ; " Moreover the law 
 entered that the offence might abound, but where 
 sin abounded, grace did much more abound. 
 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might 
 grace reign through righteousness unto eternal 
 life, by Jesus Christ our Lord. For when ye 
 were the servants of sin, ye were free from right- 
 eousness. What fruit had ye then in those things
 
 whereof ye are now ashamed; for the end of those 
 things is death. But now, being made free from 
 sin and become servants to God, ye have your fruit 
 unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For 
 the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eter- 
 nal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." 
 
 The 15th chapter of the 1st epistle of the Corin- 
 thians is principally devoted to the support of the 
 doctrine of the resurrection of the dead on the 
 hypothesis that "as in Adam all die,even so in Christ 
 shall all be 'made alive." The hearer is earnestly 
 solicited to read this chapter with peculiar atten- 
 tention, by which he will perceive that the Apos- 
 tle did not believe in a state of sin and misery after 
 the resurrection, but a glorious state of life and 
 immortality. The consummation of this trans- 
 cendent event the inspired author imforms us is the 
 fulfilment of our subject. "Then shall be brought 
 to pass the saying that is written, death is swallow- 
 ed up in victory." Lastly, " And the Lord God 
 shall wipe away tears from off all faces : and 
 the rebuke of his people shall he take away from 
 off all the earth ; for the Lord hath spoken it," 
 Here the prophet presents us with the most moving 
 scene that ever imagination could invent, or 
 language describe. He represents the Father of 
 our spirits as throwing away forever the rod of 
 correction; and approaching his humble, penitent 
 weeping children, and vith the pitying hand of 
 parental love wiping away the tears his fatherly 
 severity had caused to flow. 
 
 To conclude, our subject and doctrine may be 
 improved in the following manner. 
 
 As God is recommended to be impartially good to 
 the whole human family, ordering and directing all 
 things for the advancement of our happiness, he is 
 worthy of our unfeigned love and gratitude ; and 
 the due consideration of this weighty truth imposes
 
 .95 
 
 on us all the great and rational duty of conform- 
 ing our minds, affections and conduct to this be- 
 nevolent doctrine. Though the opposers of this 
 grace of universal salvation have so far misunder- 
 stood the subject, as to represent it as tending to li* 
 centionsness, we are fully convinced that no other 
 doctrine is a safe foundation on which to build a 
 moral character, or by which we can become 
 conformed to the religion of Jesus, which embra- 
 ces love to our enemies. It seems as vain as it is 
 absurd to attempt to cultivate universal love and 
 good will towards mankind by enforcing on the 
 mind partial and limited views of the goodness of 
 God. But having this divine and glorious founda- 
 tion firmly fixed in our understandings, let us re- 
 member with proper caution, that" the grace of God 
 which bringeth salvation to all men hath appeared, 
 teaching us, that denying ungodliness and worldly 
 lusts, we should live soberly, and righteously, and 
 godly, in this present world." 
 
 As the rich provisions of the gospel of everlast- 
 ing life are made for all people, as all are most ten- 
 derly and cordially invited to partake of the bles^ 
 sed fruit of the tree of life, let us all strive in earn- 
 est to understand and know the truth as it is in Je- 
 sus. Let us feast on the divine truth revealed in 
 the faithful word. Why should reasonable crea- 
 tures, blessed with such powers of investigation, and 
 capable of enjoying such intellectual dainties, lie su- 
 pinely and feed on wind, on vanity, on lies, and 
 roll falsehood and the gall of error and supersti- 
 tion as a sweet morsel under their tongues ? Come 
 away from all the partial schemes of the wisdom 
 of this world, leave behind you all the broken cis- 
 terns hewn out by man's invention, which can hold 
 no water, and come to the fountain of living waters. 
 Have you endeavoured to satisfy your souls with 
 Che polluted bread of a heaven where you must look
 
 9t> 
 
 down and see your fellow creatures in endless tor- 
 ments ? Where you must hear the ceaseless groans 
 of fathers, mothers, wives, children and other dear 
 relatives ? Have you strove to conform yourselves 
 to these abominations ? O hear the language of our 
 text, and let your hearts rejoice in the God of our 
 salvation. " In this mountain shall the Lord of 
 hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, of 
 wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of 
 wines on the lees well refined. And he will des- 
 troy in this mountain the face of the covering cast 
 over all people, and the vail that is spread over all 
 nations. He will swallow up death in victory ; 
 and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all 
 faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take 
 away from off all the earth ; for the Lord hath 
 spoken it."
 
 No. 7.: y. .;;;,;>;; 
 
 LECTURE SERMON, ; " 
 
 DELIVERED AT THE 
 
 SECOND UNIVERSALIST MEETING, IN BOSTON, 
 OCTOBER 25, 1818. 
 
 BY HOSEA BALLOU, PASTOR^ 
 
 Published Semi-Monthly, by Henry Bowen, Devonshire-street. 
 
 MALACHI, iv. 1. 
 
 *& For, behold, the day cometh that shall burn at an oven ; and all the 
 proud, yea, and all that do icickedly, shall be stubble ; and the d*y that 
 cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave 
 them neither root nor branch." 
 
 THIS portion of prophetic testimony having 
 been generally used to support the awful, terrific 
 doctrine of future endless misery, and being now 
 brought as an objection to a belief in the divine 
 goodness to all men, is the occasion of the request 
 which has called our attention to this subject at this 
 time. 
 
 As we have consented to discuss this text in thii 
 -evening's discourse, a hope is entertained that the 
 audience will feel such an interest in the investiga- 
 tion as will occasion a most devout and religioui 
 attention. If the Holy Ghost, by these words, in- 
 tended to inform us that it is the divine determina- 
 tion not to humble the proud nor reform those who 
 do wickedly, but to execute upon them endless tor-- 
 ture, no doubt it is necessary for us so to understand 
 these and other words of divine inspiration ; but if 
 fhese words were designed to indicate the redue- 
 13
 
 98 
 
 tion of the proud to humility, and the reformation 
 of those who do wickedly, it is of importance that 
 we so understand them. Let us, therefore, care- 
 fully examine the text under consideration to sec 
 if its most natural meaning is, that all the proud 
 and all that do wickedly are to be tormented eter- 
 nally in a fire that shall burn as an oven. If we 
 find that this is the true meaning of this passage, 
 we must admit it as evidence of the truth of the 
 '^^ terrific doctrine to which it is usually applied, and 
 as a refutation of the doctrine of universal salva- 
 tion by Jesus Christ. Furthermore, if the com- 
 mon use of this text be admitted, we must reason- 
 ably suppose, that this doctrine is the doctrine of 
 the holy scriptures generally. 
 
 Let us look at the text. " For, behold, the day 
 cometh that sball burn as an oven; and all the 
 proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stub- 
 ble : and the day that cometh shall burn them up, 
 saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them 
 neither root nor branch." If this language is to 
 be understood according to its most literal sense 
 it means that all the proud, yea, and all that do 
 wickedly shall be burnt up as stubble is consumed 
 that is burned in an oven. There will remain of 
 the proud and the wicked neither root nor branch. 
 To use a simile ; we will suppose that it is said of a 
 tree, that the fire has consumed it, root and branch ; 
 would any reasonable person understand that the 
 tree now exists ? No, they would not. Now if the 
 tree do not exist, it surely does not continue to 
 burn. The conclusion then is this ; if the proud 
 and those who do wickedly are literally burnt up, 
 they will cease to exist, and of course, they will 
 cease to be tormented. It would be just as reason- 
 able to contend, that John Rogers is now burning 
 in the fire that consumed him, as to apply our text 
 4o prove the endlesi torments of the wicked.
 
 We may ask why stubble should be used to rcr 
 present the proud and them who do wickedly ? 
 Stubble is extremely combustible, it is consumed 
 and gone almost as soon as it is set on fire. It 
 therefore shows that the proud and them who do 
 wickedly will continue to burn but a short time, 
 and this idea is fully expressed in the conclusion 
 of our text; "it shall leave them neither root nor 
 branch." The Holy Gfcost, by the mouth of 
 David, has said, as recorded in the 37th Psalm ; 
 " For yet a little while and the wicked shall not 
 be ': yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, 
 and it shall not be." According to this divine 
 prediction the wicked will not exist but a little 
 while and of course cannot suffer but a little 
 while ; for they surely cannot suffer any longer 
 than they exist. We read in the 10th of Proverbs 
 as follows, " As the whirlwind passeth, so is the 
 wicked no more ; but the righteous is an everlast- 
 ing foundation." 
 
 Not only does the text under consideration ful- 
 ly disprove the idea to which it is usually applied, 
 but the several passages already quoted equally 
 disprove it. To their united testimony we may 
 add what candid, unprejudiced reason seems to 
 suggest on the same subject. *J^ 
 
 It is granted by all who profess to believe in a 
 Supreme Being, that he is a Being of infinite 
 goodness. Now we know that it is not the nature 
 of goodness to harm any creature, but to do good 
 to all. From these plain self-evident facts we in- 
 fer, that God will never administer any kind of 
 affliction to any of his creatures, which is not de- 
 signed for their benefit. If a creature be in a 
 state of keen distress, from which there is no hope 
 of recovery, to put an end to this creature's ex- 
 istence is a favor. That very fond and compas- 
 sionate love, which renders the parent solicitous 
 for the child'i recovery from pain and sickness,
 
 100 
 
 jmd impels to every possible exertion which pro- 
 mises the least relief, will, the moment all hope is 
 gone, seek repose in the dissolution of nature. 
 Were it proposed to a kind parent, whose tender 
 offspring is struggling with the distress of a most 
 painful complaint, that though the child could not 
 be cured, it might be preserved in its present situa- 
 tion to old age, would this be chosen rather than 
 that these pains should subside in the peaceful 
 sleep of death ? The evident fact is, that good- 
 ness is never willing to prolong pain and dis- 
 tress unless it is seen how this may prove bene- 
 ficial to the subject. It therefore belongs to those 
 who contend for the doctrine of endless punish- 
 ment, to cast in their minds whether they can justi- 
 fy themselves in giving to the Father of our spirits 
 a character, which for cruelty infinitely exceeds 
 the most unfeeling tyrant which has ever oppressed 
 mankind. 
 
 The faithful word of divine inspiration, as 
 recorded in the 57th chapter of Isaiah informs us, 
 that God " will not contend forever, neither will he 
 be always wroth : for the spirit should fail before 
 him, and the souls which he has made." And by 
 the same divine authority we have it recorded in 
 the 3d chapter of the Lamentations, that the " Lord 
 will not cast off forever : but though he cause grief, 
 yet will he have compassion according to the mul- 
 titude of his mercies. For he doth not afflict wil- 
 lingly, nor grieve the children of men." 
 
 While these last quoted passages prove, beyond 
 all contradiction, that God will not punish his 
 creatures with an endless punishment, they as ful- 
 ly show that the design of punishment is not to an- 
 nihilate the soul that God has made. The reason 
 which God renders in the passage quoted from 
 Isaiah, why he will not contend forever nor be al- 
 ways wroth is because the spirit would fail before 
 him, and the soul which he has made.
 
 Iftl 
 
 We may now consider the following important 
 question, (viz.) How is it possible that all the 
 proud, yea, and all that do wickedly should be 
 burnt up root and branch, and yet be saved in the 
 Lord Jesus with an everlasting salvation ? And 
 furthermore, how can the wicked be saved by the 
 grace of God, if the words spoken by David be 
 true, where he says, as before quoted ; " For ) et a 
 a little while and the wicked shall not be ?" If the 
 wicked are not allowed to exist, how can they be 
 saved ? 
 
 Reply. Here we think is a proper place to bring in 
 the scripture doctrine of regeneration or new birth, 
 not with a design to treat it by way of explaining 
 it, but by application. Jesus said to the Jews ; 
 " Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of 
 your father ye will do." Now suppose any of 
 these Jews were converted by the spirit of truth 
 after our Saviour's ascention to glory, they there- 
 by became the children of God. If so, they were 
 no longer the children of the devil. If any of the 
 children of the devil can by regenerating grace, 
 become the children of God, then by the same 
 grace all the children of the devil may become the 
 children of God. Suppose this should ever be ac- 
 complished would not the predictions of the Pro- 
 phets be fulfiled ? Where are the wicked ? There 
 are none. Where is his place ? As there are none 
 wicked so there is no place for the wicked. Where 
 is the stubble ? the fire has passed over it there 
 is no stubble. Look carefully, see if the root be 
 not left the root is all consumed. Are the 
 branches spared ? There is neither root nor branch 
 left. 
 
 Now turn your eyes and behold the innumera- 
 ble multitude of all nations on mount Zion. From 
 whence came they ? These are they who came 
 out of great tribulation, and have washed their
 
 made them white in the blood of the 
 lamb. They have been translated out of the king- 
 dom of darkness into the kingdom of God's dear 
 Son. 
 
 The hearers will now ask if we are to explain 
 the text under consideration in this way ? Is it in 
 reality a fact that this text which has been so often 
 quoted to terrify us with the apprehensions of nev- 
 er ending burnings, does, in reality, mean the 
 purification of all who do wickedly, and the total 
 destruction of wickedness ? 
 
 Reply : As we have already proved, that the 
 text can neither be applied to the endles duration 
 of punishment, nor yet to the annihilation of th 
 proud and them that do wickedly, we may now 
 proceed to enquire for its true application, by 
 bringing it into connection with other passages in 
 particular where similar language is used, arid with 
 those generally which express the design and will 
 of God concerning sinners. By a careful atten- 
 tion to this method, we shall be likely to avoid any 
 application that would be in opposition to the re- 
 Tealed testimony. 
 
 " For, behold, the day cometh that shall burn as 
 an oven." What day is this? A little before in 
 the preceding chapter, the Prophet uses the follow- 
 ing words ; " Behold I will send my messenger 
 and he shall prepare the way before me ; and the 
 Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his 
 temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom 
 ye delight in ; behold he shall come saith the Lord 
 of hosts. But who may abide the day of his corn- 
 ing ? and who shall stand when he appeal eth ? for 
 he is like a refiners fire, and like fuller's soap. 
 And he shall set as a refiner and purifier of silver; 
 and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge 
 them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto 
 the Lord an offering in righteousness."
 
 103 
 
 The messenger here promised, who should prfc* 
 pare the way before the Lord, we find in John the 
 baptist, accordingly as we read Luke 1st, " And 
 t.hou,cbild,shalt be called the prophet of the highest* 
 for thou sha It go before the face of the Lord to 
 prepare his ways." Compare also, Isaiah 40th, 3d, 
 with Luke 3d 4th. By bringing these scriptures 
 together we learn, that the day spoken of in this 3d 
 chapter of Malachi was the time of the coming of 
 Christ who is called the messenger of the covenant, 
 who should be as a refiner's fire and like fuller's 
 toap. There is no doubt then but this scripture 
 was a prophecy of the gospel day, and of its 
 refining and purifying mankind. 
 
 We shall in the next place prove that the day 
 spoken of in our text is the same day of which 
 mention is made in the preceding chapter, which 
 we have shewn to be the gospel day. Following 
 our text the Prophet goes on to describe what shall 
 take place on this day that shall burn as an oven, 
 &c. but before he closes the subject he says ; " Be- 
 hold, I will send you Elijah the Prophet before the 
 coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. 
 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the 
 children, and the heart of the children to the fath- 
 ers, lest Income and smite the earth with a curse. 17 
 The header will observe that he who is called Eli- 
 jah in the Old Testament is called Elias in the New. 
 Speaking of John, Jesus says, as recorded Mat. 
 11;" For this is he of whom it is written, behold 
 I send my messenger before thy face, which shall 
 prepare thy way before thee. And if ye will re- 
 ceive it, this is Elias which was for to come.'* 
 Thus as evidently as we can prove any thing from 
 the scriptures, we prove that the day that is men- 
 tioned five or six times in these two chapters is the 
 gospel day. 
 
 The Prophet Isaiah speaks of this burning day 
 in hi* 9tb chapter as follows ; " For erery battle
 
 104 
 
 of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments 
 rolled in blood, but this shall be with burning and 
 full of fire. For unto us a child is born, unto us.a 
 son is given, and the government shall be upon hi* 
 shoulder : and his name shall be called Wonderful, 
 Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Fath- 
 er, the Prince of peace. Of the increase of his 
 government and peace there shall be no end." 
 
 As it is granted by all that this prophecy alludes 
 to Christ and to the peace which he has made by 
 the blood of his cross, it may be proper to ask 
 whether it be not reasonable to conclude that this 
 burning is the same as mentioned in our text, and 
 this fuel of fire the same as stubble IH our text ? If 
 what is so reasonable be allowed, it seems perfectly 
 afe to allow, that the true meaning of the passage 
 under discussion, is the purifying of the wicked " by 
 the spirit of judgement and the spirit of burning." 
 
 The fire which distinguishes the day and work 
 of the great sanctifier of sinners is described by 
 John, the fore runner of Jesus, in Mat. 3, " I indeed 
 baptise you with water unto repentance ; but he 
 that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose 
 shoes I am not worthy to bear ; he shall baptise 
 you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire ; whose fan is 
 in his hands, and he will thoroughly purge his floor 
 and gather his wheat into his garner, biu he will 
 burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." Thus 
 the true spiritual baptism of Jesus is with the Holy- 
 Ghost and with fire ; and with the fire, with which 
 he baptises, he burns up the chaff. 
 
 In 1st Corinthians, 3d St. Paul has a passage 
 which is remarkably similar to the one we are in- 
 vestigating ; it reads thus ; " Now if any man 
 build upon this foundation, gold, silver, precious 
 stones, wood, hay, stubble ; every man's work shall 
 be made manifest : for the day shall declare it, be- 
 cause it shall be revealed by fire ; and the fire shall 
 try every man's work of what sort it is. If
 
 103 
 
 man's work abide which he hath built there- 
 upon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's 
 work shall be burnt, he shall suffer loss : but he 
 himself shall be saved ; yet so as by fire." In this 
 passage wicked works are called stubble ; these 
 works are to be burnt up, and the wicked saved ; 
 yet so as by fire. Now if we allow scripture to 
 explain scripture, we may be satisfied of the true 
 meaning of our text. "All the proud, and all 
 them that do wickedly" must pass the fire of the 
 day of the Lord. In the character of the proud 
 and the wicked they must be destroyed root and 
 branch, and be translated into the kingdom of 
 God's dear Son. 
 
 We may now proceed to show, that this sense of 
 the passage under consideration is agreeable to 
 the scripture testimony generally in respect to 
 God's will and revealed purpose concerning sinners. 
 
 In St. Paul's 1st epistle to Timothy he exhorts 
 him to pray and give thanks for all men, and as a 
 reason for so doing, he says ; " For this is good and 
 acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour ; who 
 will have all men to be saved and to come unto 
 the knowledge of the truth." In his epistle to the 
 Ephesians, the same author says ; " Wherein he 
 hath abounded towards us in all wisdom and pru- 
 dence ; having made known unto us the mystery 
 of his will, according to his good pleasure, which 
 he hath purposed in himself: that in the dispensa- 
 tion of the fullness of times he might gather to- 
 gether in one all things in Christ, both which 
 are in heaven and which are on earth ; even in 
 him." According to these passages it is the will 
 of God that all men should be saved, should be. 
 gathered together in Christ. And Jesus himself 
 says ; " I came down from heaven, not to do mine 
 own will, but the will of him that sent me." If God 
 will the salvation of all men, and Jesus came to do 
 his Father's will it is evident that he came to save 
 14
 
 106 
 
 all men. Again the Saviour says ; " For God sent 
 not his Son into the world to condemn the world ; 
 but that the world through him might he saved." 
 The forerunner of Jesus sajs of him; " Behold the 
 Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the 
 world." When the religious people of the Jews 
 found fault with Christ because he was a friend to 
 publicans and sinners, lie informed them that he 
 came to call sinners to repentance, and to seek and 
 to save that which was lost. In a word, the minis- 
 try of the gospel is a ministry of reconciliation, 
 and testifies " that God was in Christ Jesus recon- 
 ciling the world to himself, not imputing their 
 trespasses unto them." 
 
 Not only does the testimony of Jesus, which we 
 have quoted, prove that sinners are the objects of 
 God's love and the subjects of gospel salvation, 
 but St. Paul reasons to the same point ; in his epis- 
 tle to the Romans he sa} s ; " But God commendeth 
 his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sin- 
 ners, Christ died for us." To the Ephesians he 
 says ; " But God, who is rich in mercy, for the 
 great love wherewith he loved us, even when we 
 were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with 
 Christ." Nothing is more obvious than that it was 
 the gracious design of the coming of Christ, and 
 the introduction of the gospel dispensation, to save 
 sinners from their sins, purify them by the spirit of 
 grace, and reconcile them to God. But how en- 
 tirely repugnant to all this is the opinion to which 
 our text is usually applied. In room of humbling 
 the proud, and bringing sinners to repentance, it is 
 believed that God will exercise unmerciful wrath 
 on his erring offspring to all eternity. Though the 
 text carries not the least intimation of any such 
 thing in it, yet so fixed is this notion, by the force 
 of tradition, that it seems almost as hard to disuade 
 people from it, as it is for a camel to go through 
 the eye of a needle.
 
 107 
 
 That we may understand the ways of God with 
 the proud and them who do wickedly, it may 
 be proper to notice some instances which are re- 
 corded for our instruction. That of Nebuchad- 
 nezzar king of Babylon will not be considered un- 
 appropriate. Great was the pride of this prince 
 and great was his wickedness. Notwithstanding 
 God had warned him in a dream which Daniel the 
 Prophet expounded to him, and notwithstanding 
 the Prophet most affectionately counselled him to 
 break off his sins by righteousness, and his iniqui- 
 ties by shewing mercy to the poor ; yet such was 
 the pride of his wicked heart, that it seems he gave 
 no heed to these kind and seasonable monitions, 
 " but at the end of twelve months he walked 
 in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. The 
 king spoke and said, is not this great Babylon that 
 I have built for the house of the kingdom, by the 
 might of my power, and for the honor of my ma- 
 jesty ? While the word was in the king's mouth 
 there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king 
 Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken ; the kingdom 
 is departed from thee ; and they shall drive thee 
 from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts 
 of the field : they shall make thee to eat grass like 
 oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until 
 thou know that the Most High ruleth in the king- 
 dom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will." 
 All this God accomplished on this proud monarch, 
 until his body was wet with the dew of heaven, his 
 hairs were grown like eagle's feathers, and his nails 
 like bird's claws." This humbled his heart, return- 
 ed to him his understanding, raised his eyes to heav- 
 en, and this is his confession; * Now I, Nebuchad- 
 nezzar praise, and extol, and honor the King of 
 heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways 
 judgment ; and those that walk in prye he is able 
 abase." Was every child of Adam a Nebuchad- 
 nezzar, and every heart as proud as his, how easy
 
 would it be for infinite wisdom, power and good- 
 ness to humble them all to a due sense of their de- 
 pendence on God. Such as was the result of God's 
 dealings with this haughty prince, we may reason- 
 ably suppose will be the result of his chastising 
 providence on " all the proud and all them that do 
 wickedly" for " those that walk in pride he is able 
 to abase." 
 
 Though the means which our heavenly Father 
 may use with his disobedient offspring may vary, 
 we have no reason to believe that his designs are 
 partial, we have no evidence to support the notion 
 that he will humble some and grant them mercy ; 
 but punish others eternally. 
 
 Another particular instance of God's dealings 
 with one who did extremely wickedly is the case 
 of David king of Israel. The crimes which this 
 monarch committed being pointed out to him in the 
 faintest simile which their nature would admit, he 
 adjudged the criminal to death But what were 
 the dealings of God towards him. He was visited 
 with such awful calamities in his family as were as 
 much worse than death, as his crimes were more 
 heinous than the one represented to him by the 
 prophet Nathan, for which he said, the man that 
 hath done this shall surely die. But was David 
 finally rejected from the favour of God ? 
 j^o, for he sang " of mercy and of judgment," and 
 praised God whom he acknowledged to be his sal- 
 vation. 
 
 It surely will not be contended, that the Divine 
 Being pays any peculiar respect to kings, by deal- 
 ing with their crimes in a more lenient manner, 
 than he does with the crimes of others. It should 
 be allowed that the higher a man's station is in so- 
 ciety the greater his criminality if he use his power 
 contrary to his duty. 
 
 If then, the king of Israel could be punished 
 here in this life, according to the offence which he
 
 109 
 
 had committed, and if he were duly humbled anfl 
 received into favour, have the wicked now any rea- 
 son to expect to escape the righteous judgements 
 of God ? And have the religious any reason to 
 say, that God will never humble the wicked and 
 receive them all to mercy ? Was every child of 
 Adam a murderous David, and had sins as great as 
 his stained every soul : Yet would every humble, 
 penitent believer in Jesus say, "Behold the Lamb 
 of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." 
 
 It is allowed, if there be some more stiff-necked 
 than others, and harder to be brought into humil- 
 iation, we may not yet have mentioned them ; but 
 we shall find them in the case of the pharisee. He, 
 who by the mighty power of grace was converted 
 from a spiritually proud, and persecuting pharisee, 
 to a humble, meek disciple of Jesus, whom he had 
 persecuted, is such a trophy of divine mercy, we 
 now hold him up before you all as an example of 
 God's dealings with all the proud and all them 
 which do wickedly." What does St. Paul say of 
 himself? " This is a faithful saying, and worthy of 
 all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the 
 world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. How- 
 beit, for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me 
 first Jesus Christ might shew forth all long-suffer- 
 ing, for a pattern to them which should hereafter 
 believe on him to life everlasting." Was every 
 son and daughter of human nature a persecuting 
 Saul, yet there would be hope that they might all 
 be brought to say, " Lord, what wilt thou have me 
 to do? But when it pleased him who separated 
 me from my mother's womb and called me by his 
 grace, to reveal his son in me, immediately I con- 
 ferred not with flesh and blood." 
 
 Is it necessary to name a fourth particular in- 
 stance, and shall it be selected from among the er- 
 ring daughters of Eve ? Consider then the case of 
 Mary Magdalene out of whom the bruiser of the ser-
 
 head cast seven devils. Was every man, wo- 
 man and child in the world as possessed as was this 
 woman, who was a sinner, yet might the grace of 
 the Redeemer bring them all to wash his feet with 
 the tears of penitance, and annoint him with the 
 precious ointment of much love and humble grati- 
 tude. 
 
 A hope is entertained that the hearer will not be 
 disposed to say, if all this be true we may indulge 
 in every sin and abomination. Of the whole seven 
 that were cast out this argument is the worst. 
 This is ingratitude the basest of all the serpent 
 tribe. 
 
 Did the king of Babylon find by experience 
 that because God was able to abase those who 
 walk in pride, it was therefore as well to walk in 
 pride as to be humble ? Did David find by expe- 
 rience, that sin against God and his fellow crea- 
 tures was attended with no evil ? Must sin be rolled 
 as a sweet morsel under the tongue ? Must a guilty 
 conscience be esteemed as a friend that sticketh, 
 closer than a brother ? Our argument to prove the 
 doctrine of the impartial goodness of God towards 
 all men, does in no sense deny his divine severity 
 towards the wicked. 
 
 By understanding our text in the way we have 
 explained it, we discover its harmony with other 
 passages where similar language is used ; we also 
 see its agreement with the united testimony of 
 scripture respecting the divine will and purpose 
 concerning the reconciliation and salvation of sin- 
 
 O 
 
 ners. 
 
 But in the common way of understanding this 
 passage, it is made to contradict the whole scheme 
 of the gospel, and to represent every subject of 
 divine grace as an object of neverending wrath. 
 Such absurdities are constantly reiterated from our 
 pulpits, and in almost all sermons the glaring con- 
 tradiction is urged on the hearers, that sinners are
 
 Ill 
 
 the objects of divine love, and eternal vengenee ; 
 that Jesus came into our world for the express 
 purpose of saving sinners, and that sinners must be 
 endlessly miserable. There can be no wonder 
 that the common people are getting to be weary 
 of such preaching, nor is there any just reason of 
 complaint if attempts are making to effect a refor- 
 mation. 
 
 Not only is it our duty to endeavour to explain 
 particular passages in a way to bring them into the 
 general theme of the scriptures, but due attention 
 should be paid to understand the scriptures in a 
 way to agree with the disposition and conduct 
 which the religion of Jesus Christ requires. Sup- 
 pose then, that we adopt the common opinion of 
 our text, and contend that the Holy Ghost moved 
 the Prophet to set forth the endless misery of " all 
 the proud and all them that do wickedly," in the 
 language of this passage, will it then be easy to re- 
 concile this with the disposition which onr religion 
 requires us to exercise towards our enemies, afiRl 
 with our duty to mankind ? Can we see the pro- 
 priety of loving those who we believe are the ob- 
 jects of the unmerciful vengenee of our Creator, 
 of praying for those who we believe are predesti- 
 nated to endless sufferings. 
 
 But if we understand our text and the scriptures 
 in general to teach the doctrine of reconciliation, 
 and to support the joy, inspiring belief that he, who 
 gave himself a ransom for all men, will finally see 
 of the travail of his soul and be satisfied ; that he 
 who sets a refiner and purifier of silver, will even- 
 tually purify the wicked from all sin, humble the 
 proud, and give all to know the Lord, whom to 
 know is life eternal, it seems that the Christian duty 
 of loving all men, doing good to all men, and pray- 
 ing for all men is perfectly consistent with such,a 
 belief.
 
 112 
 
 There is another particular rule according td 
 which particular passages, and indeed the scrip- 
 tures in general should be explained ; that is, the 
 knowledge of the truth gives joy to the heart. 
 St. Paul informs us, that " chanty rejoiceth in the 
 truth." It is then an evidence that we rightly un- 
 derstand the scripture, if the love of God shed 
 abroad in the heart can rejoice in the sentiment. 
 This Christian audience is now affectionately cal- 
 led on to try the sentiment usually supported by the 
 text under consideration, by the rule last suggust- 
 ed. If you can truly say that you sincerely love 
 all mankind, that you entertain that charity for all, 
 which suffereth long and is kind, can you say that 
 you rejoice in the belief, that millions of your fel- 
 low creatures are predistinated to endless suffer- 
 ings? This you all acknowledge is impossible. 
 How then can God, who is love itself, ordain a dis- 
 pensation of severity the design of which is to per- 
 petuate the sufferings of his own offspring as long 
 ?*s he shall exist ? 
 
 My brethren, " there is peace in believing and 
 joy in the Holy Ghost." But is there any peace 
 or joy in believing in this doctrine of never ending 
 misery ? There surely is not. But if we really be- 
 lieve in the divine testimony, which plainly shows 
 that it is the plan of God, manifested in Christ Jesus, 
 to finish sin and to make an end of transgressions, 
 to take away our sins, to reconcile the world to 
 himself ; and that all his judgments and his mercies 
 are wisely directed to effect this blessed object, 
 we can "rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of 
 glory.'' But while we rejoice in the consoling be- 
 lief, that all the judgments of God will finally even- 
 tuate in the reduction of " all the proud and all 
 them that do wickedly" to obedience, let us be 
 wise for ourselves, and adorn the doctrine of God 
 our Saviour, by doing justly, loving mercy and 
 walking humbly before God.
 
 I '',: No - a 
 
 I LECTURE SERMON, 
 
 DELIVERED AT THB 
 
 SECOND UNIVERSALIST MEETING, IN BOSTON, 
 NOVEMBER 8, 1818. 
 
 BY HOSEA BALLOU, PASTOR. 
 
 Published Semi-Monthly, by Henry Bowen, Devonshire-street. 
 
 DEUTERONOMY, xxxiii. 16, 17. 
 
 *' Let the blttring come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the 
 head of him that was separated from hit brethren. His glory is like tht 
 firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns : 
 with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth ; 
 *nd they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousand; 
 / Manasseh." 
 
 THE events which the divine historian has re- 
 corded, respecting Joseph the son of the patriarch 
 Jacob, form a subject remarkably instructing to 
 every attentive observer. 
 
 The treatment he received from his brethren 
 was of such a peculiar cast, that Moses the prophet 
 of the Lord, more than four hundred years after- 
 ward, in the blessing pronounced on his family, 
 makes the honorable mention of his being separat- 
 ed from his brethren which we find in our text. 
 
 This memorable separation, the causes which oc- 
 casioned it, the circumstances which attended it ; 
 the wisdom and goodness of God manifested by it, 
 and the rich blessing which finally came on him in 
 consequence of his having been separated from hi* 
 brethren, will form matter for the first general 
 section of the present discourse. 
 15
 
 114 
 
 Moved with envy, Joseph's brethren sold him tw 
 the Tshmelites, who were going from Gilead with 
 spies into Egypt, where Joseph was again sold for a 
 bond slave. The causes which seemed to occasion 
 this deadly envy were the following. Joseph was 
 the son of his father's old age, and until about the 
 time of his being sold, the only child of the belov- 
 ed Rachel. It seems rather difficult to determine 
 whether Benjamin was born, or not at this time. 
 The faithful historian informs us, that " Israel 
 loved Joseph more than all his children, because 
 he was the son of his old age." By this it would 
 rather seem that Benjamin was not born for he 
 was more especially the son of Jacob's old age than 
 Joseph. But the scripture chronology supposes 
 that Benjamin was born, and of course, that Rachel 
 <lied in the one thousand seven hundred and twen- 
 ty ninth year before Christ, and that Joseph was 
 sold the same year. Such is the nature of partial- 
 ity it seldom avoids being seen. It was so visible 
 in Jacob's conduct, that it created an unhappy jeal- 
 ousy in the minds of the rest of the family, so that 
 they " hated Joseph, and could not speak peacea- 
 bly unto him." 
 
 Nor was this parental partiality the only occa- 
 sion of that cruel envy which moved Joseph's 
 brethren against him ; for we are informed that 
 heaven inspired him with two remarkable dreams, 
 which evidently suggested the idea of his future 
 superiority over them, and their bowing down to 
 him as to a superior. An envious mind is always 
 in the dark. Had these brethren been wise, they 
 would have seen no occasion to be angry at their 
 brother. If their father was imprudent enough to 
 indulge an improper paitiality in favor of the sort 
 of his old age, it was far from right to hate the son 
 for the fault of the father. If they supposed the 
 dreams which their brother told were not divinelv 
 
 m 
 
 dictated, but were either the fruits of vain imagina-
 
 115 
 
 ations, or only contrived up in order to deceive, 
 they might have saved themselves any trouble by 
 hein*? content to wait with patience until time 
 should shew the folly of all such vain attempts or 
 imaginations. But their hearts were not right ; 
 they therefore took the wrong way, the broad 
 road that leads to destruction. v 
 
 Full of burning, envy and indignation these bre- 
 thren left the family circle, the sacred tent of 
 venerable Israel, in the vale of Hebron, and went 
 to fe' r 1 their father's flock at Shechem. 
 
 Notwithstanding Jacob felt a partiality for 
 Joseph, he was by no means unmindful of his other 
 children. He felt a solicitous concern for the wel- 
 fare of his absent sons, and proposed to Joseph 
 that he should go to Shechem to enquire for his 
 brethren's health and prosperity. The tender un- 
 suspicious youth was as ready to obey as the father 
 was to command. Without the least hesitation 
 or suspicion he sat off on this errand of love. Lit- 
 tle did the venerable patriarch think what treat- 
 ment awaited the darling of his heart ; little did he 
 then think of the sorrows which were to overwhelm 
 his soul. Little did the tender child anticipate the 
 cruel sufferings which were to reward his filial 
 obedience and fraternal affection. Little did he 
 think, when he parted with his father in the lovely 
 vale of Hebron, that he should see him no more 
 till he should embrace him in a strange land, where 
 he should be a father to his father, and the lord 
 and support of his brethren. 
 
 When he came to Shechem he was informed that 
 his brethren had removed to Dothan where he im- 
 mediately repaired and found them. But here in 
 room of meeting the friendly eye and the affection- 
 ate smile, and being kindly welcomed to peaceful 
 tents of humble shepherds, he beholds the eye of 
 anger kindled with envy, the clouded brow of 
 wrath foreboding an awful storm, the dread image
 
 of hate drawn in each visage. In vain does he 
 turn his innocent eye from one to another in search 
 of a kind protector. He is violently seized ,strip- 
 cd of his coat of many colours and cast into a pit 
 that was in the wilderness. This done, these un- 
 natural brethren sat down to eat bread. 
 
 Here we may observe the wisdom and goodness 
 of God in making use of one sinful passion to con- 
 trol another so as to cause the wrath of man to 
 praise him, and to restrain the remainder. Divine 
 providence so ordered, that at this hour the tra- 
 veling merchants from Gilead arrived at this place, 
 which suggested the idea of selling Joseph. These 
 murderous brethren had formed the determination, 
 in the first place, to take his life outright ; but 
 Reuben wishing to deliver him out of their hands, 
 proposed to cast him into the pit, where their de- 
 termination was to let him die. But now avarice 
 gains so much on anger, as by promising to rid 
 tfcern forever of their fear of becoming at all de- 
 pendent on Joseph, that they consent to sell him 
 for twenty pieces of silver. To attempt to de- 
 scribe the feelings of Joseph on this trying occa- 
 sion would be in vain. Poor solitary youth, not 
 an earthly friend in the wide world that could ex- 
 tend to him the arm of deliverance, or even speak 
 one consoling word. a Separated from his bre- 
 thren," he now moves along with his unfeeling 
 masters, but with what reluctant steps. No doubt 
 he cast a lingering eye of compassion on his perse- 
 cutors, and how hard was the thought that he 
 should see them no more. With what painful re- 
 flections did his thoughts return to the parental 
 tent in the lovely vale of Hebron, how did his bo- 
 som swell with grief when the pangs of everlasting 
 adieu to the sacred circle of home, country and 
 liberty pierced his tortured soul ? But with his 
 brethren were very different reflections. They 
 had fortunately sold their fears for twenty pieces
 
 of silver. As the object of their envy receded 
 from their sight, they sought repose in a refuge of 
 lies and deceit. They now felt secure from the 
 humiliating thought of ever bowing down to their 
 brother or of seeing their father's fondness exercis- 
 ed over the child of his old age. They now rend 
 the coat of many colours,dip it in blood and carry 
 it to their father. He knows the garment, and ex- 
 claims ; " it is my son's coat ; an evil beast hath 
 devoured him ; Joseph is without doubt rent in 
 pieces." He mourns the untimely death of his 
 son, determined to refuse all comfort, and to go 
 down to the grave, to his son mourning. 
 
 Let us now notice the remarkable instances of 
 the wisdom and goodness of God manifested in all 
 this sinful, disastrous conduct of the cruel sons of 
 Israel, and in the partiality of the over fond father. 
 
 According to rational calculation, we may sup- 
 pose, that if the father of this family had preserved 
 an impartial regard for his children, it would have 
 been the means of lengthening its tranquility. If 
 Joseph had not dreamed and told the dreams which 
 served to kindle the fire of envy in his brethren's 
 hearts, it seems reasonable to suppose that they 
 might all have lived harmoniously and in peace. 
 But how evident it is that God overruled all these 
 circumstances and events for the good of all con- 
 cerned. How evident it is that the divine wisdom 
 had the directing of all these affairs. Joseph is 
 now safe in Egypt the country of his future glory, 
 excellency and usefulness, but a bond slave, a 
 menial servant. Who could believe that this de- 
 graded condition lay on his road to fame ? But 
 now consider him accused by his mistress of an 
 infamous crime, consider him cast into prison. 
 Here again the criminality and deceit of his ac- 
 cusor is all controled by heaven for the honor of 
 God, the good of millions, the exaultation of the 
 innocent sufferer and the celebration of ages.
 
 118 
 
 Into the same prison where Joseph was bound, 
 the king cast his chief butler and chief baker, 
 whose dreams Joseph interpreted agreeably to the 
 final verdict of his majesty. But the chief butler, 
 contrary to the request of injured Joseph, was so 
 elated with being again restored to favor and office, 
 that he forgot the young prisoner who for two full 
 years more lay in the prison, until the dreams of 
 Pharoah brought him to the butler's recollection. 
 It was about fourteen years from the time Joseph 
 left the sweet and tranquil habitation of his belov- 
 ed father to the time he was brought out of prison 
 in Egypt, to stand before his majesty the king, to 
 interpret those remarkable dreams by which he was 
 warned of seven years of great plenty, which 
 should be followed with seven more of famine. 
 The wisdom which appeared in this long afflicted 
 Hebrew brought him into favor with Pharoah, who 
 appointed him to be over his own house and te 
 rule his people according to his will. 
 
 During the seven years of plenty Joseph used such 
 prudence and economy as to lay up vast quantities 
 of corn in store against the long and severe famine 
 which he foresaw would visit the land. 
 
 When the dearth came it was not confined to 
 Egypt, but extended over all the face of the earth, 
 so that all countries were dependent on Egypt for 
 bread. The famine was sore in the land of Canaan, 
 and pale hunger began to threaten the extensive 
 household of Jacob and his sons. Jacob therefore 
 said to his sons ; " Why do you look one upon 
 another ? 1 have heard that there is corn in Egypt ,: 
 gel you down thither, and buy for us from thence; 
 that we may live and not die." They came into 
 Egypt and into the presence of Joseph; but he was 
 so altered in the space of about twenty one years, 
 or perhaps more, and as they had no thought of 
 seeing him at all, and especially no expectation of 
 .finding him the lord of all the land of Egypt, they
 
 did not know him. When they eame before hhta, 
 " they bowed down themselves before him with 
 their faces to the earth." Joseph knew his brethren ; 
 they were men who had attained to years before 
 he was separated from them, and had not altered so 
 much but he knew them. He now saw his first 
 dream fulfilled. All his brethren who were envi- 
 ous towards him, he now sees on their faces before 
 him. He treated them roughly, not because re* 
 venge was in his heart, but to try them. He re- 
 tained Simeon until the rest should return to the 
 relief of their families, and bring Benjamin down 
 to Egypt. They then conversed among them- 
 selves, in the Hebrew tongue, which they suppos- 
 ed Joseph did not understand, of their sin against 
 their brother, and were satisfied that they were 
 visited with evil for their iniquity. Joseph un- 
 derstood all they said, and was greatly moved with 
 compassion. After many trials and sore difficul- 
 ties, at the second time, when all the sons of Israel 
 were together, and Joseph had the pleasure of see- 
 ing his brother Benjamin, perhaps for the first time, 
 he made himself known to them. He could no 
 longer contain himself; he wept aloud and said un- 
 to his brethren, " I am Joseph ; doth my father yet 
 live ? And his brethren could not answer him ; 
 for they were troubled at his presence. And 
 Joseph said unto his brethren, come near to me I 
 pray you : and they came near. And he said I 
 am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into 
 Egypt. Now therefore, be not grieved, nor an- 
 gry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither ; for 
 
 God did send me before you to preserve life. 
 
 And he fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck, and 
 wept ; and Benjamin wept upon his neck. More- 
 over he kissed all his brethren and wept upon them; 
 arid after that his brethren talked with him." 
 
 As the hearer is familiar with the account of this 
 most interesting subject, we may not be further
 
 120 
 
 particular. It is recollected that the whole family 
 came down to Egypt and were nursed by Joseph 
 and supported by his bounty. Now was his second 
 dream accomplished. 
 
 Let us notice in this place, the words of Joseph 
 before recited ; ff God did send me before you to 
 preserve life." Is it not evident, my brethren, 
 that the infinitely wise, powerful, and good God 
 made use of the partial fondness of Jacob as a 
 mean to move Joseph's brethren against him ? Is 
 it not evident that the same divine Being inspired 
 Joseph with the two dreams which represented his 
 brethren's submission to him, and also that of their 
 father and mother, for the purpose of bringing 
 about the event of Joseph's being sold into Egypt ? 
 Is it not clear beyond all doubt, that all the wick- 
 edness, envyjhard heartednfess, and deceit of which 
 the ten brethren were guilty was controledby the 
 wisdom and goodness of God in a manner to pro- 
 mote the highest honor of the divine name, and the 
 best interest of those most perverse and wicked 
 men ? And must it not be gratefully acknowledged, 
 that all the afflictions which came on Jacob and 
 his family, and the afflictions of Joseph were de- 
 signed by our heavenly Father, for the good of all 
 these sufferers ? It seems necessary to call the at- 
 tention of the hearer to the considention of the 
 following questions : Does the argument which we 
 here maintain give to the divine Being a good 
 character ? Is it safe to have so much confidence in 
 God as to believe, that he manages 'all the con- 
 cerns of men in a way to promote their best inter- 
 est ? Is God so transcendantly kind as to turn our 
 own faults to our advantage ? Or will you say, 
 that this doctrine is not only too good to be true, 
 but of dangerous tendency, as it lays no restraint 
 on men, but promises them good for their evil ? 
 Reply : Is this doctrine any better than was the 
 conduct of God towards those envious brethren
 
 121 
 
 who sold Joseph ? And did not these brethren ex- 
 perience a most just and ample retribution for 
 their sins, before they entered into the enjoyment 
 of the divine favor which was brought about by 
 means of their folly ? Is not this doctrine exactly 
 what the gospel holds up and requires ? Are we not 
 forbidden to render evil for evil? And are we not 
 commanded to render good for evil ? " Be not 
 overcome of evil ; but overcome evil with good." 
 The blessing that came on Joseph seems to have 
 been, in all respects, what his sufferings seemed to 
 deserve, as ample as his love, and as extensive as 
 his reasonable desires. To have it in his power to 
 reward his brethren with all the favour which their 
 necessities required for all the evil he had received 
 at their hands, to make every necessary provision 
 for his aged father and the whole of his numerous 
 family, from which he had been so long separated, 
 and of supplying many countries with bread dur- 
 ing a famine which must have swept off thousands 
 of innocent children with vast multitudes of others, 
 had it not been for the treasures which were 
 laid up by his wisdom and liberally dispensed by 
 his goodness, seems to have been as large and as 
 rich a blessing as could be desired. 
 
 To show, by the language of our text, that 
 Moses had a meaning in view, beyond what re- 
 spected the literality of the subject, and to apply 
 our text to Jesus, who was separated from his bre- 
 thren, forms the second general section of this dis- 
 course. 
 
 " His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, 
 and his horns are like the horns of unicorns : with 
 them shall he push the people together to the ends 
 of the earth : and they are the ten thousands of 
 Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh." 
 
 The firstling of cattle is similar to the first bora 
 among men. The first born of a family possessed, 
 by birth right, a previlege over the younger, as in 
 16
 
 122 
 
 the ca?e of Esau and Jacob. The first born seem- 
 ed to have a power of ruling, and of having the 
 younger branches of the family in subjection. The 
 first born was also considered holy unto God, as 
 were the first fruits of the field ; and the holiness 
 of the first born and of the first fruits was the holi- 
 ness of all which were represented by them. This 
 part of the text, which relates to the firstling of the 
 oullock, may very fitly be applied to Joseph ns 
 well as Jesus, who is styled the "first born among 
 many brethren, the first born from the dead, and 
 the first born of every creature." 
 
 Joseph seems to have obtained the birth right of 
 the first born by a divine arrangement, whereby 
 lie became the governor and ruler of his numerous 
 family, though it is true Joseph was literally the 
 first born of the beloved Rachel. His glory an- 
 swered to his birth right, for we see him the ruler 
 
 ~ * 
 
 and kind father of his brethren. 
 
 But why should Moses say ; " his horn? are a? 
 the horns of unicorns : with them he shall push the 
 people together to the ends of the earth : and they 
 are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are 
 the thousands of Manasseh ?" By horns, no doubt 
 power was intended. But how shall the power of 
 Joseph push the people together to the ends of 
 the earth ? And how is it that all people thus unit- 
 ed are the ten thousands, and thousands, of the 
 two sons of Joseph 1 
 
 This language and these sentiments are suppos- 
 ed to apply to Jesus in the following manner. As 
 the horns of unicorns are the most powerful among 
 beasts, they are used to represent the power of the 
 Saviour. And as it is said, " with them shall he 
 push the people together to the ends of the earth," 
 it means the same as was expressed by Jacob con- 
 cerning the Shiloli unto whom the gathering of the 
 people should be ; and the same as expressed by 
 Jesus himself, when be said ; " And I, if I be lifted
 
 123 
 
 up from the earth will draw all men unto me. v 
 The same is expressed by St. Paul to the Ephesiaus 
 as follows ; " Having made known unto us the 
 majesty of his will, according to his good pleasure, 
 which he hath purposed in himself : that in the 
 dispensation of the fullness of times, he might ga- 
 ther together in one all things in Christ, both which 
 are in heaven, and which are on earth ; even in 
 him." 
 
 Jews and Gentiles thus gathered into Jesus are 
 aaid to be the ten thousands of Ephraim and the 
 thousands of Manasseh. The two sons of Joseph 
 are here used to represent the two families, Jews 
 and Gentiles, which in their fullness, are the chil- 
 dren of the " everlasting Father and Prince of 
 peace." 
 
 When Jacob blessed the two sons of Joseph, 
 being blind, Joseph was careful to present Ma- 
 nasseh, the first born, to Jacob's right hand and 
 Ephraim, the younger, to his left, that the first 
 born might receive the appropriate blessing which 
 belonged to his birth right ; but Jacob wittingly 
 crossed his hands and laid his right hand on the 
 head of Ephraim and his left on the head of Ma- 
 nasseh. At this, Joseph endeavored to remove his 
 father's hands, and informed him that his left hand 
 was on the head of the first born ; to which he re- 
 plied ; " I know it, my son, I know it : he also shall 
 become a people, and he also shall be great ; but 
 truly his younger brother shall be greater than 
 he, and his seed shall become a multitude of na- 
 tions." Thus Moses in our text, when expressing, 
 the multitudes of Gentiles and Jews, in Christ Jesus, 
 says : " They are the ten thousands of Ephraim 
 und they are the thousands of Manasseh." The 
 Jews were first reckoned the children of God, and 
 Israel is called God's first born ; but the first are 
 last and the last first. The Gentiles take the tead 
 in the gospel dispensation, for not until the fullness
 
 124 
 
 of the Gentiles is come in will the deliverer 
 come out of Zion and turn away ungodliness 
 from Jacob. 
 
 In considering Joseph and the things concerning 
 him as applicable to Jesus and his ministry we 
 find an extensive field opened before us, a field 
 fruitful as a garden, in all the most beautiful flowers 
 of divine representations, and in the fruits of grace. 
 
 The visions of the holy prophets, in which they 
 saw the extensive empire of the Saviour of the 
 world, the subjection of all the nations of the earth 
 to his divine and glorious government, seem to be 
 represented by the dreams of Joseph, which served 
 to kindle his brethren's hearts with envy. The de- 
 claration from heaven, which designated Jesus as 
 the beloved Son of God in whom the Father is well 
 pleased, seems to be represented by Jacob's love 
 for Joseph. How angry it made the scribes, the 
 pharisees, the priests and the doctors of the law, 
 that Jesus should pretend to be the Son of God. 
 A man by nO means of their standing ; why should 
 he pretend to be the king of Israel ? they were as 
 determined not to have this man to rule over them as 
 Joseph's brethren were that he should not rule over 
 them. As Joseph was separated from his brethren, 
 so was Jesus separated from his ; as Joseph w^as 
 sold for money, so was Jesus ; as Joseph was the 
 gracious saviour of the whole family of promise, 
 so is Jesus the Saviour of the whole family " of 
 heaven and earth." 
 
 My brethren, look, see the future saviour of the 
 family of Israel, leaving his brethren in Dothan to 
 go down to Egypt a slave, to see them no more 
 until he sees them as his humble subjects, and is 
 acknowledged their lord and protector; then look 
 again and see the blessed Jesus, bearing his cross, 
 going bo and to Calvary, separated from his brethren 
 and from all the living, to see them not again until 
 in a glorious resurrection state, he appears " the 
 Lord from heaven,"
 
 125 
 
 Let us here talk freely on the grace and plan of 
 salvation by Jesus Christ, as represented by the 
 temporal salvation wrought by Joseph. Joseph 
 was appointed by heaven to be the saviour of all 
 his father's house. He was in fact the saviour of 
 his brethren before they knew him in Egypt. He 
 had treasured up a supply of bread during the 
 seven years of plenty for thousands who were not 
 then born. He was the saviour of vast multitudes, 
 by the merciful appointment of heaven, who were 
 strangers to him, and who knew him not. All the 
 time before his brethren came to Egypt, Joseph 
 was the appointed saviour of them and of their lit- 
 tle ones. It was just as certain that they would 
 all partake of the rich bounties of Joseph, even 
 before the famine commenced as it was after they 
 were all removed into the land of Goshen. 
 
 Now what reasonable objection can there be to 
 the sentiment, that the grace of (*od,and the scheme 
 of man's spiritual salvation " is ordered in all 
 things," and rendered as sure as the temporal sal- 
 vation of the house of Israel was in the scheme 
 which we have noticed ? 
 
 Joseph's brethren did not believe that they, their 
 wives and their little ones were all to be fed from 
 the bounty of him whom they had so cruelly 
 treated and sold into Egypt. But what power had 
 their ignorance and unbelief to frustrate the divine 
 plan in which their welfare was secured ? It is 
 true, they could not enjoy a confidence in their 
 brother until they knew him and were assured of 
 his forgiveness; but he was as truly their brother 
 and friend during their ignorance and unbelief as 
 lie was after he had made himself known to them. 
 Is it not equally true, that Jesus is the sinner's friend 
 and Saviour as truly during the season of ignorance 
 and unbelief as he is after faith is given ? 
 
 The name of Joseph in Egypt was synonymous 
 with bread, it was synonymous with life ; and in n
 
 1213 
 
 other name was there any confidence. All power 
 in Egypt was committed into the hands of Joseph, 
 there was no other name given whereby the life of 
 the people could be saved. Is not all this true in 
 spirit respecting the name of Jesus, is it riot synon- 
 ymous with Saviour ? Is not this the bread of God 
 which came down from heaven, and gave life to 
 the world? 
 
 In his wise and gracious appointment, the God o-f 
 heaven gave life to millions in Joseph before they 
 were born ; " and this is the record that God hath 
 given unto us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.*' 
 This life was the life of the world from the begin- 
 ning. This was our life before we came into this 
 world, and the unborn ages to come are equally 
 enlitled to all its blessings. 
 
 The envy, the hatred, the deadly enmity of Jo- 
 seph's brethren towards him, could do no more 
 than was necessary to promote his glory and ad- 
 vance him in the way of the divine appointment. 
 80 all the cruel envy, hatred and persecution prac- 
 tised on the blessed Jesus, by his enemies, only ad- 
 vanced him towards that glory that during eternal 
 jiges will continue to brighten and beautify the ra- 
 tional creation of God. As we may notice this 
 subject in. part in our next lecture, which will be on 
 the subject of blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, 
 we may be brief. 
 
 How tender are the words of Joseph to those 
 who; had hated him without a cause : " Come near 
 to me I pray you." This is the language of the 
 Ulessed Jesus in the Gospel of his grace. He speaks 
 to every sinner, saying, " come near to me I pray 
 you." The apostle says " we pray you in Christ's 
 stead, be ye reconciled to God ; for he hath made 
 him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might 
 be made the righteousness of God in him." 
 
 As we have seen that the blessing which came 
 upon the head of Joseph, was in all respects, as
 
 127 
 
 large and rich as could be desired, may we- uot 
 believe with confidence, that the Redeemer will as 
 fully "see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied ?" 
 If in room of that most interesting account of the 
 
 tj 
 
 humble submission of all Joseph's enemies to him, 
 we were informed that three only were ever brought 
 to repentance, and to be humble before him, and 
 also to receive of his bounty, could \ve consider 
 his reward to be equal to what the present ac- 
 count makes it ? Would it be possible, in this case 
 to see how his dreams were fulfilled ? His sheaf 
 stood upright, and all his brethren's sheaves made 
 obeisance to it. The sun, arid the moon, and the 
 eleven stars made obeisance unto him. With less 
 than the submission of all could these heaven-in- 
 spired dreams have fully come to pass ? With 
 all this was he blessed, and blessed in the sweet en- 
 joyment of a forgiving spirit, and in the victory 
 that spirit gained over the affections ofhisbreth. 
 ren. Moreover, he was bountifully blessed in his 
 liberal bestow me nts on his dependant brethren. 
 They were all blessed in him, but he was the most 
 blessed of all : for " it is more blessed to give than 
 to receive." Thus we believe, that with less than 
 the reconciliation of all men to Jesus, the faithful 
 word of all God's holy prophets since the world 
 began, who have spoken of the restitution of all 
 things, can never be fulfilled. Nor can Jesus see 
 of the travail of his soul and be satisfied with less 
 than the humble submission to his laws, of all 
 who have ever been his enemies. We believe, and 
 believing we rejoice, that the kind Redeemer shall 
 finally be blessed with the full enjoyment of for- 
 giving the iniquities of all his enemies, of 
 feeding them at his own table, with the bread of 
 everlasting life. All will be blessed in him ; " all 
 nations shall call him blessed ;" but he shall be the 
 most blessed of all, as it is "more blei?sed t give 
 than to receive."
 
 128 
 
 Blessed were the people that heard the joyful 
 tidings, that there was corn in Egypt. How did 
 the husband's heart leap for joy, that the compan- 
 ion of his bosom should not " perish with hunger !" 
 How unspeakably happy were parents made when 
 assured that their children could be supplied with 
 bread ! More blessed still are the " people who 
 know the joyful sound," of the gospel of Jesus, 
 and walk in the light of the Lord. Parents look, 
 behold the shepherd of Israel taking your little 
 children in his arms, and saying " of such is the 
 kingdom of heaven." Said the risen Saviour " go 
 ye into all the world and preach the gospel to ev- 
 ery creature." Yes, my friends, you are all wel- 
 come to the bread of life ; and 
 
 " Christ hath sent me to invite you, 
 
 " To a rich and costly feast ; 
 V Let not shame nor pride prevent you, 
 
 " Come, the rich provision taste."
 
 ' N. 9. ...?';',.. 
 
 , LECTURE SERMON, 
 
 DELIVERED AT THE 
 
 SECOND UNIVERSALIST MEETING, IN BOSTON, 
 NOVEMBER 22, 1818. 
 
 BY HOSEA BALLOU, PASTOR. 
 
 Published Semi-Monthly, by Henry Bowen, Devonshire-street. 
 
 MATTHEW, xii. 31, 32. 
 
 w Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be 
 forgiven unto men : but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall 
 not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speakelh a word against 
 the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him : but whosoever speakelh 
 against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him t neither in this 
 world, neither in the world to come." 
 
 OUR Saviour spake the words of our text in his 
 reply to the Pharisees, who said of him, " this*fel- 
 low doth not cast out devils but by Beelzebub, the 
 prince of the devils." 
 
 The circumstance which led the pharisees to 
 speak as we have just noticed was the following. 
 There was brought unto Jesus one possessed with 
 a devil, blind and dumb : and he healed him, inso- 
 much that the blind and dumb both spake and 
 saw. And all the people were amazed, and said, 
 is not this the son of David ? That is, is not this 
 man who casts out devils and works so many mi- 
 racles the Messiah or Christ of whom the law and 
 the prophets have spoken? As the Pharisees were 
 bitterly opposed to Jesus, this exclamation from 
 17
 
 130 
 
 the people gave them great uneasiness, for as 
 much as the people were in favor of Jesus, so 
 much they must be in opposition to the pharisees. 
 In order, therefore, to prevent the people from 
 believing in Jesus, the Pharisees said that he cast 
 out devils by Beelzebub, the prince of the devils. 
 
 It seems that the miracles of Jesus were so evi- 
 dent, so open, so undisguised, that his keenest eyed 
 enemies found no chance of success with the peo- 
 ple by denying the facts of the miracles ; they 
 must, therefore, deceive the people by some other 
 means. In the case of the miracle wrought on the 
 mar. that was born blind, they seemed to doubt the 
 fact of his having been born blind ; but having 
 called his parents and received their testimony, 
 they were compelled to believe the fact ; but they 
 said to the man to whom sight had been given, "gi\ 7 e 
 God the praise, we know that this man is a sin- 
 ner." It was contended, that as this miracle was 
 performed on the sabbath day, he who wrought it 
 could not be of God. If the Pharisees could per- 
 suade the people that Jesus was a sinner, notwith- 
 standing all the miracles which he did, they were 
 sure that the people would not believe that he was 
 the Messiah promised. But it seems that the peo- 
 ple had discernment enough to raise the question, 
 " How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles ?" 
 This question must receive some sort of an an- 
 swer ; and almost any thing would do that super- 
 stition would countenance, for the common peo- 
 ple supposed that these Pharisees and learned doc- 
 tors of the law, being godly people and of deep dis- 
 cernment must know. When, therefore, their wis- 
 dom suggested that the miracles of- Jesus were ef- 
 fected by the agency of the prince of the devils, it 
 was by no means difficult for the people to give 
 credit to the opinion, for they were already fixed 
 in the superstitious notions of devils.
 
 131 
 
 The declaration, that Jesus cast out devils by 
 Beelzebub, the prince of the devils, was a declara- 
 tion directly against the spirit and power by which 
 the miracle was effected. In reply to this the 
 Saviour reasoned in his usual, natural, plain and 
 energetic manner, as follows : " Every kingdom 
 divided against itself is brought to desolation : and 
 every city or house divided against itself shall not 
 stand : And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided 
 against himself ; how shall then his kingdom stand ? 
 And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom 
 do your children cast them out ? therefore they 
 shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by 
 the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come 
 unto you. Or else, how can one enter into a strong 
 man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first 
 bind the strong man ? and then he will spoil his 
 house. He that is not with me, is against me ; and 
 he that gathereth not with me, scattereth abroad." 
 Then follow the words of our text, which, when 
 considered in the connection in which they are 
 found, plainly indicate that the Pharisees, who said 
 that Jesus cast out devils, by Beelzebub, the prince 
 of the devils, did, in so saying, speak blasphemy 
 against the Holy Ghost. 
 
 We shall now proceed to enquire why this sin 
 or blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, by which 
 the miracles of Jesus were wrought could not as 
 easily be forgiven as any other sin or blasphemy. 
 It is generally contended that this sin against the 
 Holy Ghost cannot be forgiven because it is so 
 much more heinous than all other sins ; but be- 
 cause this is the general opinion it is no proper 
 evidence of its being true. Has it ever been 
 proved that this blasphemy is more heinous than 
 other sins ? The speaker feels solicitous that the 
 hearer maybe disposed, on this subject, to admit of 
 nothing without proof. We are not only at liber- 
 ty to reject all ideas which have been established
 
 132 
 
 by tradition without proper evidence, but it is our 
 religious duty so to do. Let it then be proved 
 that this sin against the Holy Ghost could not be 
 forgiven the Pharisees as easily as any other sin 
 that they committed, because this sin was more 
 heinous than any other, and then we will believe it ; 
 but not before. But it is contended that this sin 
 is certainly greater than any other, because it is 
 committed against greater light. Here again we 
 call for proof. Are we informed in the scripture, 
 that this sin is committed against greater light 
 than any other ? No, we have no such information. 
 It is granted that learned divines, so called, have 
 made very nice calculations respecting the degrees 
 of divine Ijght and knowledge which were requir- 
 ed in order to enable a person to commit this sin ; 
 but then we must be just enough to these pious 
 doctors to allow them the whole of the credit due 
 to such profound researches, for they alone are en- 
 titled to it ; they have had no help from divine reve- 
 lation. On the other hand it is our duty to receive 
 nothing which they have safd on this subject as the 
 least evidence in the case. Let us look at the sub- 
 ject candidly. The Pharisees spake against Jesus, 
 ancTsaid, " we know that this man is a sinner." 
 Again, they spake against the spirit by which he 
 wrought miracles, and said ; " this fellow doth not 
 cast out devils but by Beelzebub, the prince of the 
 devils." Now have we any evidence to believe 
 that these Pharisees had any more light or divinfe 
 knowledge when they spake the latter sentence, 
 than when they spake the former ? No, we have no 
 such intimation. Why then, you will ask, might 
 not this sin be forgiven as easily or as soon as other 
 sins ? We still continue to reply negatively and 
 say, not because this sin is greater or more heinous 
 than other sins ; this we have a right to say, be- 
 cause the divine word gives no authority to the 
 contrary. Furthermore, if the divine forgiveness
 
 133 
 
 flow from the infinite fulness of grace in God, the 
 supposition that some sins are so small that they 
 can be forgiven, but that others are so great that 
 they cannot be forgiven, is a flagrant violation of 
 reason. If some sins are small and others large 
 
 c? 
 
 as they compare together, it is plain that the small 
 cannot be infinitely great, and it follows of course 
 that the largest cannot be infinite if the small bear 
 any proportion to them. Now if all sin be of the 
 finite character of the mortal sinner, is it not ab- 
 surd to pretend that some sins are too great for the 
 infinite goodness of God to forgive ? The scripture 
 is plain on this subject. See Isaiah, i. 18. " Come 
 now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord : 
 Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as 
 white as snow ; though they be red like crimson, 
 they shall be as wool." The most natural sense 
 of this text is, that though the sin of the people 
 were of the deepest dye, they might be washed 
 away. How then is it proper to explain our text 
 in a way to contradict this evident testimony? The 
 forerunner of Jesus said of him ; *' Behold the 
 Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the 
 world." Here is no exception, no reserve. The 
 beloved disciple says ; " If we confess our sins, he 
 is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to 
 cleanse us from all unrighteousness. The blood of 
 Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." 
 In these passages there is mention made of the sin 
 of the world, of all sin and of all unrighteousness, 
 and the power of the blessed Son of God is honor- 
 ed as being sufficient to overcome the whole, with- 
 out any exception. 
 
 If the hearer will be careful enough to attend to 
 a particular method of argument on this subject, 
 we will endeavor to prove from the divine oracles 
 that it is the design of the Saviour to cleanse every 
 sinner of the human race from all sin, not excepting 
 the sin against the Holy Ghost. If the hearer say,
 
 134 
 
 Hull this argument is off of our subject, and that 
 what be wishes to know is, why the blasphemy 
 against the Holy Ghost may not be forgiven, or 
 why it could not be forgiven as soon as other sins, 
 lie may be told, that the argument proposed is 
 thought to be necessary in order to settle the ques- 
 tion whether the sin against the Holy Ghost is ever 
 to be forgiven according to the scriptures. If we 
 find that this sin will eventually be washed away 
 by the blood of Christ, then our main question 
 will be to ascertain why it could not be forgiven 
 " neither in this world, neither in the world to 
 come." 
 
 St. Paul in his 1st Epistle to Timothy lays it 
 down as an important fact in the great truths of 
 the gospel, that Jesus, the Mediator between God 
 and men, had given himself a ransom for all men, 
 to he testified in due time. To the Ephesians he 
 Jays it down as an important fact, that Christ loved 
 the church and gave himself for it. By these two 
 passages we have it proved that all men constitute 
 the church of Christ which he hath purchased with 
 bis own blood. This agrees also with this Apostle's 
 declaration to the Corinthians ; " I would have you 
 to know, that the head of every man is Christ." 
 To -the Hebrews he says, that Jesus, by the grace 
 <jf God tasted death for every man; and the belov- 
 ru John said, that he is the propitiation for the 
 sins of the whole world. Now it is certain, that if 
 xve can prove any thing from the scriptures, we 
 have proved, by the quotations made, that the 
 (i Saviour of the world gave himself a ran- 
 som for those Pharisees who spoke this blasphemy 
 against the Holy Ghost, that he tasted death for 
 them, and that he was the propitiation for their 
 vius. All this is undeniably proved. We ask in 
 the next place, why Jesus gave himself for the 
 rhurcb? The Apostle answers in the place quoted 
 from. Ephesians as follows ; " That he might sane,-
 
 133 
 
 tify and cleanse it with the washing of water by tlie 
 word ; that he might present it to himself a glori- 
 ous chgrch, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any 
 such thing ; but that it should be holy, and with- 
 out blemish." The argument amounts to this. 
 Jesus gave himself for his church, he gave himself 
 a ransom for those pharisees who spake blasphemy 
 against the Holy Ghost ; they therefore belong to 
 his church. Jesus gave himself for the church, 
 that he might sanctify a no! cleanse it by the wash- 
 ing of water by the word. He therefore gave 
 himself a ransom for these blasphemous pharisees, 
 that he might sanctify and cleanse them. 
 
 To the Romans St. Paul says ; " As by the of- 
 fence of one judgment came upon all men to con- 
 demnation, even so by the righteousness of one 
 the free gift came upon all men unto justification of 
 life. 3 ' Then surely by the righteousness of Jesus 
 Christ, the second Adam, the Lord from heaven, 
 the free gift had came on those Pharisees who 
 spake against the Holy Ghost, unto justification 
 of life. In this same Epistle he says ; " For all 
 have sinned and come short of the glory of God ; 
 being justified freely by his grace, through the re- 
 demption that is in Christ Jesus." Then it is evi- 
 dent that all who have sinned and come short of 
 the glory of God are freely justified, through the 
 redemption of which the Apostle here spake ; and 
 if so, then those Pharisees, who sinned by blas- 
 pheming against the Holy Ghost were freely justi- 
 fied, &c. 
 
 What must be done in this case ? Will the ob- 
 jector say, that the testimony of Christ, that those 
 who blasphemed against the Holy Ghost should 
 not be forgiven " neither in this world, neither in 
 the world to come," plainly disproves all which 
 St. Paul has said on the subject ? But why have 
 Ave not equal authority to say, that what has been 
 quoted from St. Paul disproves what Jesus said to
 
 136 
 
 the Pharisees ? What we have quoted from the 
 Apostle is much more than what Jesus said con- 
 cerning this blasphemy's not being forgiven. Pardon 
 this form of expression ; it is designed to bring the 
 hearer to consider how the testimony of both Jesus 
 and Paul may be allowed to stand good as the 
 faithful word of divine truth. 
 
 We may now endeavor to give the direct reason 
 why this blasphemy could not be forgiven as soon 
 as other sins. If we confine ourselves to the sense 
 of scripture on this subject we shall find that not 
 only these Pharisees had a design to answer by 
 speaking against the spirit by which Jesus cast 
 out devils, but God himself had also a design to 
 answer by it, and therefore this sin must remain 
 unwashed away until the design of our heavenly 
 Father shall be fully answered. Perhaps some 
 will say, that the supposition that the divine Being 
 had any purpose to answer by means of this blas- 
 phemy is blasphemy itself. But the speaker feels 
 fully satisfied on this point of doctrine, (viz.) that 
 no sin can exist a moment longer than it answers 
 some divine purpose. We may here recollect 
 what was seen when we treated in our last lecture 
 on the subject of Joseph and his brethren. Was 
 it not evidently seen that the partiality of Jacob in 
 favor of the son of his old age was controlled by 
 divine wisdom to answer a good purpose ? Was it 
 not seen that the envy of the sons of Jacob towards 
 Joseph was overruled for good ? Was it not 
 seen that the avarice of those wicked men was 
 made use of by divine Providence to check the 
 power of anger and to promote a wise, benevolent 
 object ? 
 
 But what object, what purpose of God could 
 possibly be promoted by such abominable blas- 
 phemies as this of which we read in our text? 
 Answer, the blindness of the house of Israel, the 
 fulfilling of the prophecies concerning Jesus, and
 
 137 
 
 the establishment of the gospel in the world on 
 principles consistent with prophetic testimony. 
 If the religious Jews had believed that Jesus 
 wrought all his miracles by the spirit of God they 
 of course would have received him as thft Messiah. 
 If they had thus received him they would not have 
 rejected him, dispised him, nor would they have 
 put him to death. Then surely the testimony of 
 the prophets would have proved false, and the 
 scriptures written by holy men of God moved by 
 the Holy Ghost could never have gained credit 
 among the Gentiles. 
 
 As the astonishing miracles wrought by the hand 
 of Jesus were designed by heaven as proper evi- 
 dence of his Messiahship, the blasphemy of im- 
 puting these miracles to the power of an evil agent 
 was the only sin that could prevent the religious 
 Jews from believing in Christ. That this unbe- 
 lief of the Jews was necessary for the fulfilment 
 of the prophecies we are certified by the following 
 scriptures. St. John, 12. "But though he had 
 done so many miracles before them, yet they be- 
 lieved not on him : that the saying of Esaias the 
 prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, 
 who hath believed our report ? and to whom hath 
 the arm of the Lord been revealed ? Therefore 
 they could not believe, because that Esaias said 
 again, he hath blinded their eyes, and hardened 
 their heart, that they should not see with their eyes, 
 nor understand with their heart, and be converted, 
 and I should heal them.'* Romans, 11. " For as ye 
 in times past have not believed God, yet have now 
 obtained mercy through their unbelief; even so 
 have these also now not believed, that through your 
 mercy they also may obtain mercy.'* In the pas- 
 sage quoted from St. John we find it plainly stat- 
 ed that the unbelief of the Jews was necessary for 
 the fulfillment of the prophecy of Esaias ; and fur- 
 thermore it is stated that in consequence f what 
 18
 
 138 
 
 God had done, "they could not believe." By the 
 passage quoted from Romans we learn the special 
 utility of the Jews' unbelief; it was that through it 
 the Gentiles might obtain mercy. As the Jews' unbe- 
 lief led them to fulfil the prophcies, concerning the 
 Messiah, so their unbelief presented to the Gentiles 
 the proper evidence of the divinity of the scriptures 
 of the prophets, and of the mission of Jesus. Here 
 then we may say, we have proved that our heaven- 
 ly Father has plainly revealed in his word, that he 
 had a divine purpose to answer by means of the 
 Jews' unbelief, which was to communicate his 
 grace to the G.entiles. This being granted, or rather 
 proved, it must follow of course that when this unbe- 
 lief or blasphemy has effected all which God de- 
 signed by it, the merciful Father of our spirits will 
 use means to remove it from the house of Israel ; 
 and therefore it is said, as quoted from Romans, 
 11 ; " Even so have these also now not believed, that 
 through your mercy they also may obtain mercy." 
 As the unbelief of the Jews was the means of com- 
 municating mercy to the Gentiles, so in return the 
 mercy which the Gentiles have by such means ob- 
 tained will finally be communicated to the Jews. 
 We read again in this chapter the following : " For 
 I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant 
 of this mystery, that blindness in part is happen- 
 ed to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be 
 come in. Arid so all Israel shall be saved : as it is 
 written, there shall come out of Sion the deliverer, 
 and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.'* 
 When the fulness of the Gentiles shall be convert- 
 ed to Christ, then the blasphemy of the Jews will 
 have answered the purpose for which God design- 
 ed it, and then the deliverer of Israel will be sent 
 out of Sion and will turn away this ungodliness 
 from Jacob. 
 
 The hearer can scarcely avoid seeing that all 
 these things are made plain by the testimony of
 
 139 
 
 divine inspiration ; but many find a very great dif- 
 culty in submitting to the idea that the divine Be- 
 ing ever intended to answer any purpose by means 
 of man's transgression. Yet in the case of Joseph's 
 brethren, it is fully evident, that God made use of 
 their wickedness to promote their brother to 
 great power, and to give him an opportunity of 
 rewarding them good for their evil towards him. 
 So, also, the wickedness of the Jews, their hatred 
 towards the blessed Jesus, and their blasphemy 
 against the spirit by which his miracles were 
 wrought all served and still serve to bring the ob- 
 ject of their envy before the world of the Gentiles 
 as the glorious Messiah promised in the Jaw and 
 in the prophets, and to establish the doctrine of 
 God's everlasting love to sinners on a foundation 
 that can never be shaken. And to crown the 
 whole of this divine plan with glory and complete 
 success, after this wickedness of the Jews shall 
 have produced the effects before noticed, the 
 blessed Redeemer, will then, like Joseph, make 
 himself known unto his brethren the Jews, saying, 
 as he did to one of them, " I am Jesus of Nazareth 
 whom thou persecutest." It is worthy of notice 
 that Joseph's brethren, by means of their hatred to 
 him, gave a saviour to the land of Egypt and to 
 many other countries ; and also, that thousands of 
 Egyptians rejoiced in this most gracious saviour 
 before his own dear brethren were brought to 
 know him, or to partake of his bounty. So the 
 Jews by rejecting their Messiah, gave a glorious 
 saviour to the Gentiles who rejoice in knowing 
 him and in feasting on his grace, while the Jews 
 who gave him to us are weeping, wailing and 
 gnashing their teeth. But thanks be to God, our 
 blessed Saviour knows his brethren, his bowels 
 yearn upon them, he has stores of corn for their 
 relief, soon will the burst of joy be heard through 
 all the Gentile church, of Jesus' making himself
 
 140 
 
 tnown to his brethren. When the Saviour wept 
 over Jerusalem, he closed his lamentation with 
 these memorable words ; " Behold your house is 
 left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, ye 
 shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, bless- 
 ed is he thatcoineth in the name of the Lord." 
 
 We may now enquire for the meaning of the 
 following words in our text ; " neither in this world, 
 neither in the world to come." The word WORLD 
 means age or dispensation. Jesus spake these 
 words under the law, during the continuance of 
 the legal priesthood. " This world" referred to 
 the then present order of things, and " the world to 
 come." to the age in which the Gentiles would be 
 visited with the gospel, and the Jews excluded. 
 That this is a definition of the word WOLRD which 
 is according to scripture the hearer may satisfy 
 himself by attending to the following passages : 
 In the 24th of Matthew, the disciples of Jesus asked 
 him when the end of the world was to come ; and 
 in his reply he represented to them the destruction 
 of Jerusalem as the end of the world, and told them 
 it would take place in that generation. St. Paul in 
 his Epistle to the Hebrews says, of Christ ; "But 
 now once in the end of the world, hath he ap- 
 peared, to put away sin by the sacrifice of him- 
 self." Other passages to the same effect may also 
 be consulted at the hearer's leisure. 
 
 It is true that some who believe that this sin 
 against, the Holy Ghost will finally be forgiven, 
 carry its punishment into a future world mean- 
 ing thereby a future state of existence. But as they, 
 after all, are under the necessity of understanding 
 the word WORLD as we have explained it, that is, 
 to mean a dispensation, it seems unnecessary to 
 carry this sin into a future state beyond our mor- 
 tal existence. And more especially does this ap- 
 pear unnecessary, because all the benefit which it 
 appears was designed to be effected by the unbe-
 
 141 
 
 lief of the Jews, seems evidently to appertain to 
 this state of being. If it can be made to appear 
 that God has some good end to answer, by having 
 this sin, or any other exist in a future world we 
 shall cordially subscribe to such a belief ; but to 
 suppose that the Almighty will perpetuate any sin 
 in a future state only for the sake of tormenting his 
 dependant offspring is dishonorable to his ever- 
 blessed and gracious name. The opinion that the 
 divine Being exercises a disposition of revenge 
 towards man for sin, as a man who has received an 
 injury from his neighbor is influenced thereby to 
 injure him in return, is totally contrary to the re- 
 ligion of Jesus, and is altogether degrading both 
 to God and man. The Father of our spirits, al- 
 ways exercises one invariable disposition towords 
 all his creatures, this disposition is love. It was 
 love that moved God to overrule circumstances 
 so as to send Joseph into Egypt by means of his 
 brethren's envy, and these brethren were the ob- 
 jects of this love, and they finally enjoyed its.blessed 
 fruits. The same love moved our Father in 
 heaven so to overrule circumstances as to bring 
 Jesus to the cross by means of the blasphemy 
 mentioned in our text, and it is evidently the re- 
 vealed determhiation of God, that the blasphemous 
 Jews shall richly share of the divine grace which 
 they have been the means of manifesting to the 
 world. God is good, and his intentions are good 
 when he permits the evil passions of man to lead 
 him into sin ; he is good, and his intentions are all 
 compassionate and kind when he brings on his 
 erring children the most severe of his chastisements; 
 and he is also good in finally producing the pea- 
 ceable fruits of righteousness in those whom he 
 causes to feel his rod. 
 
 After having presented the hearer with what ap- 
 pears to be the true design of the text under con- 
 sideration, it may be profitable to look at the com-
 
 142 
 
 mon opinion on the subject and see if it have the 
 resemblance of the spirit of Christ. The com- 
 mon opinion of our text is this ; the blasphemy 
 against the Holy Ghost is a sin too great to ever 
 be forgiven, and therefore the blasphemer must be 
 punished in a most awful state of torment eternal- 
 ly ; or as long as God exists. But let us ask, 
 why is this sin so great ? Why may it not be for- 
 given ? Why should the Almighty become un 
 kind to his children because they have committed 
 this sin ? Is the Almighty injured by this sin? No, 
 God cannot be injured by his creatures. Was 
 Jesus injured as much by this blasphemy as the 
 common doctrine supposes those will be injured 
 who committed it ? INo, it is allowed that Jesus 
 rests in glory in heaven. Then the law that re- 
 quires an eye for an eye does not require that the 
 blasphemer should be punished world without end. 
 But suppose the most awful punishment be inflict- 
 ed to all eternity on those blasphemers, is this ex- 
 actly according to the spirit of Jesus, who on the 
 cross, prayed ; " Father forgive them, for they 
 know not what they do ?" Jesus commanded his 
 disciples to love their enemies, to pray for those 
 that used them spitefully and persecuted them; is 
 it according to this spirit and disposition, that he 
 will torment his enemies eternally in the merciless 
 flames of fire and brimstone ? If it be safe to be- 
 lieve, that Jesus will always possess and exercise 
 the same spirit of love and compassion, which so 
 distinctly marked the character which he exhibit- 
 ed in the days of his flesh, we certainly have no 
 more reason to believe that he will consign the 
 blasphemous Jews to never ending torment, than 
 we have to believe that every tender, fond mother 
 in America will at the expiration of a short given 
 time, commit her tenderest offspring to the flames. 
 Let those who contend for the common unmerci- 
 /ul doctrine, to the support of which the text un-
 
 143 
 
 der consideration is usually applied, duly consider 
 the words of Jesus, to those of his disciples, who 
 manifested a disposition to command fire from 
 heaven on the inhabitants of a village of Samaria ; 
 " Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of; 
 the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, 
 but to save them." 
 
 The enemy of the spirit of God and of truth 
 will say in reply to the foregoing arguments, if 
 these things are all so, we may sin with impunity 
 and blaspheme without fear ; we may hate God, 
 disregard his commandments, give no heed to the 
 gospel and abuse the Saviour. Though we hope 
 that none present are so blind, so hard hearted, so 
 dead to the spirit of truth as to make these sug- 
 gestions, yet it may be serviceable to guard 
 against such insinuations, as we know the opposers 
 of divine truth are continually making use of them 
 against the doctrine of divine love. Come then, 
 and let us reason together on this subject. Are 
 you willing to step forth boldly and say to the 
 world, that the more you believe in the goodness 
 of God, the more you feel disposed to hate and 
 disobey him ? The more confident you are that the 
 Saviour is your unchangeable friend, the more 
 you feel disposed to abuse him ? No, there is nei- 
 ther male nor female in the world so morally de- 
 ranged as to talk in this way. How then will the 
 opposer argue? He, will say that it is his opinion 
 that the doctrine contended for in this discourse i 
 of dangerous tendency. But who does it danger- 
 ously influence ? Certainly ndt the believer of it, 
 for a belief in the divine goodness tends to fill the 
 believer with love to God, and love to God is that 
 alone which can lead us to obey him. Who then 
 does this doctrine effect so dangerously ? If any,' 
 it must be the unbeliever, the opposer. Here we 
 must allow the argument, in a sense, for the 
 preaching of Jesus himself tended to enrage hii 
 enemies, his miracles of mercy tended to ope*
 
 114 
 
 their mouths in blasphemy. But would it hare 
 been better not to preach the truth because it 
 sturred up the opposition ? Would it have been 
 better not to cast out devils because if he cast them 
 out the Pharisees would blaspheme and say, that 
 " this fellow doth not cast out devils but by Beelze- 
 bub, the prince of the devils ?" 
 
 The opposer will say, perhaps, that he means 
 this ; if we believe in so much goodness it will tend 
 to make us worse. But this is absurd ; for eve- 
 ry thing tends to its own, goodness to goodness, 
 evil to evil, love to love, hatred to hatred, harmo- 
 ny to harmony, discord to discord, friendship to 
 friendship, enmity to enmity. 
 
 But says the objector, according to this doctrine 
 there is no punishment for sin, no, not even for this 
 awful blasphemy. Here again is a mistake. For 
 nearly eighteen hundred years the Jews, the de- 
 scendants of him to whom the promise of the gospel 
 was made, have wandered in " outer darkness," 
 in consequence of this blasphemy, and how much 
 longer they will continue in this unhappy situation 
 none but our merciful Father in heaven knows. 
 But the objector will say that these arguments do 
 not suppose that the Pharisees who blasphemed in 
 the days of Jesus on earth are now burning in fire 
 and brimstone for that sin in the immortal world. 
 No, we see no evidence of this. If people are pos- 
 sessed with devils in the eternal world, and if Jesus 
 cast out devils in that world, and these old Pha- 
 risees there in that world believe and say that he 
 casts out devils by Beelzebub the prince of the 
 devils, then it is granted, that in the eternal world 
 they must be punished for such unreasonable folly. 
 
 But, my brethren, let us learn wisdom by the en- 
 samples furnished in the word of God, and remem- 
 ber that now is the accepted time, now is the day 
 of salvation ; and that none hut the willing and obe- 
 dient eat the good of the land.
 
 No. 10. V 
 
 LECTURE SERMON, 
 
 DELIVERED AT THE 
 
 SECOND UNIVERSALIST MEETING, IN BOSTON, 
 DECEMBER 6, 1818. 
 
 BY HOSEA BALLOU, PASTOR. 
 
 Published Semi-Monthly by Henry Bowen, Devonshire-street. 
 
 ROMANS, xi. 7. 
 
 u Wli&t then ? Israel hath not obtained tkat which he tctkethfor ; but 
 the election hath obtained it y and the rest were blinded." 
 
 THE design in view which has led to the choice 
 of this portion of divine truth, as a subject of our 
 present lecture, is to investigate the scripture doc- 
 trine of election, to show the strict sovereignty of 
 God in electing some and blinding others, the 
 righteousness of God in the exercise of his sover- 
 eignty, and to disprove the common doctrine of 
 election which supposes, that our heavenly Father, 
 from eternity, elected some to everlasting life, and 
 predestinated others to a state of endless misery. 
 
 Our subject is one in which every Christian must 
 feel deeply interested, as it essentially concerns the 
 divine character, his revealed will concerning the 
 final state of mankind, together with the ultimate 
 object of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is there- 
 fore hoped that due attention and impartial can- 
 dor will contribute to their utmost to a correct un- 
 derstanding of the weighty subject under consid- 
 ertion. 
 
 19
 
 146 
 
 By "the election" in our text the Apostle 
 means a remnant of the house of Israel, who had 
 obtained what the whole had sought for, but of 
 which the greatest part had come short, being 
 blinded. In the preceding chapters the Author 
 had spoken of the failure of the house of Israel in 
 their endeavors to attain to the law of righteous- 
 ness, and of the more favorable condition of the 
 Gentiles, who though they did not follow after 
 righteousness, yet had " attained to righteous- 
 ness, even the righteousness which is of faith." To 
 the Gentiles he applies a prophecy of Esaiasas fol- 
 lows ; " I was found of them that sought me not ;I 
 was made manifest to them that asked not after me." 
 But concerning the house of Israel he uses the fol- 
 lowing words : " But to Israel he saith, all day 
 Jong, I have stretched forth my hands unto a diso- 
 bedient and gain saying people." In the commence- 
 ment of this chapter his attention seems to be 
 directed to make it appear that, notwithstanding 
 all which he had said, God had by no means, cast 
 , away the whole of his people, the Jews. The 
 following is his reasoning on the jubject : " I say 
 then, ham God cast away his people ? God forbid. 
 For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, 
 of the tribe Benjamin. God hath not cast away 
 his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what 
 the scripture saith of Elias, how he maketh inter- 
 cession to God against Isreal, saying, Lord, they 
 have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine 
 altars ; and I am left alone and they seek my life ? 
 But what saith the answer of God unto him ? I 
 have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who 
 have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. 
 Even so then, at this present time also there is a 
 remnant according to the election of grace." That 
 is, as in the days of Elijah it pleased God to re- 
 serve seven thousand of. the Israelites to be 
 true worshippers of himself, while the rest bow-
 
 147 
 
 ed the knee to Baal, so now, while the general 
 mass of the stock of Abraham are blinded, have 
 stumbled at the stumbling stone laid in Sion, and 
 are broken off through unbelief, there is a rem- 
 nan* stilJ preserved, who have escaped the gen- 
 eral calamity, and have by grace obtained what 
 the others sought for but found not ; of this rem- 
 nant, the Apostle reckons himself as one. 
 
 The hearer is now called on to direct his atten- 
 tion to understand, that this election was not made 
 with the least reference to the works of the chosen. 
 This the Aapostle is careful to notice in a most 
 plain and positive manner. See his observation 
 in the 6lh verse. " And if by grace, then it is no 
 more of works ; otherwise grace is no more grace. 
 But if it be of works, then is it no more grace ; other 
 wise work is no more work." This argument sup- 
 poses that if this election had been according to 
 works grace would have been entirely excluded ; 
 but as it was by grace, works were excluded. In 
 the 9th chapter the author in describing the sover- 
 eignty of God in the election of Jacob in preference 
 to Esau, says ; " For the children being not yet 
 born ; neither having done any good or evil, that 
 the purpose of God, according to election might 
 stand, not of works, but of him that calleth." And 
 in further arguing on this subject he adds; " For 
 he saith to Moses, I will have mercy, on whom I 
 will have mercy, and I will have compassion on 
 whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of 
 him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of 
 God that sheweth mercy. For the scriptures 
 saith unto Pharoah, even for this same purpose 
 have I raised thee up, that I might shew my 
 power in thee, and that my name might be 
 declared throughout all the earth. Therefore 
 hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and 
 whom he will" he hardeneth." To confirm this di- 
 vine sovereignty still further the inspired Apostle
 
 adds the following significant query ; Hath not 
 the potter power over the clay, of the same lump 
 to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto 
 dishonor? What if God, willing to shew his wrath, 
 and to make his power known, endured with much 
 long suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to dis- 
 truction ; and that he might make known the 
 riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which 
 he had afore prepared unto glory, even us, whom 
 he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of 
 the Gentiles ?" 
 
 Not only does the Apostle labour to show that 
 the remnant of the house of Israel, which he calls 
 the election, were elected according to the strict 
 sovereignty of God, and called by the riches of 
 sovereign grace, and made vessels of mercy ac- 
 cording to the same unconditional grace of God, 
 but he also directs his argument to prove that the 
 blindness of the Jews in general, their hardness of 
 heart &c. was effected also by the sovereign will 
 and pleasure of God, " According as it is written, 
 God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes 
 that they should not see, and ears that they should 
 not hear. And David saith, let their table be 
 made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, 
 and a recompence unto them : let their eyes be 
 darkened, that they may not see, and bow down 
 their back alway." On the same subject we read 
 Sn the prophecy of Isaiah as follows ; "And he 
 said, go, and tell this people, hear ye indeed, but 
 understand not ; and see ye indeed, but perceive 
 not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make 
 their ears heavy, and shut their eyes ; lest they 
 see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, 
 and understand with their heart, and convert 
 and be healed." And that this work of harden- 
 ing and blinding the house of Israel was effectu- 
 ally done we have the assurance in the 12th 
 chapter of the gospel of St. John : " But though
 
 149 
 
 he had done so many miracles before them, yet 
 they believed not on him : that the saying of Esai- 
 as the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, 
 Lord, who hath believed our report ? and to whom 
 hath the arm of the Lord been revealed ? There- 
 fore they could not believe, because that Esaias 
 said again, he hath blinded their eyes, and harden- 
 ed their heart, that they should not see with their 
 eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be con- 
 verted, and I should heal them. These things 
 said Esaias when he saw his glory and spake of 
 him." In this passage it is stated that " they could 
 not believe.'' It is therefore evident that they were 
 effectually blinded, and to all intents hardened so 
 
 * 
 
 that to believe in Jesus was not in their power. It 
 appears furthermore, that the Saviour himself re- 
 garded this blindness of the Jews with peculiar cau- 
 tion, and delivered his doctrine in parables on pur- 
 pose that they might not understand. Of this we 
 are informed in Matthew 13th "And the disciples 
 came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto 
 them in parables? He answered and said unto 
 them, because it is given unto you to know the mys- 
 teries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is 
 not given." And because God saw fit to hide the 
 things of the kingdom of his grace from the Jews, 
 Jesus expressed his thanks to the Father as record- 
 ed in Matthew 1 1th " At thaUime Jesus answered 
 and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven 
 and earth, because thou hast hid these things from 
 the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto 
 babes. Even so, Father; for so it seemed good in 
 thy sight." The reason here given why the Father 
 had hidden these things from the Jews, was that it 
 seemed good in his sight so to do, 
 
 Let us attend, in the next place, to see if we can 
 learn from the divine testimony, the special GOOD 
 which was brought about by the exercise of the 
 divine sovereignty in the instances which have been
 
 150 
 
 noticed. This is a subject of vast concern, for the 
 sentiment we embrace respecting it directly af- 
 fects the moral character of the divine Being : If 
 we consent to the opinion, that the elections which 
 we have noticed are elected unto eternal life, to 
 enjoy endless felicity, while those who are not of 
 the elect are predestinated to everlasting destruc- 
 tion in the future, eternal world, we thereby charge 
 God with partiality ; and it is utterly in vain to 
 attempt to clear the divine Being of this partiality 
 while we admit such a sentiment. It is true, our 
 Christian doctors have contended, that some were 
 elected from all eternity unto eternal life, and the 
 rest of mankind were reprobated to endless misery 
 for the glory of God ; and they are therefore un- 
 willing to allow that there is any partiality in God 
 in thus disposing of his creatures for his own glory. 
 But if we allow ourselves to be more particular on 
 this subject, is it not evident according to this sen- 
 timent that the glory of God requires him to be 
 good and merciful to some men, but utterly unmer- 
 ciful to others? As this must be granted, it fol- 
 lows of necessary consequence, that the glory of 
 God requires him to be partial. Nor does it alter 
 the case in the least to say, that the greatest possi- 
 ble good of the whole, requires the endless misery 
 of some ; for this amounts to the same thing, viz. 
 the greatest possible good of the whole consists in 
 partial goodness, which is an absurdity. If we are 
 able to find out what it is that the righteousness of 
 God, according to the purpose of election, con- 
 sists in, it must be something that accords with our 
 views of moral righteousness; for nothing can be 
 more evident than that we can see no righteous- 
 ness in that which is contrary to all our sense of 
 right. For instance, should an earthly parent choose 
 three children out of nine to partake of all the fa- 
 vors which he could possibly bestow from his am- 
 ple wealth, and destine the remaining six to
 
 151 
 
 most severe wretchedness that could possibly be 
 endured, and all this should be directed by the 
 sovereign will of the parent without any regard to 
 the conduct of the children, we should be under 
 the necessity of pronouncing this conduct partial 
 and unrighteous. If this parent should inform us, 
 that he did this for the promotion of his glory as a 
 parent, it would answer no purpose, as to giving 
 the least satisfaction that his conduct was right. 
 Or if he should inform us that he acted, in all this, 
 for the good of the whole, and that the greatest 
 good of the whole required the utter ruin and de- 
 struction of two thirds ; this would reflect no light 
 on the subject. But if the parent of nine children 
 had a piece of work to perform which was indis- 
 pensable for the richest benefit of all his offspring, 
 and that in order to effect this object it was neces- 
 sary for some, two* or three, to know certain things 
 relative to his plan, and equally necessary for the 
 rest to be ignorant of those things which were re- 
 vealed to the few, there is no difficulty in seeing 
 the impartiality of the parent in making known to 
 certain individuals what he carefully kept from the 
 rest. And even should he use means to blind his 
 children in this case it would be perfectly consist- 
 ent with his grand object, and consistent with im- 
 partial goodness. 
 
 Christian hearer, suppose yourself one of the 
 children, who was enlightened into the mysteries of 
 this scheme which was wisely planned for the best 
 good of yourself and of the whole family ; suppose 
 too that you sincerely loved all your family, and 
 could clearly see how all were to be benefitted by 
 the blindness, or ignorance of those who were un- 
 enlightened, would it not be perfectly natural for 
 you to thank your father for hiding those myste- 
 ries from them, and revealing them to you ? With 
 these enlightened views, and in the exercise of impar- 
 tial love towards those wb<? were ha darkness shorild
 
 152 
 
 you not be willing to suffer any reproach from 
 them which, on account of their necessary ignorance, 
 they might heap upon you ? And would you not 
 esteem the knowledge of the truth for which you 
 might sillier sufficient to coutervail all your suf- 
 ferings ? Sometimes would you not feel such ar- 
 dent desires towards your deceived brethren as 
 would lead you to wish yourself in their ignorance, 
 if thereby they might be permitted to see what 
 you were blessed with seeing, and hear that which 
 you rejoiced to hear ? 
 
 Dearly beloved hearer, your humble servant 
 feels perfectly satisfied that this is the true spirit and 
 light of the wisdom of God ; he enjoys a full per- 
 suation that the elections of God recorded in the 
 scriptures are all established on this eternal princi- 
 ple of impartial goodness, and that every elected, 
 enlightened child of God is exercised with this 
 spirit of love and pity for those who are in unbe- 
 lief. 
 
 That those, of whom the Apostle spake in 
 our text as not obtaining what they sought for, but 
 were blinded, were the subjects of the divine 
 favor, that their blindness was necessary for the 
 benefit of the world, and that they were designed, 
 in the wisdom of God, to be partakers of the bene- 
 fits arising to the world from their blindness and 
 fall, the Apostle fully proves in the chapter where 
 our text is written, as we shall now proceed to 
 show. 
 
 Let us notice the text and what follows ; " What 
 then ? Israel hath not obtained that which he 
 seeketh for ; but the election hath obtained it, and 
 the rest were blinded (according as it is writteo, 
 God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes 
 that they should not see, and ears that they should 
 not hear) unto this day. And David saith, let 
 their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a 
 stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them : let
 
 153 
 
 their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and 
 bow down their back alway." Here let us pause 
 Here let us ask, does divine revelation close thii 
 subject in this place ? Does it afford no hope that 
 these blinded, fallen sons of Israel, who stumbled 
 at the sturnbling-stone laid in Zion will finally be 
 received to favor? Are the inexorable doors of 
 eternal mercy shut against them by an unalterable 
 decree of the God of their fathers ? If all this 
 were true, then would the doctrine of election 
 and reprobation, as has been held in the Christian 
 church for ages be true also; but hark! What 
 does the inspired apostle say further on this sub- 
 ject and concerning them who were blinded and 
 had stumbled? "I say then, have they stumbled 
 that they should fall ? God forbid : but rather 
 through their fall salvation is come unto the Gen- 
 tiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. Now, if the 
 fall of them, be the riches of the world, and the 
 diminishing of them, the riches of the Gentiles ; 
 how much more their fulness ? For if the cast- 
 ing away of them be the reconciling of the 
 world, what shall the receiving of them be but 
 life from the dead. For if thou wert cut out 
 of the olive-tree, which is wild by nature, and 
 wert grafted contrary to nature into a good olive- 
 tree, how much more shall they, which be the na- 
 tural branches be grafted into their own olive- 
 tree ? For I would not brethren, that ye should 
 be ignorant of this mystery (lest ye should be 
 wise in your own conceit,) that blindness in part 
 is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the 
 Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be 
 saved ; as it is written, there shall come out of Sion 
 the deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from 
 Jacob. For this is my covenant unto them, when 
 I shall take away their sins. As concerning the 
 gospel, they are enemies for your sakes : but jw 
 2t>
 
 154 
 
 touching the election, they are beloved for the 
 fathers' sake. For the gifts and calling of God., 
 are without repentance. For as ye in times past, 
 have not believed God, yet have now obtained 
 mercy through their unbelief; even so have these 
 also now not belived, that through your mercy 
 they also may obtain mercy. For God hath con- 
 cluded them all in unbelief, that he might have 
 mercy upon all !" On such luminous testimony 
 as this, comment is needless. With less blindness 
 than that which happened to Israel, no one can a- 
 void seeing that it was the design of the inspired 
 author to prove that the Jews' blindness was ad- 
 vantageous to the gentile world, and that they 
 would eventually be the happy partakers of that 
 grace which was revealed to the Gentiles by means 
 of their blindness. The hearer will carefully ob- 
 serve the connection between this subject and the 
 one treated of in our last lecture, and examine the 
 whole of this chapter on the momentous subject 
 of this inquiry by which he may see the glorious 
 liijht which caused the Appostle (o exclaim ; " O 
 the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the 
 knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his 
 judgments, and his ways past tinding out !" 
 
 By the Calvimstic doctrine of election w^ have 
 been taught to believe, that the remnant according 
 to the election of grace, of which the Apostle 
 speaks in our context, " the election" of which he 
 speaks in our text were all that were the beloved 
 objects of divine mercy, of the whole house of Is- 
 rael; and that they who were blinded, were pre- 
 destinated from eternity to endless darkness and 
 misery. But by the evident sense of the divine 
 testimony on this subject we have ample evidence 
 to believe, what has been so fully proved, that " all 
 Israel shall be saved." Those blinded Jews were 
 the objects of the Saviours grace as much as those
 
 155 
 
 who were chosen to receive and preserve thfe 
 knowledge of him. They were those of the fam- 
 ily, who, it was necessary should be ignorant of the 
 truth which was revealed to others of the same 
 family for the benefit of all. Our blessed Saviour 
 manifested towards those blinded Jews, the most 
 tender, affectionate regard. His pity for them 
 melted him into tears, he wept over them with as 
 much tenderness as Joseph wept over his breth- 
 ren. 
 
 St. Paul wai one of the family who was for some- 
 time blinded ; during which time he was active in 
 assisting his brethren who also were blind, in pro- 
 secuting their persecutions against the enlightened 
 disciples of Jesus. He was afterward himself, 
 brought toknow. the truth, to understand the mys- 
 tery of the wisdom and goodness of God in blind- 
 ing the Jews, and he ever seemed to be exercised 
 with a spirit and disposition of compassion for his 
 brethren according to the flesh. 
 
 In the beginning of the 10th chapter of this epis- 
 tlfe he expresses himself as follows ; " Brethren, my 
 hearts desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that 
 they might be saved." In the beginning of the 
 9th chapter he has the following indication of most 
 fervent benevolence ; " I say the truth in Christ, I 
 lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in 
 the Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviness and 
 continual sorrow of heart. For I could wish that 
 myself were accursed, from Christ, for my breth- 
 ren, my kinsmen according to the flesh." Chris- 
 tian hearer, when you were asked, on supposition 
 you were one of the family that was enlightend in 
 certain matters concerning which your brethren 
 were in the dark, if you might not feel willing to 
 exchange circumstances with the unenlightened, 
 did you not feel an assent to the question? And 
 does it not seem that this was the exact case of tl*e
 
 156 
 
 Apostle? He knew that he was chosen of God, 
 enlightened by the Saviour, made a vessel of mer- 
 cy, and ordained to the work of the ministry for 
 no good that he had done. It was not possible, 
 therefore, that with all this knowledge, he could 
 feel unmerciful towards his brethren, who remain- 
 ed exactly in the situation from which the grace 
 of God had taken him. It was therefore, with un- 
 speakable satisfaction, that he anticipated the hap- 
 py ever.t of the turning away of ungodliness from 
 Jacob, and the salvation of all Israel. 
 
 Brethren, though a regret is felt that better jus- 
 tice has not heen done to the weighty subject un- 
 der consideration, yet a hope is entertained that 
 you clearly see, that the blindness of those Jews 
 who were not of the elect spoken of in our text, 
 was designed for the benefit of the Gentile world ; 
 and that when their blindness shall have effected 
 all for which it was designed in the wisdom of God, 
 it will be removed, and the blinded will be saved 
 in Sions deliverer. And furthermore, that the 
 elected ones were chosen, not for their benefit 
 alone, but for the good likewise of those who \\uie 
 not elected. 
 
 \Ve may now look for a moment, and see if this 
 doctrine of election agree with the scriptures gen- 
 erally and \vith reason. The doctrine of election 
 according to the views we have taken of it, sup- 
 poses that those who arc elected, are elected for the 
 benefit of those who are not elected. The prophet 
 Isaiah in the 42d chapter speaks of an elect of 
 God as follows ; " Behold my servant, whom ] 
 uphold ; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth : 
 I have put my Spirit upon him ; he shall bring forth 
 
 judgment to the Gentiles.- 1 the Lord have 
 
 called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine 
 hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a cove- 
 |iant of the people for a light of the Gentiles ; to
 
 open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners 
 from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out 
 of the prison-house." This elect of God is the 
 Lord Jesus, the Saviour of the world, of whom the 
 Apostle John says ; " we have seen and do testify 
 that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of 
 the world." This elect of God is the One Media- 
 tor between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 
 who gave himself a ransom for all to be testified in 
 due time." Thus it is evident that this elect was 
 designed for the benefit of the whole world. 
 
 The Saviour also himself had an elect. He 
 chose his Apostles and ordained them to preach 
 his grace and salvation to the whole world. "'Go, 
 ye, into all the world and preach the gospel to 
 every creature." This elect therefore, was for the 
 benefit of the whole world. 
 
 Being one of the elect, and having received a 
 dispensation of the gospel of reconciliation, St. 
 Paul said to the Romans, " I am a debtor both to 
 the Greeks and to the Barbarians, both to the wise 
 and to the unwise." Here we see that what the 
 world lacked, the Apostles of Jesus had for it, what 
 the wise and the unwise lacked St. Paul had for 
 them. The Apostles were not chosen to be the 
 exclusive partakers of the grace which they re- 
 ceived, but were commanded by the divine Master 
 to bestow as freely on others, as they had received. 
 It seems a fair conclusion from the facts noticed, 
 that the grace of God which is specially communi- 
 cated to his elect is ultimately designed as much 
 for those who are not elected as for those who are. 
 
 This doctrine is perfectly consistant with the 
 dictates of reason and is analogous with the pru- 
 dent management of civil community. 
 
 In all societies a few are elected for the benefit 
 of the whole. They are never chosen to monopo- 
 lism all the blessing of society to themselves, but to
 
 158 
 
 make as equal a distribution of burdens and favors^ 
 df expenses and profits as possible. Look at the 
 elected officers of the town ; they see for the 
 blind, thfy hear for the deaf, they walk for the 
 fame, they have wealth for the poor, they provide 
 for those who cannot provide for themselves. No- 
 tice every officer in the general government of 
 our country, up to the presidency ; men are elect- 
 ed to fill all these places, not for their exclusive 
 benefit, but for the good of the whole union. 
 
 Let us ask, where in the vast creation, did the 
 wisdom of this world find the Calvinistic doctrine 
 f election and reprobation ? Does the sun shine 
 to light himself alone ? Are his fervid beams de 
 signed to warm his own bosom only ? And in the 
 mild rays of the queen of night does she alone re- 
 joice ? Do winds blow to refresh themselves? Are 
 rivers designed for their own benefit ? What ele- 
 ment, what vegetable, what animal exists for itself 
 only ? 
 
 " All are but parts of one stupendous whole, 
 Whose body nature is, and God the soul." 
 
 To conclude. Let us duly notice the moral teri- 
 dancy of divine truth, as seen in the subject un- 
 der consideration. God is good to all, his tender 
 mercies arc over all his works. This truth de- 
 ritandsof every rational being the-^xeicise of that 
 diffusive benevolence which embraces the whole 
 creation. Those whom God chooses to enlighten by 
 his grace, while others are blinded, are appointed 
 to administer the riches of the manifold wisdom 
 uid goodness of God to such as luck the knowledge 
 df his ways. The spirit of Christ is love to ene- 
 mies, his grace is the salvation of sinners ; if 
 therefore, we partake of his spirit and enjoy his 
 ^race, we shall be led thereby to love our enemies 
 and to administer saving grace to those who walk 
 insi. hit tioi a fart that limited vievVs of the
 
 159 
 
 goodness of God have limited the charity of those 
 \vho had them ? and have not those opinions, which 
 maintain that the Father of our spirits will exe- 
 cute unspeakable vengeance on a large proportion 
 of the human family eternally effectually hardened 
 the hearts of those who have been led by them, 
 and rendered them in too many instances, unrea- 
 sonable enthusiasts and violent persecutors of those 
 who have not conformed to their superstitions ? 
 
 Not only does the impartial grace which we 
 have seen in the doctrine of election lead us to love 
 all men, and to do good to all men, but it shews 
 us that we are no better than those who are blind 
 respecting this diving and glorious system of truth. 
 This doctrine naturally leads the believer to 
 pity the blindness of those who do not see ; but it 
 gives the consoling anticipation of the final recon- 
 ciliation of all things through Jesus Christ our 
 Lord. It fills the heart with gratitude to God. 
 who so wisely planned and so graciously designed 
 the blindness of the house of Israel, that thereby 
 salvation might come unto the Gentiles ; and has 
 so ordained in his impartial goodness, that the 
 blinded .lews shall eventually obtain the mercy 
 now enjoyed by the Gentiles. Thus of the twain, 
 the wisdom of God makes one new man, so mak- 
 ing peace. Therefore we read ; " Rejoice ye 
 Gentiles with his people. And again, praise the 
 Lord, all ye Gentiles ; and laud him all ye people/'
 
 No. 11. 
 
 LECTURE SERMON, 
 
 DELIVERED AT THE 
 
 SfeCOND UNIVERSALIST MEETING, IN BOSTON, 
 DECEMBER 20, 1818. 
 
 BY HOSEA BALLOU, PASTOR* 
 
 Published Semi-Monthly by Henry Bowen, Devonshire-street, 
 
 II. CORINTHIANS, v. 18, 19, 20. 
 
 Vl Jlnd all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesut 
 Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation ; to wit, 
 that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not im- 
 puting their trepasses unto them ; and hath committed unto us the word 
 of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as 
 though God did btseech you by us : we pray you in Christ" 1 * stead, be yc 
 reconciled to God." 
 
 IT is a peculiar and distinguishing characteristic 
 of the gospel dispensation, that it exhibits a new 
 order of things, brings the glad tidings of better 
 things than were before understood, sheds a clearer 
 light on mental vision than was before enjoyed, 
 makes a brighter manifestation of the gracious de- 
 signs of the wisdom of God than was made by the 
 legal dispensation, and creates new views, new de* 
 sires, and new affections of heart. Thegospel of God 
 our Saviour, contemplates the world of mankind as 
 being in a state of death, from which state its divine 
 efficacies were designed to quicken man into new- 
 ness of life by the spirit of truth. These sugges- 
 tions seem to be embraced by the Apostle in our 
 context where he says ; " The love of Christ com- 
 21
 
 162 
 
 siraineth us, because we thus judge, that if one 
 died for all, then were all dead : and that he died 
 for all, that they which live should not henceforth 
 live unto themselves, but unto him which died for 
 them, and rose again. Wherefore, henceforth 
 know we no man after the flesh ; yea, though we 
 have known Christ after the flesh, yet now hence- 
 forth know we him no more. Therefore, if any 
 man be in Christ, he is a new creature : old things 
 are passed away; behold, all thing are become 
 new." 
 
 Applied to the Jewish converts, these words of 
 the Apostle are designed to notice the passing 
 away of the legal dispensation with all its rites 
 and the introduction of the bitter covenant and 
 more excellent ministry of the gospel ; and as they 
 apply to Gentile believers they regard the total over- 
 throw of all the idols and idol worship among the 
 heathen, and their reformation to the knowledge, 
 laws and ordinances of the gospel of Christ. 
 
 To these new things the Apostle alludes in our 
 text and says ; " all things are of God, who hath 
 reconciled us unto himself," &c. 
 
 The first particular subject of our text is what is 
 embraced in the reconciliation of the ambassadors 
 of Christ to God. Concerning this subject the 
 Apostle's testimony makes the following things 
 evident. 1st. That they had been in a state of 
 unreconciliation. 2d. That the whole process, 
 from the beginning to the end of the work of their 
 reconciliation was of God. 3d. That this work 
 was effected by Jesus Christ. Perhaps no man was 
 ever more unreconciled to God, to Christ, or to 
 the gospel than the author of our text had 
 been ; and it was well known to him that he was 
 not the author of those means by which he be- 
 came reconciled. He well knew that the knowledge 
 of JesuSj in the excellency of which he afterward
 
 163 
 
 so much rejoiced, was by no means the object of 
 his enquiry or persuit at the time and on the oc- 
 casion to which he refers when giving an account 
 of his miraculous convertion to Christianity. He 
 often adverted to his views, his designs, and to his 
 conduct while opposed to the gospel, but in no 
 instance did he give any intimation that he obtain- 
 ed the grace of the Saviour in consequence of his 
 own faithful exertions. Similar remarks may 
 justly be made respecting the Apostles who were 
 chosen by our divine Redeemer during his per- 
 sonal ministry. Some he called from a lucrative 
 office under the Roman government, others from 
 the laborious employment of fishermen ; but it is 
 evident that the Saviour made his own selections 
 without regard to. the wisdom or will of his chosen, 
 for he informed them as follows; " Ye have not 
 chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained 
 you, that you should go and bring forth fruit." 
 Indeed there is an evident absurdity in the sup- 
 position that God reconciles any to himself on ac- 
 count of their good works, for those who are obe- 
 dient unto righteousness are not unreconciled to 
 God. For want of making proper distinctions be- 
 tween causes and effects, many well meaning and 
 pious people have maintained that the divine favour 
 is to be obtained by the penitence, faith and good 
 works of men, not discerning clearly, that repent- 
 ance, faith, and good works are the effects and not 
 the causes of the favour of God. Let us here in- 
 dulge a simile. A number of children, at that age 
 when passions and fancy are vastly more powerful 
 than reason and solkl judgement, leave the paternal 
 mansion disgusted at the rules of prudence, indus- 
 try and economy established in the domestic 
 circle, in quest of fancied pleasures in the 
 indulgence of those passions which grow rest- 
 less under restraint. The race is short ; they
 
 164 
 
 soon fall into wretchedness and want, but do not 
 yet understand their errors. To save them from 
 this sad condition the still affectionate father un- 
 dertakes to make such communications to them as 
 may convince them of the propriety of his laws, 
 the indispensible nececessity of his prudence and 
 economy for the good of his family, and to recon- 
 cile them to himself. The means which the father 
 uses for the purpose mentioned are so wisely plann- 
 ed and so well executed that they eventuate in 
 effecting the deserved object. The children be- 
 come convinced of the excellency of those laws 
 and regulations at which they were so much of- 
 fended, they see the madness and folly of their 
 wicked indulgences, sorrow of heart and sincere 
 repentance are effectually wrought in them, and 
 they finally return to their gracious parent and de- 
 vote themselves to his service, which is now no 
 longer grievous, but joyous. Would it be at all 
 reasonable for these reformed children to believe 
 that their repentance and return to their parent 
 were means which obtained the love and good will 
 of their father ? Surely it would be most unrea- 
 sonable, for it is evident that the children's repent- 
 ance and return were the effects and not the causes 
 of the parental kindness. In the enjoyment of all 
 the blessings of their father's house, and with a 
 clear understanding concerning all these circum- 
 stances, might they not say with great propiety, 
 All things are of our wise and most merciful Father, 
 who hath reconciled us unto himself ? 
 
 Let us, in the next place, lend our attention to 
 the consideration of these words in our text ; " and 
 hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation. 5 ' 
 By these words we learn that the same ministry, by 
 which the ambassadors of Christ were reconciled 
 to God, was given to them for the purpose of re- 
 conciling others ; by which the following facts are
 
 J65 
 
 clearly suggested. 1st. That mankind at large, to 
 whom the Apostles were directed to preach the 
 gospel, was in the same state of unreconciliation 
 in which these ambassadors of Christ had been, and 
 from which the ministry of divine grace had re- 
 claimed them. 2d. That the same divine favour, by 
 which these ambassadors were reconciled to God, is 
 treasured up in the gospel ministry for those who 
 remain unreconciled ; and 3d. That the ambassa- 
 dors of Christ have nothing to administer to the 
 unbelieving and unreconciled but such as has been 
 administered to them, by which they became recon- 
 ciled to God. These facts are evidently embrac- 
 ed in this part of our subject and deserve a care- 
 ful attention. By losing sight of these things, 
 the minister of the word is exposed to corrrupt it, 
 and in room of administering the pure gospel of 
 reconciliation, as it has been communicated, to him- 
 self, he may immagine himself authorised to deal 
 with others in a very different manner from that 
 in which the divine favour was administered to him. 
 Without any design to trouble the feelings of 
 those who entertain sentiments differing from our 
 own, but with a humble desire to reflect light on 
 our subject, let us ask if we have any information 
 which authorises us to believe that St. Paul was 
 threatened with the everlasting vengeance of an in- 
 senced vindictive wrath unless he repented of his 
 sins and believed in the Lord Jesus? It is true the 
 same question may with equal propriety be asked 
 concerning all the Apostles, but the single case of 
 St. Paul, who was the author of the scripture un- 
 der consideration, is sufficient to try the question, 
 and place the subject in a clear light. The ac- 
 count recorded in the 26th of Acts, which was 
 solemnly given in by the Apostle himself, before 
 king Agrippa is so very important in itself, and so 
 essential to the present query that the hearer will
 
 166 
 
 listen with attention to what may be recited from it. 
 After having given a particular relation of his past 
 life in the Jews' religion, his full persuasion that he 
 aught to do many things contrary to the name of 
 Jesus, and that he actually did those things shutting 
 up the saints in prison and giving his voice against 
 them when they were put to death, punishing them 
 oft in every Synagogue and compelling them to blas- 
 pheme, &c. he proceeds as follows ; " Whereupon, 
 I went to Damascus with authority and commission 
 from the chief priests, at mid-day, O king, I saw in 
 the way a light from heaven, about the brightness 
 of the sun, shining round about me, and them that 
 journied with me. And when we were all fallen to 
 the earth, 1 heard a voice speaking unto me, and 
 saying, in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why 
 persecutest thou me ? It is hard for thee to kick 
 against the pricks. A nd I said, who art thou, Lord ? 
 And he said, I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest. 
 But arise, and stand upon thy feet : for I have ap- 
 peared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee 
 a minister and a witness, both of these things 
 which thou hast seen, and of those things in the 
 which I will appear unto thee ; delivering thee 
 from the people and from the Gentiles, unto whom 
 now I send thee, to open their eyes, and to turn 
 them from darkness to light, and from the power 
 of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgive- 
 ness of sins, and inheritance among them which 
 are sanctified by faith that is in me." In this most 
 solemn and interesting account is there the least 
 intimation of the threatening vengeance noticed in 
 our query ? Surely there is not. Indeed there ap- 
 pears, to have been no conditions stated in the 
 case. Jesus said to Saul ; " I have appeared unto 
 thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a 
 witness," &c. Jesus did not appear to this persecu- 
 1or to propose what are now called terms of grace
 
 167 
 
 and conditions of salvation, but to make him a min- 
 ister and a witness. And as there were no threat- 
 nings nor conditions in the ministration by which 
 Saul was converted to Christianity and made a min- 
 ster of the same ministry of reconciliation, so he was 
 not directed to go to the Gentiles with threatenings 
 arid conditions, but he was sent to them to open 
 their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light, 
 and from the power of satan unto God." Jesus 
 opened Saul's eyes turned him from darkness to 
 light, and from the power of satan unto God, that 
 he might receive the forgiveness of sins, and inheri- 
 tance among them who are sanctified; and he sent 
 him to the Gentiles to work the same on them. 
 
 Tnat the Apostles might be duly furnished with 
 the true ministry of reconciliation ; the WORD of 
 reconciliation was committed to them as designat- 
 ed in our text, as follows ; " That God was in 
 Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not im- 
 puting their trespasses unto them." This word 
 and ministry of reconciliation does not impute 
 men's trespasses to them, but exercises the means 
 of reconciliation on them. 
 
 That this subject may be understood according 
 to its evangelical principles the following particu- 
 lars, which are implied in the words under consid- 
 eration may be noticed. 1st. God ia not unrecon- 
 ciled to sinners and therefore needs not to be re- 
 conciled to them. 2d. Sinners are unreconciled 
 to God, and therefore he has designed to reconcile 
 them to himself by means of the gospel ministry ; 
 and 3d. The ministry of the gospel comes with 
 all the means necessary to reconcile sinners t 
 God. 
 
 The opinion that our heavenly Father became 
 inimical to man in consequence of his sin is not on- 
 ly in direct opposition to the sentiment of our text, 
 tout is also repugnant to the essential character of
 
 the divine Being. How is it possible to maintain 
 that God is unchangeable, the same yesterday to 
 day and forever, and yet suppose that his disposi- 
 tion towards his creatures is changed by their con- 
 duct ? Again, it denies the infinite knowledge of 
 God to suppose that he became unfriendly to us by 
 reason of our sin; for if he knew before he made 
 us that we should fall into temptation and become 
 sinful, he had all the reason to be our enemy then 
 that lie has had since. Moreover it denies the 
 divine goodness to allow that he made a being 
 when he knew that the work of his own hands 
 would incur his divine displeasure. Indeed, the 
 supposition that our Father in heaven became our 
 enemy in consequence of our sin, makes him to 
 violate the grand principle, which more than any 
 other, distinctly marks out the law of righteousness 
 expressed by the Saviour as follows; " I say unto 
 you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, 
 do good to them that hate you> and pray for them 
 which dispitefully use you, and persecute you ; 
 that ye may be the children of your Father which 
 is in heaven ; for he maketh his sun to rise on the 
 evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just 
 and the unjust." As the divine Teacher, in the 
 passage here recited, notices the divine Being in 
 the character of a Father, it may be proper to ob- 
 serve in this place that it is inconsislant with the 
 character of an earthly father to become an enemy 
 to his offspring because his child is disobedient* 
 and surely it would be much more repugnant to 
 the character of our heavenly Father to become 
 unfriendly lo us for our faults. 
 
 The hearer is cautioned against construing this 
 reasoning into a supposition, that our heavenly 
 Father will not chastise his children for disobe- 
 dience, for chastisement is the sure pledge of the 
 father's love and faithfulness.
 
 169 
 
 It may contribute to make our subject still 
 plainer, if we enquire for the possible means where- 
 by the di\ 7 ine Creator could be reconciled to man- 
 kind, if he were once our enemy. Will it be said, that 
 what his Holy Child Jesus has done in our world 
 was designed by his Father to reconcile him to the 
 world ? Truly, this has been believed, but it is in 
 direct opposition to the testimony of Jesus, who 
 said ; " God so loved the world, that he gave his 
 only begotten Son, that whosoever belie veth in 
 him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 
 For God sent not his Son into the world to con- 
 demn the world ; but that the world through him 
 might be saved." If God sent his Son into the 
 world because he loved it, he certainly did not send 
 him into the world to reconcile himself to those 
 whom he loved. It is a thing at which reason 
 marvels, that learned men should ever have been so 
 absurd as to suppose, that God could use means to 
 reconcile himself to his creatures, and that the suf- 
 ferings of Jesus were designed for this purpose ; 
 for if God loved us he was not unreconciled to us ; 
 and if he did not love us, but was an enemy to us, 
 he would have done nothing for our good. 
 
 Contrary to these notions of reconciling God to 
 men, the ministry of the gospel is designed to re- 
 concile men to God, by which ministry the tres- 
 passes of men are not imputed to them, but are 
 forgiven. 
 
 Let us in the next place, notice the efficacies of 
 the gospel ministry to effect the reconciliation de- 
 signed by it. To understand this subject, it is 
 necessary to know the cause of man's unreconcilia- 
 tion Tiiis is his ignorance of the true character 
 of God. This we learn from St. Paul's words, 
 Ephesians, iv. 18. Speaking of the vanity of the 
 Gentiles and their alienations he says ; " Hav- 
 ing the understanding darkened, being alienated 
 22
 
 170 
 
 from the life of God, through the ignorance that is 
 in them, because of the blindness of their heart." 
 Because this was the situation of the Gentiles, 
 Jesus told the Apostle that he sent him to them, 
 to open their eyes, and to turn them from dark- 
 ness to light. If there were any property of the 
 divine Being, that is inimical to us, the more our 
 eyes were opened to see its nature the more unre- 
 conciled we should be to it. But as God is infi- 
 nitely gracious, unchangeably merciful, and alto- 
 gether lovely the more our eyes are opened to see 
 and understand the blessed qualifies of his nature, 
 the more we are reconciled to him, and the better 
 we love him. Again, if our nature were totally 
 opposite to the nature of God and holiness, the 
 more we discovered of the nature ot God, the 
 more we should be opposed to it. 
 
 The fact is, God is the real source of all moral, 
 intellectual nature, and a knowledge of him is the 
 only mean by which we can be reconciled to him, 
 and the want of this knowledge is the real cause of 
 our unreconciliation. 
 
 In consistency with these well established facts, 
 the gospel ministry brings the testimony and evi- 
 dence of the love of God and of his divine good- 
 ness to sinners. The following is the testimony ; 
 " When we were without strength, in due time 
 Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for 
 a righteous man will one die ; yet peradventure 
 for a good man some would even dare to die. 
 But God comrnendeth his love toward us, in that, 
 
 while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 
 
 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled 
 to God by the death of his Son : much more, being 
 
 reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. But 
 
 God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love where- 
 with he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, 
 hath quickened us together with Christ. Here
 
 171 
 
 in is love, not that we loved God ; but that he loved 
 us, and sent his Son io be the propitiation for 
 sins." 
 
 By such testimony it is seen, that the ministra- 
 tion of reconciliation brings, in the most direct 
 manner, the love of God to the understanding of 
 the sinner, by which repentance is wrought in the 
 heart and the soul brought to love God ; for it is 
 the goodness of God that leadeth to repentance, 
 and again, we are told, that " we love him because 
 he first loved us.'' 
 
 It is contended by many that it is dangerous 
 to inform sinners that God is really kind and mer- 
 ciful to them. It is thought that this information, 
 if it be true, will tend to make them worse. Why 
 then do the scriptures abound with such testimony ? 
 And again, why did not the manifestation of the 
 love and compassion of Jesus to Saul make him 
 worse ? Jesus said to him ; " Saul, Saul, why per- 
 secutest thou me ?" Why did not this enemy of 
 Christ reply ; I persecute you because you love me, 
 I hate your name because in it alone 1 am sensi- 
 ble I have salvation ; and now as your compassions 
 fail not, and you are determined to make me a 
 minister of divine mercy, I arn determined to 
 hate you more and persecute you tenfold to what 
 I have heretofore ? If there were no danger in 
 making such a glorious display of the goodness of 
 God to this so great an enemy of the gospel, how 
 should it happen that similar manifestations to 
 sinners now should be so very dangerous as is re- 
 presented by those who are the ministers of wrath 
 and condemnation ? 
 
 It may be useful in this place to notice some of 
 the similes used in scripture to represent the min- 
 istration of reconciliation. By the prophet 
 Isaiah Christ is called a LIGHT to lighten the Gen- 
 tiles, and Jesus said ; " I am the light of the 
 world ," and having communicated his light to his
 
 disciples, he told them, that they were the light of 
 the world. Now according to the objection which 
 we have noticed, it is dangerous to give light to 
 them who are in darkness, for it may make them 
 worse. Jesus said ; " I am the bread of life." 
 This is the bread which came down from heaven 
 and giveth life to the world ; but it is dangerous to 
 give this bread to sinners, it is thought it may 
 make them worse. Jesus represented the sinner 
 by those who are sick, and himself as a physician. 
 Will it do to say, it is dangerous to heal the sick 
 because it may make them worse? No, these things 
 are not so. Those who have been delivered from 
 the power of darkness by the true light, have 
 been thereby delivered from the power of satan 
 and translated into the "kingdom of God's dear 
 Son. Those who have eaten of the bread of God 
 have found it to be spiritual life, and those who 
 have received the healing balsam of the divine 
 Physician have felt the power of sin to die within 
 them, and have been reconciled to God through 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 As it may be due to the situation of some minds, 
 we may notice a question which is so often stated, 
 viz: if the sinner may immediately receive divine 
 favour, when and where is he to be punished for 
 his sins ? This question is made of great concern by 
 those who believe that the gospel is a ministration 
 of condemnation. But there is one thing we can- 
 not but observe in those who urge this ques- 
 tion; they never ask when they, themselves, are 
 to be punished for their sins. They appear to 
 have no concern about this weighty question as it 
 regards themselves ; their whole concern is about 
 sinners. And this concern is not for fear they will 
 be punished, but for fear they will not be. 
 
 Let us return the question to those who bring it, 
 and ask them, when and where are you to receive 
 punishment for your sins? You contend, that
 
 173 
 
 the wicked must be punished, you are zealous to 
 have the wicked punished ; as Nathan said to 
 David, " thou art the man." 
 
 Turn, Pharisee, thine eyes within, 
 Nor further search abroad for sin. 
 
 When and where was murderous David, king of 
 Israel, punished for his sins ? When and where 
 was the author of our text, " the minister and 
 witness" of Jesus, punished, for the murders which 
 he had practised on the innocent lambs of Christ? 
 We answer the question and say, sin and mise- 
 ry are inseparably united in the nature of cause 
 and effect. When and where we are sinful, 
 then and there we are our own tormentors. " The 
 way of the transgressor is hard there is no peace 
 to the wicked." 
 
 Look at the nature of this subject. Jesus ap- 
 peared to Saul, to make him a minister and a wit- 
 ness, to open the eyes of the Gentiles. But when 
 were these Gentiles punished for being blind ? 
 The Apostle was to turn the Gentiles " from dark- 
 ness to light." But when were they punished for 
 being in the dark ? He was to deliver them from 
 the power of sat an. But when were they punish- 
 ed for having been under satan's power ? My bre- 
 thren, satan's yoke is a hard service, his govern- 
 ment is tyrannical, and his power is oppressive. 
 
 The reason why our heavenly Father has sent 
 the ministration of his grace to reconcile sinners 
 to himself, is, that they may receive inheritance 
 among them who are sanctified. If satan's yoke were 
 easy and if his burden were light, if sin and happi- 
 ness were connected, why should the Almighty 
 wish to deprive his creatures of this felicity ? And 
 if sin and all manner of vice afford happiness to 
 man in this world, why will they not be permitted 
 to continue hereafter, and there continue the
 
 source of human happines ? There never was a 
 deception lhat operated so much to the disadvan- 
 tage of mankind, as that of believing that happi- 
 ness is to be obtained in sin. This deception makes 
 slaves of millions, who devote themselves to their 
 blind passions, and " are dead while they live." 
 From this deception, from this slavery and from 
 this death the ministry of reconciliation is designed 
 lo deliver the world. Therefore, the ambassadors 
 of Jesus, cry, as in our text, " we pray you, in 
 Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God." 
 
 Reconciliation to God, is reconciliation to his re- 
 vealed attributes and will, and consists in a confor- 
 mity to the divine commands. A profession of re- 
 Jigion may be totally disconnected with the reconcil- 
 iation contemplated in our text, which is known, 
 as was suggested in our introduction, by new views, 
 new affections, and new desires. If we judge by 
 their fruits, many have professed the religion of the 
 Saviour, who have no different views from what 
 they had before, only they now believe that they 
 are more righteous than their neighbours ; and re- 
 main as destitute of love to their brethren of the 
 human family as ever. God is love ; therefore to 
 be reconciled to God, we must be reconciled to this 
 divine principle. God is known to be love to all 
 his creatures, because he actually does good to all. 
 If we love all God's rational offspring, as our breth- 
 ren, we are therein reconciled to God. St. Paul 
 says ; God "will have all men to be saved, and to 
 come unto the knowledge of the truth." If this 
 will be in us, and if we can in sincerity pray for 
 this will to be accomplished, we are therein recon- 
 ciled. We are commanded to love our enemies 
 and to do to others as we would have them to do 
 to us, in doing which, we are reconciled to God. 
 We are commanded to forgive those who trespass 
 against us, in which we resemble our Heavenly
 
 175 
 
 Father who was in Christ reconciling the world unto 
 himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them. 
 We are commanded to forgive one another, as God, 
 for Christ's sake hath forgiven us. This is confor- 
 mity to God. We are required to do justly, to 
 love mercy, and to walk humbly with God ; and in 
 so doing we are reconciled to him. 
 
 But says our opposer, what if we do not conform 
 to these divine requirements ? it makes no differ- 
 ence, if God loves all men, wills that all should be 
 saved, and does not impute our trespasses to us. 
 Reply ; Our reconciliation to God, and our con- 
 formity to his will and all his requirements is the 
 salvation which our Heavenly Father wills for us; 
 it is the life which Jesus came to give to the world ; 
 it is heaven, it is joy and peace in the Holy Ghost. 
 This doctrine is the doctrine of divine love, this 
 love is a fountain of living; waters, it is that rivei- 
 jvhose streams make glad the city of our God.
 
 No. 12. 
 
 LECTURE SERMON, 
 
 DELIVERED AT THE 
 
 SECOND UNIVERSALIST MEETING, IN BOSTON, 
 JANUARY 3, 1819. 
 
 BY HOSEA BALLOU, PASTOR. 
 
 Published Semi-Monthly by Henry Bowen, DcTonshire-street 
 
 JOHN xii. 32. 
 li >And /, if I be lifted up from the ear/A, will draw all men unto me." 
 
 As the time drew near that the Lord of glory, 
 the mediator of the new covenant should seal his 
 testament with his blood, there came to his disci- 
 ples certain Greeks, and said to Philip, Sir, we 
 would see Jesus. Philip and Andrew comunicate 
 this request to their master, who in room of either 
 consenting to their request, or of refusing, replied 
 saying, " The hour is come that the son of man 
 should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, 
 except a corn of wheat, fall into the ground and 
 die, it abideth alone, but if it die, it bringeth* forth 
 much fruit." 
 
 These Greeks, being Gentiles, were not the sub- 
 jects of the ministry of Jesus in the days of his 
 flesh, but as soon as he should be put to death in the 
 flesh and be quickened by the spirit, then would 
 the gospel be preached to the Gentiles. Therefore 
 when he was told that certain Greeks desired to 
 see him, he spoke of his being glorified in sending 
 23
 
 178 
 
 his gospel to them. He was the corn of wheat 
 that abode alone until it fell into the ground 
 and died ; but after it died and was quickened it 
 brought forth much fruit, "even judgment unto the 
 Gentiles.'* The Saviour proceeded to speak of his 
 sufferings, saying ; " Now is my soul troubled ; 
 and what shall I say ? Father, save me from this hour : 
 but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, 
 glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from 
 heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will 
 glorify it again. The people therefore that stood 
 by, and heard it, said, that it thundered: others said, 
 an angel spoke to him. Jesus answered and said, this 
 voice came not because of me, but for your sakes. 
 Now is the judgement of this world : Now shall the 
 prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be 
 lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto 
 me." Here again it seems evident, that the Re- 
 deemer had special allusion to the request of the 
 Greeks. As if he had said ; I must die ; I must be 
 lifted up upon the cross ; I must be laid in the silent 
 house of death ; I must rise from the dead, bring 
 life and iinmotality to light through the gospel ; 
 then, not only these few Greeks shall be permitted 
 to see me, but I will send forth to the fulness of the 
 Gentiles, and finally the Jews, the ministery of 
 reconciliation by which I will " draw all men unto 
 
 me." 
 
 A few arguments will now be directed to prove, 
 that all men are the subjects of the Redemer's grace. 
 This point of doctrine is now before the public 
 mind, and more than any other invites the attention 
 of all denominations. It is true, those who preach 
 a contrary creed, endeavour as much as possible to 
 pospone the consideration of this subject, and they 
 use all the influence which they can possibly bring 
 to act on the public mind, to turn the attention of the
 
 179 
 
 people from a candid examination of it. However, 
 it very frequently happens, that the efforts which 
 are designed to prevent people from looking into 
 these things excite their curiosity and incite 
 them more to the examination than if nothing 
 was said or done. If it were a crime for the rulers 
 of the Jews to associate with the Saviour and at- 
 tend on his instruction ; if excommunication await- 
 ed those who should profess Christ openly, there 
 was the night season, when the enemies of the Re- 
 deemer were either locked up in sleep, or perhaps 
 in superstitious conclave, scoffing at the benign 
 doctrine of grace and concerting more severe meas- 
 ures to prevent its spread, when a Necodemus, 
 could go, unnoticed to Jesus and obtain a know- 
 ' ledge of salvation. If the wisdom of this world be 
 crafty enough to employ gentle, soothing, and per- 
 suasive measures to quiet the people in that old 
 cruel system of partiality and endless misery, it is 
 only like joging the cradle to quiet the child, while 
 its criea increase with its want of nourishment.** 
 
 This doctrine of universal salvation, which we 
 propose to prove in this discourse, seems to be fa- 
 voured by the dictates of sound reason, and fully 
 supported by the evidences derived from the nature 
 of the manifest economy of universal providence. 
 
 If we could do ourselves the justice to lay aside 
 all the prejudices of our mistaught minds and open 
 our eyes to the light of reason, and our ears to th 
 voice of enlightened understanding, we should soon 
 find our minds engaged in the sweet contemplations 
 of the impartial goodness of the Supreme ruler. 
 
 The same creative power gave existence to all 
 men, all are blessed by the same munificent provi- 
 dence, the sun that makes and rules the day, the 
 moon that rules the night discover no partiality in 
 dispensing their favours, Do not the rains fait 

 
 and the dews descend as common blessings on man- 
 kind? Is not the vital air, is not the fullness of 
 the waters the undivided inheritance of man- 
 kind ? Is there an element, is there a vege- 
 table, is there a fruit which nature reserves from 
 the general store house of him, who opens his hand 
 
 and satisfies the desire of every living thing ? 
 
 i i 
 Let us contemplate the unity of our common 
 
 nature, the dependence of one on another, and that 
 eternal indissoluble law by which we are united. 
 Notwithstanding there is an infinite variety among 
 mankind, there is no distinction of moral nature ; 
 nor is there a genio in the whole family of man that 
 the philopher can prove to be useless and of no ad- 
 vantage to others. Those who are considered to 
 be the most useful members of community fre- 
 quently owe their means to be so, to them, who be- 
 ing placed in the low walks of life, are scarcely 
 known in society. What would kings be without 
 subjects ? what would rulers be destitute of people ? 
 Are not servants as profitable in their stations, 
 as their masters are in theirs ? and are not the rich 
 and the poor blessings to each other ? The sacred 
 connections of husband and wife, of parents and 
 children, of brethren and sisters, if duly contem- 
 plated, furnish a most delightful prospect of the de- 
 pendences of our common nature. In fact it seems 
 that mankind forms one compact indssoluble body 
 which may be represented by the human frame, 
 which can lose none of its members without be- 
 ing rendered maimed and incomplete. 
 
 It is true the partial system has driven men of 
 deserning minds to make calculations, that the 
 eternal separation of those, who are in this life 
 united by the tenderest ties of our nature, and the 
 indiscribable misery of children will occasion an 
 increase of the parent's happiness,
 
 181 
 
 misery of parents will greatly increase the felicity 
 of children in the eternal world. But it must be 
 acknowledged that such arguments are equally as 
 hostile to every good quality of man, as the system 
 which they are designed to defend is to reason and 
 revelation. We say, that men of descerning minds 
 have been driven to argue thus, for they can dis- 
 cern, that unless this be the case, what they call 
 heaven will be a place of the keenest mental tor- 
 ment, that can be conceived of. Losing sight of 
 nature and of nature's God, and adhearing to their 
 partial creed, many contend, that at what they call 
 the great day, parents will rejoice to see their offs- 
 pring turned away into the burning lake, while 
 other instances will occur, in which children will 
 sing praises to God in the highest at seeing their 
 parents, the inheriters of unspeakable misery. 
 
 If we can suppress our indignation against such 
 unhallowed cruelty, so as to take a deliberate view 
 of a faint simile, we may suppose that the sweet 
 slumbers of a numerous family are suddenly inter- 
 rupted by the midnight cry of fire. They are 
 roused from sleep amid the smoke and flames of 
 their own dwelling; the father and several of the 
 eldest children but just make their escape from the 
 devouring element, and leave the wife and mother 
 with a number of the children to perish in the flames. 
 Now observe, the doctrine which stands opposed to 
 the salvation of all men, and which can support it- 
 self at no less expense then to inhance the felicities 
 of heaven by the miseries of hell, supposes that the 
 happiness of the husband and father, on finding him- 
 self safe from the fire, is to be increased by his see- 
 ing the companion of his bosom, the mother of his 
 children, and her little ones in the flames, and by 
 hearing their lamentable cries ; and these children 
 who made their escape are to possess hearts to re-
 
 182 
 
 joice to see the mother that watched over their in- 
 fancy and childhood, and their brothers and sisters 
 perishing in the most excruciating anguish. 
 
 To wound your feelings with such a simile as this, 
 on any ordinary subject would surety require an 
 apology, but in respect to the subject under con- 
 sideration our simile is as dim as the faint glimmer 
 of a dying taper compaired with the concenterated 
 blaze of a thousand suns. The flames that destroy- 
 ed the unhappy victims were merciful to terminate 
 their sufferings in a moment, that nothing but the 
 remembrance of the sad catastrophe might remain, 
 but the flames of hell and its " lively bright hor- 
 rors" are supposed to exist eternally, to gladden 
 kindred hearts, and to brighten the joys of relative 
 apirits forever and ever! 
 
 To the eye of candid reason, it seems perfectly 
 clear, that to make an eternal separation of the hu- 
 man family, and to place one part in a state of 
 everlasting misery, would render the whole miser- 
 able, let the line of separation be drawn in one 
 place or another. If the division be made accord- 
 ing to the doctrine of partial election, without any 
 regard to the conduct of men, the husband may be 
 chosen, and the wife a reprobate, in another case 
 the wife may be chosen, and the husband a repro- 
 bate : And this dividing line will separate parents 
 from their children, and children from each other, 
 and it is as plain as any thing can be that if one 
 Company is appointed to a state of misery the other 
 must be. 
 
 You that are parents, you who are brothers and 
 iisters are called on to judge of this question. 
 Suppose your nearest and dearest connections, as 
 children and brethren were prisoners in an enemy's 
 land, and you were certified by letters from them, 
 that they were treated in the most cruel manner, 

 
 183 
 
 their lodging the cold damp ground, their food scant 
 and unwholesome, and that there were no hopes of 
 their ever being released, could you be happy ? 
 Without the least commiseration could you repose 
 on your beds of down, and feast yourselves at your 
 sumptuous tables? All this you know to be im- 
 possible. 
 
 Or suppose this final separation is to be made 
 with due reference to the works of men in this 
 world, this alters not the case, for we cannot be 
 happy while our connections suffer even for their 
 faults. 
 
 If we draw a reasonable conclusion from the 
 manifest goodnsss of God to all men, in his tempo- 
 ral providence, and if we assist this conclusion by 
 the considerations already suggested of the unity 
 and dependence of our nature, we must decide in 
 favour of the proposition for which we contend ; 
 for it is most unreasonable indeed to suppose, that 
 the system of the Redeemer's grace, which derives 
 its origin from the same source, from whence 
 came every principle of our existence and every 
 favor of divine providence, is less benevolent in its 
 designs or less efficacious in its means. 
 
 We may now notice some of the evidences, which 
 support the doctrine of universal grace, found in 
 the divine testimony. We say some of the eviden- 
 ces, because it would require much time, and supe- 
 rior abilities to those employed on this occasion to 
 bring the whole of this sort of evidence into view. 
 Indeed we must be very limited on this part of our 
 subject that we may avoid using too many of the 
 passages already recited in these lectures for the 
 same purpose, and that the hearer's patience be not 
 too much burdened. 
 
 The text under consideration may first be notio 
 ed. ID this passage Jesus promises to draw off
 
 184 
 
 men unto himself. And his testimony concerning 
 those who come to him is as follows : " I am the 
 bread of life; he that corneth to me shall never 
 hunger ; and he that believeth on me shall never 
 thirst." By this passage it is evident, that by com- 
 ing to him, and by believing on him, Jesus meant 
 the same thing. He farther says ; " Him that com- 
 eth to me I will in no wise cast out No man can 
 come to me, except the Father, which hath sent 
 me, draw him : and I will raise him up at the last 
 day. It is written in the prophets, and they shall 
 be all taught of God. Every man, therefore, that 
 hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, comcth 
 unto me." 
 
 By these passages we learn, that the instructions 
 and the drawings of the Father are the only mean? 
 by which men can come to Christ. They further- 
 more teach us, that those who are, by such means, 
 drawn to the Saviour will not be cast off. Thus 
 the evidence issues in a most direct confirmation 
 of the proposition to be proved. 
 
 St. Paul, in his first epistle to Timothy say?, 
 that God " will have all men to be saved and to 
 come unto the knowledge of the truth." And Je- 
 sus said ; " I came down from heaven ; not to do 
 mine own will, but the will of him that sent me." 
 Suppose one of you own an hundred sheep, and 
 they all break from your enclosure and go astray, 
 they all enter into your neighbour's pasture. In 
 room of sending them home, he endeavours to retain 
 them, and uses all possible means to prevent their 
 return. You direct your shepherd to go and seek 
 and save that which is lost. You teli him, that it is 
 your will that he returns the whole ; the shepherd 
 is told by your enemy who retains your flock that 
 he will give up a few of the sheep, but must keep 
 the greatest part. The shepherd replies ; I have
 
 185 
 
 not come io negotiate for the sheep, I have come 
 to do the will of him that sent me. How can this 
 will be done and yet but a few of these sheep re- 
 turn ? 
 
 The will of God is further expressed by St. Paul, 
 as follows ; " Having made known unto us the mys- 
 tery of his will, according to his good pleasure, 
 which he hath purposed in himself: that in the dis- 
 pensation of the fulness of times he might gather 
 together in one all things in Christ, both which are 
 in heaven, and which are on earth ; even in him." 
 Again he says ; " Wherefore God also hath highly 
 exalted him, and given him a name which is above 
 every name ; that in the name of Jesus every knee 
 should bow, of things in heaven and things on earth, 
 and things under the earth ; and that every tongue 
 should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glo- 
 ry of God the Father." And furthermore he 
 says ? " For it pleased the Father, that in him 
 should all fulness dwell, (and having made peace 
 through the blood of his cross) by him to reconcile 
 all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they 
 be things on earth, or things in heaven." To these 
 we may subjoin the passage we treated of in our 
 last lecture ; "And all things are of God, who hath 
 reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath 
 given to us the ministry of reconciliation ; to wit, 
 that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto 
 himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them : 
 And hath committed unto us the word of reconcilia- 
 tion. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, 
 as though God did beseech you by us, we pray you 
 in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God : for he 
 hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, 
 that we might be made the righteousness of God in 
 him." If the hearer will allow these and concurrent 
 passages their natural agreement and signification 
 24
 
 186 
 
 they must be considered sufficient evidence to 
 prove that the design of the Saviour's grace is the 
 salvation of all men. 
 
 Another argument in favour of our proposition, 
 and which is thought to be sufficient of itself to 
 establish it, is drawn from the revealed fact that it 
 is consistent with the holiness of God for him to 
 love sinners and to bestow the greatest possible fav- 
 ours upon them. The scripture informs us that 
 " God commendeth his love towards us, in that, 
 while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." And 
 a^ain ; " But God, who is rich in mercy, for his 
 great love, wherewith he loved us, even when we 
 were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with 
 Christ." Now if it be consistent with the holiness 
 of God for him to love those who are dead in sin, 
 and to commend his love to such by the death of 
 Christ for them, and to quicken them together with 
 Christ, it proves beyond all controversy, that sin is 
 no objection to God's granting his grace and salva- 
 tion to men. Standing in the light of this glorious 
 truth, and feeling the life of the spirit of this grace, 
 who can be so hard hearted as to sentence millions 
 of their fellow sirmers to endless darkness and woe? 
 In this spirit of love and grace it seems the divine 
 Redeemer stood, when he said ; " And I, if I be 
 lifte 1 up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." 
 It is granted on all hands, that God can never 
 change ; he is the same yesterday, to-day, and for- 
 ever. Yesterday and to-day he was and is the 
 friend and lover of sinners. How then is it possible 
 that he should ever cease to love these beings and 
 to do them good ? 
 
 This argument provokes the Pharisee to start 
 the old trite objection, that the doctrine leads to 
 licentiousness. This objection, though it has been 
 fairly removed hundreds of times, will never leave
 
 i87 
 
 ihe world as long as a Pharisee remains in it. If 
 the manifestation of the divine love to sinners have 
 a natural tendency to encourage them in sin, why 
 did God comment his love unto us, in that while 
 we were yet sinner*, Christ died for us ? Why are 
 those blessings of the divine Providence, to which 
 the Saviour adverted for proof that God loves his 
 enemies, continually, and with such profusion scat- 
 tered down upon us? Are we serving the cause of 
 religion and moral virtue by persuading people to 
 believe that the goodness of God naturally leads 
 men to sin. My brethren, should you believe me 
 your friend if I persuaded your children to the 
 opinion, that if you love them, notwithstanding 
 their faults, it is no matter what they do, and that 
 it is even better for them to violate all your whole- 
 some laws and to treat your advice and admonitions 
 with contempt ? Surely if there be any such thing 
 as a heinous siain our world, we have it here un- 
 der consideration. Because our heavenly Father 
 gives us life and all the numerous blessings of life 
 must we improve all his favors to dye our souls in 
 the crimson of sin ? Because Jesus hath loved us 
 and given himself for us, is there no way we can 
 act like reasonable beings only by hating him and 
 disobeying his commands ? O ingratitude ! legiti- 
 mate child of the Pharisee, retire, cold and unfeel- 
 ing, to the frosty bosom from whence thou came. 
 
 It has already been suggested, that by coming 
 unto Christ is meant, being taught of God and be- 
 lieving in Christ ; and this was seen by the words 
 of Christ in the 6th of John, which have been quot- 
 ed. They therefore, who come to Jesus, come to 
 him in their understanding ; they receive him as 
 their prophet to teach them, their priest, who offer- 
 ed himself for the sinner, without spot unto God, 
 and as a king to rule them. The blessings enjoyed
 
 188 
 
 in consequence of coming to Christ are expressed 
 in his most gracious words, recorded in Mat. xi. ; 
 " Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy 
 laden, and I \\ill give you rest. Take my yoke 
 upon you, and learn of me ; for I am meek and low- 
 ly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 
 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." 
 How lovely does the Saviour appear in his gracious 
 invitations and promises. He invites all to come 
 to him ; he promises to draw all men to him ; he 
 promises to give them all rest and an easy service ; 
 he promises that he will in no wise cast any out. 
 Well did the dear Redeemer say ; " I will draw 
 all men unto me. The doctrine of Jesus is per- 
 fectly calculated to draw men. It holds up to 
 view those virtues and those advantages which are 
 powerful attractive?. In the passage just recited, 
 those who labour and are heavy laden are promis- 
 ed rest. What can be more inviting to any who 
 have for a long time laboured under an intolerable 
 burden, than an opportunity to cast it off, and to 
 enjoy rest ? Suppose men were in bondage and 
 hard servitude, as \\ere the Israelites in Egypt, op- 
 pressed with severe taskmasters and made to serve 
 with the most cruel rigour; and a humane, benevo- 
 lent prince should ransom them all, and invite them 
 into his country, where they should have all things 
 they wanted without money and without price, 
 where no law but the perfect law of liberty exists, 
 where they would have no service to perform but 
 such in which they should have perfect delight and 
 freedom, would not a clear manifestation of these 
 facts draw them away from the tyrant to their kind 
 deliverer and Saviour? Would it be necessary to 
 threaten them, and preach up terror to them? 
 "Would it be proper to tell them that the person 
 \vhp had ransomed them would come and put them
 
 189 
 
 to the most cruel tortures if they did not immed- 
 iately enter into his service? Under all these cir- 
 cumstances would it be necessary to tell these mis- 
 erable wretches, that it is true their present servi- 
 ces are very light, merely nothing in comparison 
 with the service of the prince who had purchased 
 them, but then this prince will punish them all 
 with the most cruel tortures if they do not enter 
 his service without delay 1 If any thing could pos- 
 sibly opperate to deceive these redeemed ones, and 
 to keep them in slavery it must be some such de- 
 ceit. As certain as they should be made to be- 
 lieve such falsehoods, they would make nice calcu- 
 lations not to go into the hated service any sooner 
 than just to escape the tortures threatened. But 
 suppose they should go to this person in conse- 
 quence of these threatenings, they would not be 
 drawn, they would be driven. 'Jesus did not say, 
 I will drive all men to me. If we were to judge by 
 some preaching that we hear, we should suppose 
 the preachers were sent to drive us to heaven, in the 
 greatest haste too, for fear our Redeemer should 
 destroy us ? 
 
 The Saviour says in the 6th of John, as before 
 quoted ; "lam the bread of life ; he that cometh 
 to me shall never hunger." What is more drawing 
 to the destitute, foodless poor than the gladsome 
 news of bread without money, and without price? 
 Suppose such a famine as was in Egypt and all the 
 countries round about it should visit the United 
 States, the provisions of the land, after the most 
 prudent measures had been taken, is nearly ex- 
 hausted, pale hunger makes its appearance on all 
 faces and the wisest know of no relief; at this aw- 
 ful crisis a large fleet from a foreign country ar- 
 rives with vast quantities of bread as a present to 
 us ! how would it draw the people. In what crouds
 
 190 
 
 would they rush along the streets ; how would 
 every eye and every countenance brighten with 
 gladness. In such a circumstance as this what 
 should we think of a man who should come forward 
 and say ; * I am sent by the monarch who has sent 
 you bread, to warn you to apply immediately for 
 his bounty that you may escape his vengeance ? 
 And what should we think of the people who should 
 spend their time to hear these terrors proclaimed? 
 In such a time of favour and rejoicing, would it be 
 seemly to stop the hungry and tell them they have 
 no right to the free bounty that has arrived unless 
 they really believe in this act of goodness ? Would 
 t be thought indispensably necessary to have a 
 creed written, with well studied articles to the 
 number of thirty-nine, for the people all to learn by 
 heart before they should be allowed to taste the 
 bread of life ? Would it be treating those, who 
 were fainting for want of food, according to the 
 benevolent designs of the gracious doner of these 
 ample provisions, to prevent their receiving this un- 
 purchased, unconditional favour, by suggesting con- 
 ditions, terms, and articles of faith to be complied 
 with and believed? Suppose the articles are all 
 made out according to the wisdom of him, who 
 urges their necessity, but the people cannot under- 
 stand them. Some are mysterious, some are in di- 
 rect opposition to others ; one explains them in 
 one way ; and another explains them in another 
 way, many profess to believe them because they 
 are told that they cannot obtain favour unless they 
 do. Those who should believe in this case might 
 believe themselves to death, and close their eyes 
 without seeing the salvation which mercy hath sent 
 them: others, whose minds should revolt at a creed 
 which contains contradictions would be turned
 
 191 
 
 away as unbelievers, and fare no better than those 
 who believe. 
 
 Jesus says ; " If any man thirst let him come 
 unto me and drink." The unfortunate, who 
 have suffered hunger and thirst in sultry climes, 
 inform us the want of drink is vastly more severe 
 than the want of food. Here then the merciful 
 Saviour makes use of a simile which gives the 
 most striking idea of his goodness. Of a number of 
 faint, weary, hungry, and thirsty pilgrims, on burn- 
 ing sands, if one should cry out to his fellows here 
 is water ! How quickly would it draw them all 
 together. 
 
 The prophet Isaiah, speaking of Jesus, says ; 
 " A man shall be an hiding place from the wind, 
 and a covert from the tempest ; as a river of water 
 in a dry place : as the shadow of a great rock in a 
 weary land." How very inviting, how attracting, 
 how drawing are the favours here noticed. The 
 beasts of the field and the fowls of the air seek these 
 favours. When storms and winds beat on them, 
 they seek a shelter ; when they are thirsty you find 
 them by the streams ; and when a sultry sun is vehe- 
 ment you find them in the shade. Do you ask 
 what these things mean ? I >o you inquire how you 
 can obtain so great a favour? The word is nigh 
 thre, even in thy heart and in thy mouth. Jesus 
 is made unto us, wisdom, righteousness, sanctifica- 
 tion, and redemption. To be drawn to Christ is 
 to be drawn into wisdom, whose ways are pleasant- 
 ness and all her paths are peace. It is to be drawn 
 into righteousness, which is heaven. It is to be 
 drawn into sanctification, which is holiness. It is 
 to be drawn into redemption, which is freedom 
 from the law of sin and death. O Jesus, how great 
 is thy promise ! Thou wilt draw all men unto 

 
 192 
 
 thyself. Then shall every creature which is in 
 heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and 
 such as are in the sea, and all which are in them ; 
 say, blessing and honour, and glory, and power, be 
 unto him that sitteth upon the throne and unto the 
 Lamb, for ever and even
 
 
 
 No. 13. 
 
 LECTURE SERMON, 
 
 DELIVERED AT THE 
 
 SECOND UNIVERSALIST MEETING, IN BOSTON, 
 JANUARY 17, 1819. 
 
 BY HOSEA BALLOU, PASTOR. 
 
 Published Semi-Monthly by Htory Bowen, DeTonahire-gtrett. 
 
 PSALM, cxxvi. 6. 
 
 " Ht that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious teed shall, doubllcst, 
 come again with rtjoicing, bringing hit theavtt with Aim." 
 
 PIVINE wisdom has seen fit, that the commence- 
 ment of those affairs which are designed to .termi- 
 nate in great and extensive blessings to mankind, 
 should be distinguished for the hardships, painful 
 labours, extreme difficulties, privations, uncom- 
 mon sufferings, sorrow and tears which attend 
 them. This remark will be found to be, general- 
 ly, appropriate, whether applied to political or 
 religious concerns, and is often justified by the 
 experience of individuals. This sentiment seems 
 symbolically expressed in our text and its intro- 
 duction. To represent the reverse of condition 
 which Zion experienced by a deliverance from 
 captivity the prophet says ; " When the Lord 
 turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like 
 them that dream. Then was our mouth filled with 
 laughter, and our tongue with singing : then said 
 they among the heathen, the Lord hath done great 
 things for them. The Lord hath done great things 
 25
 
 194 
 
 for us, whereof we are glad. Turn again our cap 
 tivity, O Lord, as the streams in the south. They 
 that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth 
 forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed shall, 
 doubtless, come again with rejoicing, bringing his 
 sheaves with him." 
 
 From the scanty portion of grain, on which the 
 husband-man depends to bread his dependant fami- 
 ly, he takes a selected portion, and having with 
 much labour prepared his field, he commits the pre- 
 cious seed to the bosom of the earth. His fears 
 anticipate draught, blasts, and mildews ; his hope 
 endures, as seeing things that are invisible, and looks 
 forward to the time when neaven shall reward his 
 toils with a joyful harvest, and return him thirty, 
 sixty or an hundred fold. The autumn comes 
 and brings the golden harvest, and plenty calls for 
 songs of gratitude and joy. But to the eye of in- 
 experience how mysterious would this appear. 
 The portion of bread corn is already scant, and 
 the husband of a numerous family takes part of 
 this and buries it in the earth. It appears as an 
 unreasonable waste. Thus we frequently judge 
 of the ways of divine Providence; and are led to 
 say, if God were good to his creatures, why should 
 such and such things be permitted to wound our 
 tenderest feelings ? Why should such sorrows be 
 sent as the inheritance of the oppressed, the in- 
 nocent, and the defenceless ? Not being able to 
 see the end from the beginning of events, we are 
 often misguided in judgment, and entertain doubti 
 of the divine goodness towards us. But could we 
 comprehend the mysterious wisdom of God by 
 which he turns every thing to the good of his crea- 
 tures, causing light afflictions, which are but for a 
 moment, to work for us an exceeding weight of glo- 
 ry, we should at once conclude, that the measure 
 of evil endured by the creatures of God, is a*
 
 195 
 
 nothing when compared with the glory that shall 
 be revealed in us, and which can be traced back 
 to those afflictions, which, during their continuance, 
 were grieveous. 
 
 These introductory observations seem to lead 
 the mind into an extensive field, where an infinite 
 variety of objects invite our attention to the con- 
 templation of the wisdom and goodness of God, in 
 causing light to shine out of darkness, order to 
 grow out of what appears to us confusion, peace 
 of mind from sorrow of heart, tranquility out of 
 trouble, prosperity out of adversity, in a word, 
 good from what we call evil, strength from weak- 
 ness and glory from shame. But keeping in mind 
 that proper limits must bound the labours of a lec- 
 ture, the audience is invited to contemplate our 
 subject as manifested in the Saviour of mankind. 
 
 Jesus went forth in our world weeping, bearing 
 and sowing precious seed, and he shall doubtless, 
 come again rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with 
 him. He sowed in tears, he shall reap in joy ; he 
 shall see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied. 
 
 Our first enquiry will be directed to notice the 
 occasion of our Saviour's tears. 
 
 Jesus was possessed of the sensibilities and sym- 
 pathies of our nature in their purity and perfection, 
 which caused him to feel the afflictions of the af- 
 flicted, the sorrows of the sorrowful and the distress 
 of the distressed. Many proofs of this are found 
 in the history of the Saviour. We may notice him 
 at Bethany where he raised Lazarus from the dead. 
 Notwithstanding he knew what he was about to do, 
 and that Lazarus would, in a few minutes, be a liv- 
 ing man, to the astonishment and joy of his weep- 
 ing sisters, such was the tenderness of his lovely 
 mind and sweet affections, that when he saw the 
 Jews, who had come to comfort the bereaved sis- 
 ters, weeping, and the two disconsolate sisters weep-
 
 ing, he himself groaned in spirit and wept with 
 them. Let those who mourn remember thisi and 
 realize that their sorrows are duly noticed by him 
 who is the resurrection and the life, who hath the 
 keys of hell and death. That power of life arid 
 salvation, which gloriously triumphed at the tomb 
 of him, who had been dead four days, is still the 
 same, and has given assurance, that as in Adam all 
 die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 
 
 On that most joyful occasion of the enterance of 
 Jesus into Jerusalem riding upon an Ass, when 
 the people in vast multitudes welcomed the King of 
 Zion, and praised God with a loud voice for all the 
 mighty works they had seen, saying, blessed be the 
 King that cometh in the name of the Lord ; peace 
 in heaven, and glory in the highest; the blessed 
 Jesus, in room of being elated with these tokens 
 of submission and expressions of joy, in room of 
 participating the exceeding gladness of the people, 
 his mind seemed intent on a very different 
 subject, the account of which is as follows ; 
 " And when he came near he beheld the city, and 
 wept over it saying, if thou hadst known, even 
 thou at least in this thy day, the things which be- 
 long unto thy peace ! but now they are hid from 
 thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, 
 that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, 
 and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every 
 side and shall lay thee even with the ground, and 
 thy children within thee ; and they shall not leave 
 in thee one stone upon another ; because thou 
 knewest not the time of thy visitation." 
 
 Having a clear view of the sword, the famine, 
 and the pestilence which would surely come on 
 Jerusalem, and knowing that the youth who were 
 then 4 ii the days of their innocence, would be the 
 sufferers in this calamity, the Saviour was deeply- 
 affected and wept.
 
 J97 
 
 Suppose you, who love thelown of Boston for 
 a thousand reasons, which we have not time to 
 name, should be certified by a divine communica- 
 tion, that this metropolis should, within forty years, 
 suffer all the dreadful calamities of a long siege, 
 attended with famine and pestilence, with factions 
 within, which should waste the strength and the 
 blood of the inhabitants, until the place should be 
 given up to an enraged enemy, that should have no 
 mercy on those who should fall into their hands, 
 could your eyes look on the stately, magnificent 
 buildings, knowing they would all be leveled with 
 the ground, could they behold the lovely youth, 
 who now make such a charming appearance in 
 these streets and churches without weeping ? Such 
 was the occasion of those tears which the compa- 
 sionate Jesus shed over the devoted Icity of his 
 father David. He looked on that pride and joy of 
 the earth, he beheld the temple of God, that wonder 
 of the world, he knew that the time of their dis- 
 truction was within that generation ; his gracious 
 eyes beheld the lovely youth \xhose thousands 
 then adorned the venerable habitations of their an- 
 cesters, and knew that they would be the distress- 
 ed sufferers in the calamities to which that nation 
 and city were appointed. 
 
 When he was going to Calvary to suffer death 
 from the wicked hands of the people, who by their 
 persecutions of him and his disciples were filling 
 up the measure of their sins, he was evidently 
 more concerned for the sufferings that people 
 were bringing on themselves and on their children, 
 than for what he himself was about to endure. 
 When he saw the great company of people, and of 
 women, who followed him lamenting his fate, he 
 turned and said unto them ; " Daughters of Jeru- 
 salem, weep not for me. but weep for yourselves, 
 and for your children. For, behold, the days arc
 
 198 
 
 coming in the which they shall say, blessed are Ihe 
 barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the 
 paps which never gave auck. Then shall they be- 
 gin to say to the mountains, fall on us, and to the 
 hills, cover us. For if they do these things in a 
 green tree, what shall be done in the dry ?" 
 
 If the hearer will indulge a digression in this 
 place, liberty will be taken to remark on two par- 
 ticulars. First, it does not appear, from the 
 Saviour's speech here recited, that his own suffer- 
 ings were of that kind or degree that has been re- 
 presented by christain doctors. They have sup- 
 posed that the sufferings of Christ were far beyond 
 any possible comparison, even greater than we 
 can conceive, and that this rendered them effica- 
 cious with his Father to procure our pardon of sin. 
 Now if hi* sufferings were so immense, why should 
 he represent to the daughters of Jerusalem that 
 they had more reason to weep for themselves and 
 their children, then for him ? 
 
 Secondly, it does not appear that the Saviour 
 thought of the subject, which has been the weigh- 
 ty burden, of those minds, who have consigned the 
 inhabitants of Jerusalem to everlasting misery in 
 the future world, for he spake of nothing but of 
 their sufferings in this life. If it had been known 
 to Jesus, that all the sufferings which that people 
 was appointed to endure in the destructions that he 
 denounced upon them, were nothing in comparison 
 with what they must suffer in another world, why 
 <lid he, when he wept over Jerusalem, speak of the 
 destruction of that city and its inhabitants by the 
 1iand of their enemies, and neglect to say anything 
 on the subject of their future sufferings, which were 
 Lo be intiniu-ly greater ? The candor of the hearer 
 vill do justice to these remarks, while we return to 
 our subject. 
 
 r he prophet Isaiah represents our Saviour a
 
 199 
 
 man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. He 
 grieved and wept for the auctions and sufferings 
 of mankind ; he felt the woes of human nature ; he 
 bore their sicknesses and carried their sorrows, 
 but the angel of his presence upheld him ; he was 
 touched with the feelings of all our infirmities. 
 
 The superstition, the bigotry, and the traditions 
 of the people wherewith they made void the law of 
 God, and the hardness of their hearts were a pecu- 
 liar cause of his grief. Such was their blindness 
 that his mirai les could not open their eyes ; and 
 such was the hardness of their hearts that his love, 
 pity and mercy did not soften them. What stub- 
 born, unyielding and forbidding ground was this! 
 There was but here and there a spot where the 
 precious seed that he sowed could be received into 
 good ground, and promise a future harvest. 
 
 We may now direct our attention to enquire 
 what seed the Saviour sowed, and to ascertain its 
 precious qualities. 
 
 In the 13th chapter of Matthew, Jesus repre- 
 sents himself as a sower, who went forth to sow ; 
 " And, when he sowed, some seeds fell by the 
 way-side, and the fowls came and devoured them 
 up. Some fell upon stony places, where they had 
 not much earth ; and forthwith they sprung up, be- 
 cause they had no deepness of earth: and when the 
 sun was up they were scorched ; and, because they 
 had no root they withered away. And some fell 
 among thorns ; and the thorns sprung up and chok- 
 ed them. But others fell into good ground, and 
 brought forth fruit, some an hundred-fold, some 
 sixty-fold, some thirty-fold." In the same chapter 
 he says ; " He that soweth the good seed is the son 
 of man." Again, he signifies that by seed he means 
 the " word of the kingdom." And furthermore he 
 represents the kingdom of heaven by " a grain of 
 mustard-seed, which a man took and sowed in his
 
 200 
 
 iield. v ' It is evident by these scriptures, that Jesus 
 represented his doctrine by " good seed." The 
 doctrine of Christ is, therefore, our present subject. 
 
 Here it is worthy of notice, that the great teach- 
 er sent of God, though he taught a doctrine which 
 was very different from that which wastaught by the 
 doctors of his day, was never the author of a set of 
 articles of faith called a cred. And it is likewise 
 of importance to notice, that in this, his Apostles 
 faithfully followed his example. The work of 
 framing creeds is the invention of men. 
 
 Jesus founded his doctrine and all he came to 
 do, on the divine character and will of his Father. 
 He said ; " I came down from heaven, not to do 
 mine own will ; but the will of him that sent me. 
 God sent not his Son into the world to condemn 
 the world ; but that the world through him might 
 
 be saved. The Son of man came not to call the 
 
 righteous, but sinners to repentance. The Son 
 
 of man came to seek and to save that which was 
 lost." 
 
 By these precious sayings of Jesus we are cer- 
 tified that God is merciful to sinners, wills their sal- 
 vation, and sent his Son for this very purpose. 
 
 In the 5th of Matthew, Jesus sets forth his pre* 
 cious doctrine in the plainest terms possible, as 
 follows ; " I say unto you, love your enemies,, 
 bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate 
 you, and pray for them which despitfully use you, 
 and persecute you ; that ye may be the children 
 of your Father which is in heaven : for he maketh 
 his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and send- 
 eth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye 
 love them which Jove you, what reward have ye ? 
 Do not even the publicans the same ? And if ye 
 salute your brethren only, what do ye more than 
 others ? Do not even the publicans so ? Be ye 
 therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in 
 heaven is perfect."
 
 201 
 
 By this most precious testimony we are assured 
 that our Father who is in heaven loves his enemies ; 
 and we are furthermore certified that we are re- 
 quired to do the same. How many articles of 
 faith is it necessary to arrange in order, to com- 
 prehend this subject ? How long is it necessary for 
 a good scholar and a bright genius to spend at a 
 theological school in order to understand this doc- 
 trine ? It pains the speaker to the heart, that he is 
 obliged to say, that theological schoojs are em- 
 ployed in teaching youth how to evade the plain 
 testimony of Jesus, and how to keiep the people 
 from receiving it. 
 
 In the 15th of Luke, the Saviour sets forth his 
 doctrine of salvation in three parables. He was 
 induced to do this in reply to the Pharisees and 
 Scribes, who murmured at him because he receiv- 
 ed sinners and ate with them. In the first parable 
 he represents sinners and their salvation by a lost 
 sheep, which the owner seeks, finds, and carries 
 home ; in the second, by a piece of money which 
 a woman lost, sought and found. He furthermore 
 represents the angels in heaven rejoicing more over 
 one sinner that repenteth, than over ninety 
 and nine just persons who need no repentance ; 
 and in the last he sets forth the return of sinners to 
 God by the return of the prodigal son to his father. 
 
 This sower of the precious seed of the kingdom 
 of God, was particular in planting the doctrine of 
 the divine goodness ; and in order to hand it to us in 
 the most acceptable manner, he says ; " If ye then, 
 being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your 
 children, how much more shall your Father which 
 is in heaven give good things to them that ask 
 him ?" 
 
 Nothing can be more evident, than that our 
 tieavenly Father is more kind to us, who are evil, 
 than we are to our children, according to this pre- 
 cious testimony of our Saviour. This is precious 
 26
 
 202 
 
 need in very deed, ft is precious beyond all com- 
 parison. This declaration of him, who went 
 forth weeping, bearing precious seed, is of more 
 value than all the bodies of divinity which have 
 been written since the enemy sowed tares among 
 the wheat. 
 
 Let us ask ourselves, notwithstanding we are 
 evil, and too frequently err in our conduct to- 
 wards our children, could we possibly consign our 
 dependent offspring to endless torments for their 
 childish faults? And yet such is the common doc- 
 trine taught by the creeds of men, that little chil- 
 dren are instructed to repeat sentences which teach 
 them to believe that their heavenly Father will 
 torture millions of his creatures, in never ending 
 misery ! How painful is ttie thought, that such a 
 sentiment should be imprinted in the tender minds 
 of our innocent children, concerning whom Jesus 
 said ; " Suffer little children, arid forbid them not, 
 to come unto me ; for of such is the kingdom of 
 heaven." O how precious is this kind declaration 
 of the Saviour, to parents ! This is the testimony 
 of him, who is now at the right hand of God. Com- 
 pare these words of Jesus with the popular doc- 
 trine of the total depravity of infants, and of hell's 
 containing millions of them, who never saw the 
 light of the sun ! 
 
 Such is the vast importance of the comparison 
 here suggested, that the cnndid attention of the au- 
 dience is invited to consider the following question; 
 If the testimony of Jesus concerning little chil- 
 dren be both true and precious, is not the opinion 
 that little children are totally depraved, and are 
 heirs of eternal misery, false and impure ? This 
 false doctrine belongs to the tares, which the ene- 
 my sowed among the wheat. Jesus never sowed 
 <uch seed ; he never uttered any thing so dishon- 
 ourable to God, nor did he ever plant such a thorn 
 to torture the sensibility of affectionate parents.
 
 203 
 
 The doctrine of Jesus is the doctrine of love. 
 The doctrines of men are the doctrines of hatred. 
 The doctrine of Jesus teaches that God loves his 
 enemies, wills their salvation, and sent his Son to 
 save them. The doctrines of men teach that God 
 hates his enemies and will punish them eternally. 
 The doctrine of Jesus informs us that he came to 
 call sinners to repentance. The doctrines of men as- 
 sert that the finally impenitent will be made forev- 
 er miserable, but Jesus never spake of the " finally 
 impenitent." The doctrine of Jesus teaches the for- 
 giveness ofsin. The doctrines of men require a 
 sacrifice to appease the divine wrath. The doc- 
 trine of Jesus informs us, that he will draw all men 
 unto himself. The doctrines of men assert, that 
 God has decreed but a part to be drawn to Christ. 
 The doctrine of Jesus informs us that all things 
 are given to him. The doctrines of men assert, 
 that but a few are given to Christ. The doctrine 
 of Jesus is precious wheat ; but the doctrines of 
 men are tares which are to be consumed by the 
 fire of truth and love. 
 
 There are several particulars respecting the 
 preciousness of the doctrine of Jesus, which are 
 worthy of special notice ; some of which we shall 
 here mention. 
 
 First, This doctrine is from God. Jesus says ; 
 " My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.'* 
 The Creator, Ruler and Disposer of all things has 
 sent us a communication of his divine will and fixed 
 purpose concerning us. This doctrine being from 
 the highest authority in the universe must be con- 
 sidered precious. 
 
 Secondly, In all respects, this doctrine is most 
 favourable to mankind. There is no particular 
 part that can be altered for the better. Let the 
 most wise and prudent undertake to add any thing 
 to this doctrine and they make it worse. Let them 
 take any thing from it and they leave it not so good.
 
 204 
 
 Thirdly, It is most precious on account of its 
 simplicity and conspicuity. It is rendered so visi- 
 ble in the divine testimony, that any attempt to 
 explain it tends to render it obscure. If one 
 should attempt to show us the sun in a clear day 
 by holding a candle before our eyes, it would ob- 
 scure our vision, and tend to hide from our sight 
 what is already as visible as it can be. Such are the 
 effects of the wisdom of this world when employed 
 to show us that light which shines in the " face of 
 Jesus." 
 
 Fourthly, This doctrine of the New-Testament 
 is life. It is the bread of God which giveth life 
 to the world. St. Paul says; " God hath made us 
 able ministers of the New-Testament, not of the 
 letter, but of the spirit; for the letter killeth, but 
 the spirit giveth life." There is no death in the 
 doctrine of Jesus. Peter said ; " thou hast the 
 the words of eternal life. " 
 
 Fifthly, It is universal. It is the same to all 
 men. Jesus has but one doctrine for every crea- 
 ture under heaven ; and this doctrine is calculated 
 to gather together all things in one, even in Christ. 
 There is no particular view of the doctrine of 
 Jesus, in which it appears more precious, than in 
 its universality. Though the sun be most precious 
 in its light and heat even to an individual, how glo- 
 rious is the thought that this light and this heat are 
 universal. And though these life-giving qualities 
 are dispensed through every degree of latitude and 
 longitude round the globe, every one has enough. 
 So it is with that " true light that lighteth every 
 man that comcth into the world." If a few astro- 
 nomers, who should study the laws of the heavenly 
 bodies, should frame a creed embracing the most 
 essential particulars in the phenomena of the sun, 
 and then require every one, learned and unlearn- 
 ed to believe in their creed as a condition by 
 which they might obtain its light, they would dis-
 
 205 
 
 cover as much true philosophy as those, who stile 
 themselves divines do of divinity, in framing 
 their creeds, and requiring our assent to them, that 
 we may obtain the favour of God. 
 
 Sixthly, This doctrine is most precious, because 
 it is always the same. It is now what it was in the 
 beginning, it is now what it will be when thousands 
 of ages shall have passed away. The same love, 
 the same mercy, the same good will of our 
 heavenly Father, in which the most enlightened 
 now rejoice, have, in all ages of the world, been in 
 full exercise towards mankind ; nor can they ever 
 relax, but will forever continue. 
 
 And Seventhly, This precious doctrine of the 
 love of God is calculated to transform every ra- 
 tional being into its own nature and to render eve- 
 ry man precious like itself. " Every man that hath 
 this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is 
 
 pure. Now are we the sons of God ; and it doth 
 
 not yet appear what we shall be, but we know, 
 that when he appeareth we shall be like him, for 
 we shall see him as he is." In this way the fruits 
 of the precious doctrine of the Saviour will final- 
 ly produce the joyful harvest contemplated in 
 our text, and will load, with ripe sheaves, the 
 blessed Redeemer of the world, who in sorrow 
 went forth and sowed his precious seed. 
 
 When the fulness of the different times, which 
 intervene between seed time and harvest, have pass- 
 ed away, and the hand of labour is abundantly re- 
 warded with a plenteous harvest, then the hffoband- 
 man realizes the end of his toils, and comes from his 
 field, rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. So, 
 when the fulness of times shall have passed away, 
 for the perfecting of the work of the gospel minis- 
 try, he that sowed in tears shall reap in joy. All 
 shall know the Lord from the least to the greatest ; 
 and the knowledge of God shall cover the earth as 
 the waters cover the sea.
 
 206 
 
 As the husbandman, who commits the precioas 
 wheat to the bosom of the earth, and waits for the 
 early and the latter rains, receives to his full satis- 
 faction the plenteous harvest, so we are certified 
 that Jesus shall see of the travail of his soul and be 
 satisfied. O the blessed assurance ! Shall Jesus, 
 who sowed in tears reap as large a harvest as will fill 
 his vast desires ? Yes, " for by his knowledge shall 
 my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear 
 their iniquities." Jesus " gave himself a ransom 
 for all to be testified in due time." He will never 
 be satisfied until his " ransomed shall all return and 
 come to Zion with songs, and everlasting joy upon 
 their heads ; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and 
 sorrow and sighing shall flee away." 
 
 Every convert to God, .every ransomed soul 
 that returns and comes to Zion, brings a ripe sheaf 
 of the precious grain of love to God and Jove to 
 man, which Jesus sowed in tears. It should be 
 distinctly understood, that the design of the Sa- 
 viour in sowing the good seed in the world, was 
 that it might bring forth the fruit of righteousness. 
 
 Here then let us examine the argument which 
 the doctrine of limited salvation urges against the 
 final happiness of all men. The argument is this ; 
 It is not right in the sight of God, to bestow the 
 same felicity on the wicked, as he does on the 
 righteous. This is our opposer's argument, but 
 we say it does not, in the least, affect the merits of 
 the subject. This objection only shows that the 
 opposgfr is totally ignorant of what he endeavours 
 to disprove. The question is, is it just and right 
 in the sight of God to bring sinners to repentance, 
 and convert the ungodly to holiness ? This is the 
 question, and our opposer ought to understand it ; 
 for if he could see that, in order to disprove the 
 doctrine for which we contend, he must show that 
 it is not right to convert the sinner to God, he 
 would cease to oppose.
 
 207 
 
 Jesus said, as has been before noticed, that he 
 " came to call sinners to repentance^." St Paul 
 says, " This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all 
 acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world 
 to save sinners, of whom I am chief." But let us 
 keep in mind, that Jesus saves his people from 
 their sins ; not in their sins, as our opposers seem 
 to insinuate that we believe. 
 
 There are two particulars respecting the harvest 
 under consideration, which may be distinctly no- 
 ticed. 
 
 First, The quality of the grain to be gathered 
 in. This is righteousness. " Such as a man sows, 
 such shall he also reap." Jesus sowed the doctrine 
 of love, of faith, of repentance, of hope, of charity, 
 of forgiveness, of doing to others as we would that 
 they should do to us ; such will he reap. Had he 
 sows the doctrine of eternal hatred, final impeni- 
 tance, endless enmity, death and condemnation, 
 he would expect to reap a harvest of the same 
 kind. Those who preach such doctrines now, ex- 
 pect to see such a harvest, and they very often 
 speak of the tremendous day, when the ripe 
 sheaves will be gathered in. But who will come 
 rejoicing bringing in such a harvest? 
 
 Secondly, The extent of the harvest is a subject 
 that claims our notice. Jesus represented the fu- 
 ture extent of his doctrine, by the parable of the 
 mustard-seed, "which a man took and sowed in 
 his field ; which indeed is the least of all seeds i 
 but when it is grown it is the greatest among herbs, 
 and becomes a tree ; so that the birds of the air 
 come and lodge in the branches thereof." Also 
 by the parable of the leaven, " which a woman 
 look and hid in three measures of meal, till the 
 whole was leavened." There is a beautiful indi- 
 cation of the same in the 72d Psalm, as follows ; 
 " There shall be an handfull of corn in the earth 
 upon the top of the mountains; the fruit thereof
 
 208 
 
 shall shake like Lebanon ; and they of the city 
 shall flourish like grass of the earth." Isaiah says, 
 " Thy people shall be all righteous.'* And speak- 
 ing of the Prince of peace, he says ; " Of the in- 
 crease of his government and peace there shall be 
 no end." David says, "All kings shall fall down be- 
 fore him; all nations shall serve him-All the ends of 
 the world shall remember, and turn unto the Lord; 
 and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship 
 before thee. For the kingdom is the Lord's ; and 
 he is the governor among the nations." This ex- 
 tensive harvest was seen by St. John, on the isle of 
 Patnaos, as he thus discribes ; " I beheld, and lo, a 
 great multitude, which no man could number, of 
 all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, 
 stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, 
 clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; 
 and cried with a loud .voice, saying, Salvation to 
 our God, which sitteth upon the throne, and unto 
 the lamb." This is the rejoicing of the extensive 
 harvest. And though this vast multitude of all na- 
 tions, &c. were seen together, there were " white 
 robes" enough for them all. 
 
 My hearers You were all seen in this vision ; 
 the robe of righteousness is ready for you. The 
 time will come when every knee shall bow, and 
 every tongue confess, that Jesus is Lord to the 
 glory of God the Father. 
 
 Though the mustard-seed was despised when the 
 Saviour planted it, and though it lie a long time in 
 the earth, its glory will unfold and its increase 
 shall satisfy the capacious desires of him who came 
 to call sinners to repentance. 
 
 Dr. Watts says ; 
 
 " Though seed lie buried long in dust, 
 It shan't deceive their hope ! 
 The precious graia can ne'er be lost, 
 For grace insures the crop."
 
 No. 14. 
 
 LECTURE SERMON, 
 
 DELIVERED AT THE 
 
 SECOND UNIVERSALIST MEETING, IN BOSTON, 
 JANUARY 17, 1819. 
 
 BY HOSEA BALLOU, PASTOR. 
 
 P ublished Semi-Monthly by Henry Bowen, Devonshire-street. 
 
 MARK ix. 43, 44. 
 
 ^ 4/2n< if thy hand offend thee, cut it off ; it it better for thee to enter into 
 life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the firt that 
 never thall be quenched ; Where their worm dieth not, and the fire vs 
 not quenched. 
 
 SOME of the motives winch have inclined the 
 speaker to" call the attention of this audience to 
 the consideration of thig portion of divine truth are 
 the following: 
 
 1. There is, perhaps, no passage in the scrip'tures, 
 that has been more commonly used to lead the 
 minds of people to believe in the doctrine of end- 
 less misery, and to be exercised with the fear of 
 such a state, than this. And as one of the objects 
 of these lectures is to disprove such a doctrine, and 
 to show that the passages, which are usually quot- 
 ed in its support, are misapplied, it seems proper 
 to notice this passage in a way to show the error 
 of its common use. And, 
 
 2. That the opportunity maybe embraced to 
 enforce the argument of the text to induce the 
 mind to submit to any privations, which are neces- 
 sary to the discharge of that Christian obedience, 
 by which we enter into the spiritual life of the spirit 
 of truth. 
 
 27
 
 210 
 
 We may, in the first place, institute an inquiry, 
 directed to satisfy the mind respecting the usual 
 application of this scripture to a future state of 
 endless misery. 
 
 In giving to this inquiry such a form as raa\ 
 tend to facilitate a judicious conclusion, the fol- 
 lowing things are premised ; 
 
 1. The testimony, by which any fact is to be 
 proved, should be of one, who knows the thing to 
 be a reality, to which he bears such testimony. 
 
 2. In a case where testimony is all the evidence 
 that can be had, this testimony should be of such a 
 character as to admit of no reasonable doubt re^ 
 specting its true application. 
 
 3. It is indispensable, that testimony, by which 
 the belief of any proposition is to be established 
 should be entirely free from any contradiction?. 
 And, 
 
 4. It is moreover proper to observe, that in pro- 
 portion to the greatness of the subject, on which 
 we are called to form a judgment, what has been 
 premised enforces its claims on the mind. 
 
 As to the magnitude of the subject, which is now 
 called in question, nothing exceeds it. The doc- 
 trine which asserts, that mankind is to suffer un- 
 speakable torments to all future eternity is a sub- 
 ject, that justly requires as direct and clear evidence 
 as any nameable case whatever. 
 
 With the foregoing considerations impressed on 
 our minds, let us examine the words of our text 
 with a design to ascertain the truth concerning this 
 
 ~ ^j 
 
 vast question. "And if thy hand oft'end thee, cut 
 it off; it is better for thee to enter into life maim- 
 ed, than having two hands, to be cast into hell, into 
 the fire that never shall be quenched ; where their 
 worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." 
 This is the testimony on which the doctrine of eter- 
 nal, never-ending misery is founded. The hearer
 
 
 211 
 
 is most earnestly requested to lay aside all prepos- 
 sessions on this subject, and investigate it with as 
 much caution as the interest which we all have in 
 the subject demands. 
 
 I. Let us ask, is there in this passage any thing 
 that goes to prove that its author was speaking of 
 what is to take place in a future state of being ? 
 Most certainly, irithout a doubt, replies the be- 
 liever in endless punishment, for Jesus here speaks of 
 being cast into hell ; and surely hell is not in this 
 world. My dear friend, I humbly asked you to 
 lay aside all prepossessions on this subject ; but in 
 room of this, your answer is the production of pre- 
 judice. Did this faithful and true witness ever say 
 that hell is not in this world? Is it asserted in our 
 text, that this hell is in a future state of existence ? 
 Both these questions must be answered in the ne- 
 gative. Will our opposer say, that the whole tes- 
 timony of scripture must be admitted in this case, 
 and that we must learn where hell is, and what it is, 
 by the united testimony of inspired writers? To 
 this we agree at once. The prophet David says ; 
 " (ireat is thy mercy toward me ; and thou hast 
 delivered my soul from the lowest hell." Again 
 he says ; " The sorrows of death compassed me, 
 and the pains of hell gat hold upon me ; I found 
 trouble and sorrow." Jonah says; " I cried by 
 reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and he 
 heard me ; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou 
 heardest my voice." Now as certain as David and 
 Jonah were in this world, when they thus spake, 
 so certain it is, that in the days of these prophets, 
 hell was in this world. Why might it not Ije in 
 this world in the days our Saviour was on the 
 earth? 
 
 It appears evident, from the passages just quot- 
 ed, that a state of extreme trouble and affliction is, 
 in the language of scripture, called hell. There-
 
 212 
 
 fore, in order to justify the application of this word 
 to a state of punishment in a future world, there 
 must be a declaration directly to that effect ; but 
 there is no part of the text under consideration 
 that can in any way answer such a purpose. 
 
 2. "Will it be contended, that as the Saviour 
 said ; " Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is 
 not quenched," he must necessarily mean to speak 
 of a future endless torment ? To this vye reply ; as 
 it has already been agreed, that the scriptures must 
 be taken in their connection, and their united tes- 
 timony admitted in this inquiry, it seems most pro- 
 per to connect these words of our Saviour with a 
 similar passage in the 66th of Isaiah, which reads 
 thus ; " For as the new heavens, and the new earth, 
 which I have made, shall remain before me, saith 
 the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. 
 And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon 
 to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall 
 all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord. 
 And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcas- 
 ses of the men that have transgressed against me : 
 for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire 
 be quenched ; and they shall be an abhorring unto 
 all flesh." 
 
 By this passage the case is perfectly clear that 
 the worm, and the fire that is not quenched are in 
 this state of existence, where times of worship are 
 measured by new moons and by sabbaths. And 
 there can be no doubt but the Saviour, in our text 
 had his eye on this passage in Isaiah, and spake of 
 the same subject. 
 
 We will now allow the objector liberty to say, 
 that it is evident that the passage in Isaiah alludes 
 to the time of the new heavens, and the new earth, 
 which must refer to a future state. 
 
 We reply to the objector, in this case, and say; 
 " Ye greatly err, not knowing the scriptures," for
 
 213 
 
 the prophet in his 65th chapter speaks as follows ; 
 "Behold I create new heavens, and a new earth ; and 
 the former shall not be remembered, nor come into 
 mind. But be ye glad and rejoice forever in that 
 which I create ; for, behold, I create Jerusalem a 
 rejoicing, and her people a joy And they shall 
 build houses, and inhabit them ; and they shall 
 plant vine-yards, and eat the fruit of them." Will 
 houses be built, and vine-yards be planted in a fu- 
 ture world ? No ; all these scriptures evidently 
 regard things which belong to our present state of 
 mortal existence. 
 
 By a careful comparison of the passages to which 
 we have referred, and by taking into the connec- 
 tion one in St. Peter, and another in Revelations, 
 on the subject of the new heavens, and new earth, 
 and on the new Jerusalem, it appears clear that 
 those scriptures were designed to represent the 
 gospel dispensation. St. Paul, in his epistle to the 
 Hebrews, who understood the language of Isaiah, 
 says to the believers in Jesus ; " Ye are come unto 
 mount Zion, and unto tlte city of the living God, 
 the heavenly Jerusalem." He does not say, that 
 they will get to this heavenly Jerusalem in a future 
 world, but he tells them, that they have already 
 come to it. 
 
 But what does Isaiah mean by saying ; " They 
 shall go forth, and look upon the carcasses of the 
 men that have transgressed against me ; for their 
 worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be 
 quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all 
 flesh?" 
 
 Reply By all flesh, no doubt, the prophet 
 meant the Gentiles of different nations who should 
 come into the gospel church and covenant ; and by 
 the men that transgressed against the Lord, he 
 meant the Jews who rejected their Messiah. These 
 Jews are represented as tormented with a gnawing
 
 214 
 
 worm and a perpetual fire, arid to be an abhorring 
 to the Christian church of Gentiles. 
 
 These remarks seem to bring us directly to the 
 meaning of our text. " It is better for Ihee to en- 
 ter into life maimed, than having two hands, to be 
 oast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quench- 
 ed; where their worm dieth not, and the fire is, not 
 quenched/' That is, than to be cast jnto the state 
 of condemnation and outer darkness, where there 
 shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, into which 
 the Jews who reject the gospel will be cast. 
 
 Will it now be asked, what will become of those 
 Israelites who rejected the Messiah and have ben 
 cast into this state of condemnation ? Let St. Paul 
 give -the answer ; "Blindness in part is happened 
 to Israel until the fulness of the gentiles be come 
 in, and so all Israel shall be saved." 
 
 As it has been premised that the testimony by 
 whieh a belief in a proposition is to be established, 
 must be free from contradiction, before we can al- 
 low that the doctrine of endless misery is proved 
 by the scriptures, they must be found entirely free 
 from any declarations to the contrary. 
 
 St. Paul informs us, that God " will have all men 
 to be saved," and that Jesus gave himself a ran- 
 som for all' 5 men. Now if God's will and the 
 Saviour's ransom finally fail of their object, what 
 can we prove from the scriptures? If those whom 
 God wills to save, and whom the Saviour ransomed 
 are to be miserable eternally, who are to be saved ? 
 
 The fact is, there is no such testimony in the 
 .-jcripturcs, which can, witf; the least degree of fair- 
 ness be applied to a state of never ending misery ; 
 and in fact if there were any such testimony in the 
 scriptures, yet it could not prove the proposition, 
 $<>>long as there remain so many positive declara- 
 Vkus against it.
 
 Moreover, we feel it to be a duty to state, that 
 in room of straining particular passages, which 
 speak of the punishment of the wicked, so as to 
 favour the idea of unlimited punishment, we should 
 feel justified in restraining any passage, could such 
 be found, that should seem to favour an opinion so 
 dishonourable to God, and so revolting to our best 
 feelings. 
 
 It surely should not require so much direct tes- 
 timony from the scripture to prove that-God will 
 have mercy on all men, as to prove that he will 
 not ; for it' we judge the divine Being by his con- 
 duct to men in this life, the evidence of his univer- 
 sal goodness is perfectly ample. And David says 
 " the Lord is good to all, and his tender mercies 
 ,are over all his works." 
 
 If what the scriptures assert on this subject be 
 true, and if we may credit the testimony of divine 
 providence we must conclude, that the doctrine 
 that teaches unmerciful, never ending punishment 
 is a direct impeachment of the divine Being; and 
 is the greatest specimen of ingratitude that is to 
 be found in all the world. 
 
 This ungrateful doctrine is now held up to be 
 the guardian of morality ! In order to be moral 
 we must solemnly and heartily accuse the kind 
 Father of our spirits, who loves sinners and sent 
 his Son to be the propitiation for the sins of the 
 whole world, of having predestinated millions of 
 human beings to a state of endless woe, before the 
 creation of the world ! If religion and morality 
 begin with such ingratitude, what will be their pro- 
 gress ? and what will be their end ? 
 
 There is one more argument M hich the oprjpser 
 may think ought to be noticed, whicla is the follow- 
 ing ; As Jesus says, in our text ; " it is better for 
 thee to enter into life maimed, than having two
 
 216 
 
 hands, to be cast into hell &c. ; as entering into 
 iife means entering; into a state of eternal felicity, 
 hereafter, so being; cast into hell, being the opposite 
 of entering into life, seems to favor the opinion 
 that this hell is in the future, eternal world. 
 
 In replying; to this argument, we shall bring the 
 principal design of the text before the hearer, and 
 introduce the argument of the Saviour for the pur- 
 pose for which he used it. 
 
 And bore the hearer is called on to observe that 
 (he objection to which we are now about to reply 
 is, in fact, founded on a mistake. By entering into 
 life, we have no evidence to believe, that the Sa- 
 viour had any allusion to entering into a state of 
 complete happiness, in the eternal, immortal state ; 
 but we have evidence to the contrary of this, even 
 in the text itself. Observe the words; "it is bet- 
 ter for thee to enter into life maimed," &c. He 
 surely did not mean, that men were to enter into 
 a state of immortality in the'eternal world maimed. 
 
 John Baptist, says ; "he that believeth on the Son 
 hath everlasting life." St. John says, " we know that 
 we have passed from death unto life, because we 
 love the brethren." St. Paul says, " there is, there- 
 fore, now no condemnation to them which are in 
 Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after 
 the spirit. For the laws of the spirit of life in 
 Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin 
 and death." To the Ephesians he says ; " But 
 God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love 
 .wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead 
 in sin, hath quickened us together with Christ." 
 This is that life into which those who believe and 
 pbey the gospel enter maimed. 
 
 But the immortal state is represented glorious 
 and complete. 
 
 We shall now solicit the attention of the audi- 
 ence to the consideration of what is meant by being
 
 217 
 
 maimed, in our text, and to an illustration of the 
 proper object of the Saviour's argument. Ob- 
 serve the introduction of our subject. "And who- 
 soever shall offend one of these little ones that 
 believe in me, it is belter for him that a millstone 
 were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into 
 the sea. And if thy hand offend thee cut it off; 
 for it is better for thee to enter into life maim- 
 ed," &c. 
 
 The evident meaning of the Saviour seems to be 
 this; if one of your nearest connections in the 
 world, even if one as dear to you as a hand, should 
 oppose your yielding obedience to the gospel, part 
 with this dear connection rather than part with di- 
 vine truth. And though you thereby feel as one 
 who has lost a hand, yet what you gain is more 
 than what you lose. In this connection, Jesus 
 mentions the cutting off of a foot, and the pluck- 
 ing out of an eye for the same cause as the cuting 
 off of the hand; and it is very evident that this 
 recommendation was given on account of the op- 
 position that was constantly in exercise against the 
 cause of truth, and which he knew would increase 
 unto grevious persecution. 
 
 Jesus said ; " Think not that I am come to send 
 peace on earth ; I came not to send peace, but a 
 sword. For I am come to set a man at variance 
 against his father, and the daughter against her 
 mother, and the daughter-in-law against her moth- 
 er-in-law. And a man's foes shall be they of his 
 own household. He that loveth father or mother 
 more than me is not worthy of me ; and he that 
 loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy 
 of me. And he that taketh not his cross and fol- 
 loweth after me is not worthy of me. He that 
 findeth his life shall lose it ; and he that loseth his 
 life for my sake shall find it." 
 28
 
 218 
 
 It was hard indeed for Ibe disciples of Jesus to 
 part with such tender connections, and they, no 
 doubt, felt, in some respect, as people do, who 
 have lost a hand, a foot, or an eye ; but then on 
 the other hand, they had Jesus who is worth more 
 than all they lost. 
 
 St. Paul was called, to enter into life at the ex- 
 pense of all that he held dear, of a worldy nature. 
 Brought up at the feet of Gamaliel, educated a 
 Pharasee, in high esteem among his people-, and in 
 the confidence of the high Priest of his nation ; in 
 his youth when his prospects were exceedingly flat- 
 tering, and at a moment when he was engaged in 
 rendering all possible service to the interest of those 
 authorities, which were hostile to the cause and 
 disciples of Christ, he is called to embrace the Sa- 
 viour, and to part with all his connections and 
 friends on earth. He entered into life maimed. 
 He felt like one who has lost a hand, a foot, and an 
 eye, but thereby saved his life. How often would 
 such a person think of the members gone. How 
 often would he say, O that my hand, my foot, and 
 my eye could again be restored. So it was with 
 St. Paul. He says ; " I say the truth in Christ, I 
 lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in 
 the Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviness and 
 continual s-orrow in my heart. For I could wish 
 that myself were accused from Christ for my 
 brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh." 
 And again, he says ; " Brethren, my heart's desire 
 and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be 
 saved." But there he saw them, devoted to the 
 worm and fire, discribed by the prophet Isaiah. 
 They were the Apostle's ' kinsmen according to 
 the flesh." They were to him like lost members 
 of his body, for whom he exercised great and con- 
 tinual concern.
 
 219 
 
 Will the advocate for endless punishment say, 
 that St. Paul's concern for his brethren was be- 
 cause he believed they would never obtain mercy? 
 Will any pretend that Paul was heavy-hearted, be- 
 cause he believed as many do now, that they were 
 consigned over to endless woe ? 
 
 Such a supposition is in direct opposition to the 
 clear and luminous arguments which this 1 Apostle 
 has left recorded in his epistles, particularly in the 
 1 1th of Romans, where he fully explains the occa- 
 sion of the blindness of the Jews, and largely vin- 
 dicates their final readmission to favour. Speak- 
 ing to the Gentile believers, he says ; " For as ye 
 in times past have not believed God, but have now 
 obtained mercy through their unbelief, ewen so have 
 these now not believed that through your mercy, 
 they also may obtain mercy." And as has been 
 before noticed, he says ; " All Israel shall be 
 saved." 
 
 It surely would be very contrary to the prospects 
 of the Christian hope, to suppose that St. Paul, or 
 any other Saint would spend an eternity in the 
 maimed condition that he was in, in consequence 
 of leaving his brethren in darkness and unbelief. 
 
 Many professed Christians in our times, and in- 
 deed many professed preachers of the gospel, feel 
 or affect to feel great concern for fear the souls of 
 their fellow creatures will be finally sentenced to 
 everlasting tortures in the eternal world. This is 
 a maimedness, which St. Paul has informed us 
 nothing of. But those who now believe the truth 
 as it is in J&sus and yield obedience to its require- 
 ments enter into life maimed. They are called to 
 part with dear connections, which are near to them 
 as the members of their bodies. 
 
 The false religion of anti-christ, like the doctrines 
 of the Pharisees and the Sadducees of old, has so 
 established itself by the power of tradition, is
 
 220 
 
 guarded and supported by so many means, which 
 in the eyes of the world are honourable, that to 
 call it in question, to presume to bring it into the 
 light for examination excites great alarm among 
 its friends. One who has been brought up and ed- 
 ucated according to the orthodox creed, joined a 
 church, and formed an extensive connection in re- 
 ligious society, has kind and affectionate parents, 
 brothers and sisters, who are respectable members 
 of the same communion, by some means which 
 heaven has appointed is called to reflect on some 
 of the doctrines of the church by way of query. 
 Such questions as the following arise in the mind. 
 How is it that a wise, kind, and merciful creator 
 has predestinated, from eternity, millions of human 
 beings to endless and unspeakable torments? In 
 his providence, he is universally kind, he openeth his 
 hand and satisfieth the desire of every living thing ; 
 why should he not be as universally kind in the 
 economy of his spiritual grace? We read in the 
 scriptures, that " God commended this love toward 
 us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died 
 for us." We furthermore read that Jesus Christ 
 the righteous is the propitiation for the sins of the 
 whole world. Why should the scriptures speak in 
 such terms if a few only of the human family are 
 subjects of the divine favour? These thoughts 
 and many others revolve in the mind of the sup- 
 posed individual. The person thus exercised feels 
 a strong desire to speak with some one on the sub- 
 ject ; but fears arise that it may give offence ! The 
 'matter is suffered to rest for the present ; the per- 
 son goes to the house of worship with a determina- 
 tion to learn something, if possible, that may as- 
 sist in solving these queries. The minister prays; 
 and in his prayer he fervently entreats the Father 
 of mercies to send forth the light and power of the 
 gospel even to the ends of the earth, that all may
 
 221 
 
 be brought to a saving knowledge of God. This 
 prayer awakens the attention of our querist, who 
 now says; why does my minister pray for all the 
 >vorld if he has no faith for the whole ? The min- 
 ister preaches ; and his sermon is designed to prove 
 the divine sovereignty in electing some to ever- 
 lasting life, and predestinating others to endless 
 destruction. This contradiction between the prayer 
 and the sermon tries the mind exceedingly. The 
 person goes home, finally feels such powerful ex- 
 ercises of mind, that a determination is formed to 
 talk with others on the subject. 
 
 No sooner are these queries made known to the 
 dearest connexions in life, than surprise is manifest- 
 ed ; and the person asked whether they are dispos- 
 ed to call in question the mysterious doctrines of 
 the gospel, doubt the creed, and pretend to be wiser 
 than the minister ? But all does not satisfy the 
 mind, into which a few scattering beams of divine 
 light have found 'their way. Says the supposed 
 person, I will go for once and hear a preacher who 
 holds up Jesus a universal Saviour. Yes, this I 
 must do, and if I am despised for it I must bear it. It 
 is accordingly so done, and God blesses the word to 
 the satisfaction of the heavy ladened soul, and 
 Jesus now appears Lord of all, Lord of the dead 
 and the living ; and the, enraptured soul says, I 
 have seen and must testify that the Father sent the 
 Son to be the Saviour of the world. With the 
 heart the person believes unto righteousness, and 
 with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 
 What is next ? The Church disowns this member 
 and casts it out ; family connections grow cold 
 and alienated in their affections, and this lonely 
 individual enters into life maimed. 
 
 What a loss is here ! Perhaps father, mother, 
 brothers, sisters are parted with. Yea, perhaps a 
 husband or a wife, as the case may be.
 
 Joys arise on the one hand, peace is found io- 
 believing, and a free universal gospel is life to the 
 soul. On the other hand heaviness of heart, that 
 those dear connections, which are left in gloomy 
 darkness, and are exercised with the awful terrors 
 of everlasting misery, cannot now see and rejoice 
 in this heavenly, glorious truth, that " God is the 
 Saviour of all men." 
 
 But, my brethren and sisters, though many of 
 you have entered into life maimed ; though you 
 have left fathers, mothers, companions, brethren 
 and sisters, sons and daughters, you are satisfied 
 that it is better to enter into life thus maimed, 
 than to be cast into that ceaseless fire of erroneous 
 creeds, and to be gnawed with that restless worm 
 of continual fear. 
 
 There is likewise one consolation that more 
 than repays all the losses you sustain ; your faith 
 and hope enter within the vail where Jesus enter- 
 ed, in whom dwells all the fulness of the Godhead 
 bodily ; ' and ye are complete in him." When 
 you contemplate the fulness of him who filleth all 
 tilings, you perceive that God has purposed to 
 "gather together in one all things in Christ." You 
 " know that the head of every man is Christ," arid 
 that not a bone of him shall be broken. You, 
 therefore anticipate the time, when you shall enter 
 into immortality and eternal life, not maimed, but 
 being complete in Christ the head of every man, 
 all those dear connections who oppose you here, 
 will join you there. Those who could not com- 
 mune with you here, will have no partial creeds 
 there. All will be illuminated with the radiant 
 sun of righteousness, tears will there be wiped 
 from ofi'all faces, and there shall be no more death, 
 neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be 
 any more pain. But he that sitteth upon the 
 throne shall make all things new, according to the
 
 223 
 
 pattern shewn unto the disciples, in the mount 
 where Jesus was transfigured. 
 
 That the hearer may have a clear and distinct 
 understanding of the general subject to which we 
 have attended, a comparison should be carefully 
 made between the state of the disciples of Jesus, 
 in this present world, where, though spiritual life, 
 and the fruits of the spirit, which are love, joy, 
 peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, and 
 faith, are enjoyed, yet there are many sufferings; 
 such as persecutions for the sake of the word, sor- 
 rows of heart for those who oppose the truth, and 
 all the roaimedness signified in our text and of 
 which mention has been made, with that perfect, 
 glorious, and immortal state, of which Jesus spake 
 when treating on the subject of the resurrection, 
 and of which St. Paul, speaks in his 1st epistle to 
 the Corrinthians. 
 
 The opposer will now say, if you are right, why 
 is it not just as well for us to remain ignorant of 
 these truths as to know them ? What difference 
 can it make ?' 
 
 In reply we will ask the following questions. 
 Suppose some deceived person should be led to be- 
 lieve, that the coming spring will be so widely dif- 
 ferent from the vernal seasons which are past, that 
 in room of a warmer sun than winter affords, and in 
 room of the usual zephyrs and flowers of May, the 
 sun will run still lower than in winter, and the 
 winds be more chilling, the frost more intense, and 
 not a flower will be seen, nor a birtl heard to sing ; 
 further, suppose this gloomy soul should persuade 
 thousands to believe his errors, and should spread 
 a gloorn over half the inhabitants of our country, 
 how would those, who remained confident in the 
 goodness and faithfulness of God, feel for their de- 
 ceived friends? Would they not endeavour te
 
 224 
 
 persuade them away from their fears? And would 
 it be just as well for those who should be thus de- 
 ceived, to remain in their error, as to live by faith, 
 and rejoice in hope of the glory of God, which is 
 hastening on as fast as time moves ? 
 
 Would it not be very proper to say to the peo- 
 ple, who in consequence of this gloomy unbelief, 
 were making no preparations to improve the lovely 
 season of seed time, repent of your errors, see to 
 your concerns, be ready with all your means, for 
 the spring is at hand, the days grow longer, it will 
 be but a short time before the flowers shall appear 
 and the time of the singing of birds will come ?
 
 DELIVERED AT THE 
 
 SECOND UNIVERSALIST MEETING, IN BOSTON, 
 FEBRUARY 14, 1819. 
 
 BY HOSEA BALLOU, PASTOR. 
 
 Published Semi-Monthly by Henry Bowen, Deronshire-street. 
 
 HEBREWS ii. 14, 15. 
 
 fi Forasmuch then at the children are partaker* of flesh and blood, he also 
 himself likewise took part of the same ; that through death he might de- 
 stroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil ; And dtliver 
 them who, through fear of death t were all their lifetime subject to bon- 
 dage." 
 
 THE first enquiry, to which the attention of the 
 hearer is invited, will be directed to ascertain some 
 particulars relative to the children mentioned in 
 our text. 
 
 We shall see, by the context, that these children 
 comprehend the whole human family. In refer- 
 ence to a passage in the 8th Psalms, the Apostle 
 says ; " But one in a certain place testified, saying, 
 What is man that thou art mindful of him ? or the 
 son of man that thou visitest him ? Thou madest him 
 a little lower than the angels ; thou crownedst him 
 with glory ajd honour and didst set him over the 
 works of thy hands : Thou hast put all things in 
 subjection under his feet. For in that he put all 
 in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not 
 put under him. But now we see not yet all things 
 put under him : But we see Jesus, who was made 
 a little lower than the angels for the suffering of 
 29
 
 226 
 
 death, crowned with glory and honour ; that he by 
 the grace of God should taste death for every man.'" 
 By man, it is evident, the Apostle meant the whole 
 humanity, as did the prophet also in the passage 
 referred to ; and by every man y he meant the same 
 thing in a distributive view. 
 
 The Apostle's argument evidently amounts to 
 this ; the glory and honour to which man was orig- 
 inally destined by his Creator, we now see com- 
 plete in Jesus, who tasted death for every man, 
 and in him only. 
 
 Immediately following what we have just quot- 
 ed from our context, the author, in giving the rea- 
 son for the sufferings of Jesus, calls the whole hu- 
 man nature, taken in the distributive sense before 
 noticed, sons ; "For it became him, for whom are 
 all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing 
 many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their 
 salvation perfect through sufferings." 
 
 Here it is important that we notice distinctly, 
 that the Apostle designed to speak of the divine 
 creature when he spake of him, " for whom are 
 all things, and by whom are all things;'' and when 
 he spake of many sons, he meant the same as he 
 did by every man ; and when he spake of bringing 
 many sons to glory, he meant the bringing of every 
 man to the glory which we see in Jesus, of which 
 he had just spoken. 
 
 Directly following our last quotation, the author 
 calls these many sons, who are to be brought unto 
 glory, the brethren of him who is their sanctifier 
 and says that they are one with hiA ; " For both 
 he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are 
 all of one : for which cause he is not ashamed to call 
 them brethren ; saying, I will declare thy name 
 unto my brethren j in the midst of the church will 
 I sing praise unto thee."
 
 227 
 
 By him who sanctifieth, the author nieans Jesus, 
 who is the captain of our salvation ; by those who 
 are sanctified, he means every man or the many 
 sons, of whom he had just spoken, and by brethren 
 he means the same thing, and furthermore he calls 
 them the church. 
 
 Our author introduces our glorified Saviour, as 
 saying ; " Behold I, and the children which God 
 hath given me." These children are the same as 
 expressed by the Apostle in the following words 
 which have been quoted ; " What is man ?" mean- 
 ing the whole human nature. " Every man," mean- 
 ing the same. " Many sons," comprehending the 
 same. " Brethren" of the great sanctifier; " The 
 church." These are the children mentioned in our 
 text, who are partakers of flesh and blood. 
 
 Having ascertained in the first section of our in- 
 quiry, that the children mentioned in our text com- 
 prehend the whole human family, we may attempt 
 
 2dly, To show who is the Father of these child- 
 ren. This question is settled at once by the author 
 in the context, in the following words which have 
 been noticed ; " For it became him, for whom are 
 all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing 
 many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their 
 salvation perfect through sufferings.'' These many 
 sons, who are brought unto glory, are the children 
 mentioned in our text, and he for whom are all 
 things, and by whom are all things, is the Father of 
 these children. 
 
 If it seem incorrect to the hearer, to call all men 
 the children of God, and if any objection be made 
 to this doctrine on account of the sinfulness of 
 man's character, our argument may be supported 
 by the following considerations. 
 
 St. Luke in tracing the genealogy of Jesus car- 
 ries it up to the creation of man, and says; "Which 
 was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth,
 
 228 
 
 which was the Son of Adam, which was the son of 
 God." If it be proper to call Adam the son of 
 God, it seems also to be proper to call all the des- 
 cendants of this first man, the children of God. 
 
 If the objection be urged on account of the sinful 
 character of man, we reply, that the children do 
 not destroy this relation by disobedience. For as 
 the relation of parent and child certainly exists be- 
 fore the child becomes active in obedience, or dis- 
 obedience ; it would be false reasoning to argue 
 that obedience could constitute this relation, or 
 that disobedience would disannul it. The Lord 
 says, by the prophet Jeremiah ; " Turn, O back- 
 sliding children, saith the Lord ; for I am married 
 unto you." Thus the divine Being addresses the 
 wicked by the endearing appellation of children. 
 
 That it is consiitent with the doctrine of Jesus to 
 allow that sinners are the children of God, this di- 
 vine teacher fully shows where he teaches us to 
 pray, and say ; " Our father which art in heaven 
 forgive us our sins." Here Jesus teaches the sin- 
 ner to call God his Father. 
 
 St. Paul, speaking to the Athenians, as recorded 
 in the 17th Acts, said ; "God that made the world, 
 and all things therein, hath made of one blood all 
 nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the 
 earth, and hath determined the times before ap~ 
 pointed, and the bounds of their habitation ; that 
 they should seek the Lord, if haply they might 
 feel after him, and find him, though he be not far 
 from every one of us ; for in him we live, and 
 move, and have our being ; as certain also of your 
 own poets have said, for we are also his offspring." 
 According to this declaration, " all nations of men" 
 are the offspring ot God. Let us inquire, 
 
 3dly. What this relation of all men to the di- 
 vine Being consists in ?..
 
 229 
 
 It seems that the simple fact of man's being ere* 
 ated, or formed of the dust of the ground by the 
 hand of God, is not altogether a sufficient cause to 
 account for his being called his offspring ; for it is 
 evident that all other creatures and things were 
 equally the production of the divine Power ; but 
 the beasts of the field, the fowl of heaven, the fish 
 of the sea are not called the offspring and children 
 of God. 
 
 If a man, who is a mechanic, contrive and make 
 ever so curious or valuable a piece of machinery, 
 it would not justify our calling him the father of 
 this production of his skill, nor would it justify our 
 calling this machine the son, child, or offspring of 
 him who made it. But if a man have born to him 
 a child, this child partakes of the very nature of 
 the parent, and it is this participation which consti- 
 tutes the relation of father and child. So if the 
 " Father of spirits" has so constituted man, that he 
 is a partaker of his nature, he is, in a most proper 
 and divine sense the child and offspring of God. 
 
 This is the nature of the relation which consti- 
 tutes all men the children of God, and this relation 
 lies at the foundation of the divine economy, by 
 which we are amply provided with all things which 
 appertain to life and godliness. This relation 
 accounts for till which we read in the scriptures of 
 the love, mercy, and compassions of the divine Be- 
 ing towards man. We cannot conceive the possi- 
 bility of any being's loving that which is totally 
 different from itself. 
 
 But man " is the image and glory of God," and 
 it is as consistent with the nature of things, for God 
 to love his own image in mankind, as it is for par- 
 ents to love their image in their children. 
 
 This relation accounts for the moral obligation 
 that men are under to love God above every other 
 object. " Thou shalt love the Lord, thy God with
 
 230 
 
 
 
 all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy 
 strength," is not an arbitrary command, but is es- 
 tablished on the nature of the divine relation in 
 which we stand to our Father which is in heaven. 
 If there were in nature any thing more calculated 
 to happify mankind than is the divine Being, that 
 thing would certainly have the greatest claim on 
 our love. 
 
 But this is not the case ; there is not in the whole 
 universe any thing so favourable to man, as is the 
 Father of his spirit. God is the fountain from 
 which we came, and nothing but God can satisfy 
 the soul. 
 
 David gaid ; " As the hart panteth after the wa- 
 ter-brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. 
 My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God." If 
 water were not a part of the composition of the 
 human body, we should never feel a desire for it, 
 nor could it give us the least refreshment. So if 
 we were not partakers of the divine nature in our 
 constitution as mortal beings, we could never feel 
 the least desire for God, nor could the communi- 
 cations of the divine spirit give us life or any re- 
 freshment. How eagerly does one who is thirsty 
 receive the cooling draught, and with what exquis- 
 ite pleasure does he slake his parching thirst. .Te- 
 ens says : " If any man thirst, let him come unto 
 me and drink ;" Drink what ? The spirit of truth 
 which is a well of water springing up into ever- 
 tasting life. 
 
 This divine relation, which constitutes all men 
 the children of God, explains the meaning of such 
 passages as the following ; " For the earnest expec- 
 tation of "the creature waiteth for the manifestation 
 of the sons of God. Because the creature itself 
 also shall be delivered from the bondage of corrup- 
 tion into the glorious liberty of the children of 
 God: For we know that, if our earthly house of this
 
 231 
 
 * 
 
 tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of 
 God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the 
 heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring 
 to be clothed upon with our house which is from 
 heaven. For we that are in this tabernacle do 
 groan, being burdened ; not for that we would be 
 unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might 
 be swallowed up of life." IB these passages men 
 are represented as the sons of God, and while they 
 are in the earthly house of this tabernacle, they 
 are considered in a state of bondage, from which 
 they groan to be delivered ; and the state into which 
 they are to enter when the earthly house is dissolv- 
 ed, is the glorious liberty of the children of God, 
 to inhabit a house not made with hands eternal in 
 the heavens. 
 
 Now if man was wholly of an earthly nature, 
 if the natural elements which constitute his earth- 
 ly house of this tabernacle compose the whole of 
 his nature, would jhere be the least shadow of sense 
 in such scriptures ? 
 
 To conclude thii general inquiry concerning the 
 children mentioned in our text, we may ask, in 
 what way the passage under consideration is to be 
 understood, unless this divine relation of mankind 
 to the Father of our spirits be granted ? " The 
 children are partakers of flesh and blood ;" If the 
 children were nothing but flesh and blood, why is it 
 said,' that they are partakers of flesh and blood?' 
 " He (Jesus) also himself likewise took part of the 
 iame." If Jesus consisted only of flesh and blood 
 ia it intelligible language to say, he took part of 
 the same ? 
 
 But the Christian hearer will say at once, that he 
 has no doubt that Jesus partook of the divine na- 
 ture and stood in a constituted relation to his Fa- 
 ther, and was something besides flesh and blood. 
 Now when all this is conceded, the hearer's atte*
 
 tion is invited to reconsider a part of the context 
 which has been noticed; "For both he that sanctifi- 
 eth and they who are sanctified are ail of one ; 
 for which cause he is not ashamed to call them 
 brethren." If Jesus, who is the sanctifier, and 
 mankind who is sanctified by him, are all of one, 
 so that he is not ashamed to call men his brethren, 
 then it is plain that the nature of the relation of 
 Jesus to the Father is the nature of the relation 
 of every maji to the Father of our spirits. And 
 this agrees with the scripture which saith that Je- 
 sus is " the first born among many brethren. 
 
 The hearer is cautioned against supposing that 
 we mean to level the blessed Redeemer to no more 
 than equality with ourselves, by contending that 
 the relation in which we stand to our Father and 
 his Father; to our God and his God, is the same 
 in which he himself stands ; for though all this is 
 evident from the scriptures, yet it is also contained 
 in them, that " God hath highly exalted him, and 
 given him a name that is above every name that is 
 named, whether in this world or that which is to 
 come, that in the name of Jesus every knee should 
 bow of things in heaven, and things on earth, and 
 things under the earth ; and that every tongue 
 should confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of 
 God the Father." 
 
 We may now notice the moral condition which 
 our text and context give to the children named in 
 
 fj 
 
 the text, and concerning whom we have endeav- 
 oured to direct the foregoing researches. 
 
 On this question we may say but little ; as the 
 subject is rendered sufficiently clear by the scrip*- 
 ture under consideration and its connection. 
 
 In our text, these children are said to be partakers 
 of flesh and blood, and to be in bondage through 
 fear of death. Just above the Apostle had said, 
 as has been twice noticed ; " Both he that sanctifi-
 
 233 
 
 eth and they who are sanctified are all of one," &c. 
 By this we learn that the children were in an ua- 
 sarictified state, which rendered their sanctification 
 necessary. And this agrees with the following ac- 
 count which we find in the Apostle's writing to the 
 Ephesians ; " Husbands love your wives, even as 
 Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for 
 it ; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the 
 washing of water by the word ; that he might pre- 
 sent it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, 
 or wrinkle, or any such thing ; but that it should be 
 holy, and without blemish." 
 
 This is the church of which mention is made in 
 our context : " I will declare thy name unto my 
 brethren ; in the midst of the church will I sing 
 praise unto thee." 
 
 This is the church which Jesus loved, when it 
 was unsanctified, unclean, full of spots and wrinkles, 
 and in a state of bondage. This church consists of 
 every man or the whole human family, as the 
 Apostle saith in the place where our text lies ; 
 " But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower 
 than the angels, for the suffering of death, crowned 
 with glory and honour; that he by the grace of 
 God might taste death for every man." 
 
 Our next inquiry may be directed to obtain the 
 meaning of the following words ; " He also himself 
 likewise took part of the same ; that through death 
 he might destroy biin that had the power of death, 
 that is, the devil." 
 
 These words seem to indicate the following 
 things ; 1st. That the devil has the power of death. 
 2d. That the devil may be destroyed. 3d. That 
 the means by which the devil can be destroyed is 
 that of death. And, 4th. That Jesus took on him 
 flesh and blood for the purpose of destroying the 
 devil, by means of death. Apprehensions are en* 
 tertained that we are about to encounter some for- 
 30
 
 234 
 
 midable difficulties in the progress of this inquiry, 
 especially if we entertain the opinion concerning 
 the devil, which has been generally believed. This 
 opinion supposes, that the devil is an immortal spirit, 
 that he was once an angel of light, and an inhabi- 
 tant of heaven, in which God and holy angels 
 dwell. It supposes that this angel rebelled against 
 the Almighty, for which cause he was driven out 
 of heaven, and cast down to hell, where he will ex- 
 ist in unspeakable torments ai long as God shall 
 exist in heaven, happiness, and glory. 
 
 Dr. Watts, whose opinion, concerning the devil, 
 or satan, was according to the wisdom of other doc- 
 tors, has left the following as his sentiment, to be 
 read and sung in Christian devotion : 
 
 " Far in the deep where darkness dwells, 
 
 " The land of horror and despair, 
 
 " Justice hath built a dismal hell, 
 
 " And laid her stores of vengeance there. 
 
 u Eternal plagues, and heavy chains, 
 
 " Tormenting racks and firey coals. 
 
 " And darts t' inflict immortal pains, 
 
 " Dy'd in the blood of damned souls. 
 
 " There Satan the first sinner lies, 
 
 " And roars and bites his iron bands; 
 
 " In vain the rebel strives to rise, 
 
 " Crusb/d with the weight of both thy hands." 
 
 Now it is certainly very difficult, according to this 
 doctrine, to account for all that the scriptures say 
 indicating that the devil has continually sojourned 
 in this world. This same author supposes that ihis 
 satan, who lies in the " dismal hell" of which he 
 spake, crushed with the weight of both the hands of 
 the Almighty, and who strives to rise from his con- 
 finement in vain, was the tempter who beguiled 
 our mother Eve. He says ; 
 
 " When Satan in the serpent hid, 
 
 " Propos'd the fruit that God forbid." 
 
 And not only does this common opinion about the 
 devil, suppose he was the tempter, who beguiled
 
 235 
 
 Eve, but it supposes that he is present with every 
 man through his whole lifetime on earth, tempting 
 us to sin ! 
 
 But our authors have not told us how the devil 
 can be confined to that " dismal hell/' of which 
 they say so much, and at the same time be here 
 on earth to superintend the vast affairs of sin and 
 wickedness throughout all nations and kingdoms of 
 the world. 
 
 There are more difficulties still which we must 
 dispose of as prudently as possible. 
 
 If the devil be in fact an immortal spirit, and if 
 he be confined to a state of endless misery, how 
 shall we understand the Apostle in our text, who 
 says, that Jesus took flesh and blood, that through 
 death he might destroy him that had the power of 
 death, that is, the devil ? 
 
 How could Jesus, by dying, destroy an immor- 
 tal, spiritual being? and one too who is to exist as 
 long as Jesus shall exist? 
 
 Not only is it believed, that the devil will exist 
 as Jong as Jesus, who died to destroy him, but it 
 is likewise believed that he will be able to main- 
 tain his government over a much larger number of 
 the human race, than will ever be made subject to 
 the laws of the Redeemer. In support of this 
 opinon, such passages of scripture as the following 
 are frequently cited; " Many are called, but few 
 are chosen. Wide is the gate and broad is the 
 ^vay that leadeth to destruction, and many there 
 be which go in thereat : Because strait is the gate, 
 and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and 
 few there be that find it." It is believed that the 
 adversary is continually exerting himself, and 
 using all his infernal arts to lead men into sin, that 
 the divine Being may be moved to sentence them 
 to his dismal abode, where he may have the con- 
 trol of them forever; on the other hand, it is be-
 
 23$ 
 
 liered that Jesus Christ is Continually employing 
 all the means of grace to bring sinners to repent- 
 ance, that they may be his happy subjects in the 
 eternal world ; but the result of all these counter 
 operations, and this warfare between Christ and 
 the adversary will be a few to the praise of the glory 
 of the Redeemer's name, and many victims to the 
 more successful endeavours of the prince of dark- 
 ness! 
 
 Notwithstanding these sentiments are thought to 
 be true, and of essential importance in the Christian 
 doctrine, yet we hear abundance said, find much 
 written, and not a little sung of the glorious victory 
 which Jesus won over the adversary, when he died, 
 and rose from the dead. But if those sentiments 
 be correct, which give the result of the warfare, 
 between Christ and the adversary so much in favour 
 of the latter, it is evident that another contest, and 
 one more like victory would establish the adversary 
 in universal dominion ! 
 
 That we may, at once deliver our minds from all 
 the inconsistencies which the common opinion 
 concerning the devil involves, let us avail ourselves 
 of the important fact, that no such sentiment is 
 found in the scriptures, nor in the least favoured by 
 reason or common sense. 
 
 That the devil was ever a holy angel we have no 
 account in the scriptures ; that any man was ever 
 tempted by an agent distinct from the powers of 
 flesh and blood we have no reason to believe. 
 St. James says ; " Every man is tempted, when he 
 is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed-" And 
 it is a fact, that we are never tempted to commit 
 any sin, that may not be accounted for without a 
 separate agent. 
 
 The word devil, or satan, means an adversary, an 
 enemy, an opposer. And this character every man 
 finds in himself. Every man, being a partaker of
 
 237 
 
 flesh and blood, has the adversary in him, who 
 tempts him to sin; and can say, with as much pro- 
 priety as St. Paul did, " In me, that is in my flesh, 
 dvvelieth no good thing." The Apostle further 
 says ; " J delight in the law of God after the inward 
 man. But I see another law in my members 
 warring against the law of my mind, and bringing 
 me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my 
 members." Again he says, " the flesh lusteth 
 against the spirit, &nd the spirit against the flesh ; 
 and these are contrary the one to the other; so that 
 ye cannot do the things that ye would. .Now the 
 works of the flesh are manifest,which are these: adult- 
 ery ,fornication,uncleanness,lasciviousness,idolatry, 
 witchcraft, hatred,variance,emulations,wrath,strife, 
 seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, 
 revellings, and such like." Again he says ; " the 
 carnal mind is enmity against God, is not subject 
 to his law, neither indeed can be." 
 
 This "carnal mind," this " law of sin," this enmity 
 against God, is the devil, that has the power of 
 death, for " to be carnally minded is death.'* Cor- 
 ruption and mortality are within the powers of 
 flesh and blood, and the history of sin, evil, and 
 death no where extends beyond those limits. 
 
 This power of the flesh was figuratively repre- 
 sented by the serpent, which beguiled Eve ; and 
 it was said to the serpent ; " dust shalt thou eat all 
 the days of thy life." The prophet Isaiah says ; 
 "dust shall be the serpent's meat." 
 
 This serpent is not an immortal spirit ; for such 
 a spirit surely would not feed on dust ; and the 
 words ; " all the days of thy life," certainly indicate 
 that the life of the serpent would come to an end. 
 
 It seems that our subject must now be plainly 
 seen by the hearer. 
 
 " Forasmuch then as the children are partakers 
 of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took
 
 238 
 
 part of the same ; that through death he might 
 destroy him that had the power of death, that is, 
 the devil." That is, as the children of God, the 
 heirs of life and immortality are partakers of flesh 
 and blood, in order to abolish death and bring life 
 and immortality to light ; in order to destroy the 
 devil and his works, arid to triumph over all these 
 earthly and carnal powers, Jesus took on him flesh 
 and blood, was made in all points like unto his 
 brethren, was tempted in all points as we are, sub- 
 dued every temptation of the flesh, by the power 
 of the spirit which he had without measure, laid 
 down his natural life, arose from the dead incor- 
 ruptible and immortal. " He dieth no more; death 
 hath no more dominion over him." Flesh and 
 blood which cannot inherit the kingdom of God, 
 and corruption which cannot inherit incorruption 
 are no more. The serpent's days are ended, he 
 has no more dust to eat, he is destroyed and is no 
 more. 
 
 If the adversary had an immortal constitution, 
 could exist out of flesh and blood as well as in them, 
 the putting off of flesh and blood, would only de- 
 molish one of the enemy's encampments, while it 
 would leave him unbounded gpace and eternity 
 to occupy still. 
 
 We may now draw to a conclusion, by an at- 
 tempt to illustrate the following clause of our text; 
 "And deliver them, who through fear of death, 
 were all their lifetime subject to bondage.'' 
 
 For want of the knowledge of life and immortality 
 which Jesus has brought to light by his resurrection 
 from the dead, men are perpetually subject to bon- 
 dage through fear of death. But a belief in the 
 gospel of our blessed Redeemer gives us a com- 
 plete victory over all such fears. It enters the si- 
 lent, dark mansion of the dead, with a steady clear
 
 239 
 
 light which directs us to the bright abodes of im- 
 mortal life. 
 
 The disciples of Jesus, who were favoured with 
 positive evidence of the resurrection of the Saviour, 
 were so completely delivered from the bondage of 
 fear, that they never hesitated to publish the doc- 
 trine of the resurrection even to the perpetual haz- 
 ard of their lives. 
 
 Such was the persuasion which St. Paul had of 
 the truth of the resurrection, and the glory of the 
 future world, that he said ; " I am in a strait be- 
 tween two, having a desire to depart, and to be with 
 Christ ; which is far better." This Apostle built 
 all his hopes of a future existence on the fact of the 
 resurrection of Jesus Christ. He says ; " If Christ 
 be not raised, your faith is vain ; ye are yet in your 
 sins. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and 
 become the first fruits of them that slept. For as 
 in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made 
 alive.*' He further says ; " The first man is of the 
 earth, earthy ; the second man is the Lord from 
 heaven. And as we have borne the image of the 
 earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly/' 
 
 In the image of the earthy man we find the carnal 
 mind, which is enmity against God, is not subject to 
 his law, neither indeed can be. We find a law in 
 our members warring against the law of our mind, 
 and bringing us into captivity to the law of sin. 
 We find all the fruits of the flesh, and all the devil, 
 of which the Apostle speaks in our text, that has 
 the power of death. But in the image of the heav- 
 enly man none of these things exist. No carnal 
 mind, no enmity against God, no law in the mem- 
 bers warring against the law of the mind. That 
 flesh and blood which cannot inherit the kingdom 
 of God, and that corruption which cannot inherit 
 interruption will exist no more.
 
 240 
 
 The " whole creation" thus delivered from the 
 bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of 
 the children of God, will realise the fulness of 
 what we now see but in part. 
 
 My brethren, how near are these things ! but a 
 moment, as it were, separates us from the immor- 
 tal scenes anticipated by the Christian faith. The 
 view of these eternal things and a steady belief in 
 them, are present victory over the powers of the 
 flesh. This is indeed a holy calling, a calling to 
 heavenly mindedness and heavenly conversation. 
 These thoughts and contemplations are blossoms in 
 the desert, they are pools in parched ground. This 
 doctrine of eternal life is a river in a dry place, 
 the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. 
 
 Jesus says; " In the world you shall have tribu- 
 lation, but in me ye shall have peace." 
 
 My friends, do not reject and refuse this peace, 
 this joy, this consolation, because it is free to all. 
 You do not refuse the light and warmth of the sun 
 because all men have it; why then will you turn 
 your backs on the grace of Jesus because he is that 
 wisdom which is without partiality?
 
 No. 16. 
 
 LECTURE SERMON, |, 
 
 DELIVERED AT THE 
 
 SECOND UNIVERSALIST MEETING, IN BOSTON, 
 FEBRUARY 28, 1819. 
 
 BY HOSEA BALLOU, PASTOR. 
 
 Published Semi-Monthly by Henry Bowen, Devonshire-street. 
 
 REVELATION, xxi. 8. 
 
 " But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, 
 and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all lyars, shall have 
 their part in the lake which burneth with Jire and brimstone ; which is 
 the second death." 
 
 THIS passage is among the number which hare 
 been used to prove a state of intolerable misery in 
 the eternal world, and continually recited in those 
 terrific sermons which were designed to awaken 
 the fears, and operate on the timidity of the igno- 
 rant. 
 
 Our 'duty leads us to investigate the use which 
 has been made of this passage, to examine the pro- 
 priety of its common application, and as plainly as 
 possible refute whatever may appear incongruous 
 with the word of God, and the doctrine of his grace. 
 It will likewise be expected, frbat suitable labour 
 will be directed to discover the true sense of this, 
 and similar passages. 
 
 Our text informs us, that the lake of fire and 
 brimstone is the second death, and as this death is 
 called " the second death," it evidently refers to a 
 first death. The common doctrine of the church 
 supposes that the first death is the death of the 
 31
 
 242 
 
 natural body, and the second death the eternal 
 condemnation of the soul and body after the re- 
 surrection, in a state of the most exquisite torture. 
 
 There seems to be no small inconsistency in this 
 opinion, in that it makes the second death to be 
 second to something as entirely different from it- 
 self as any thing could be invented. The death of 
 the body consists in a total extinction of animal 
 life, in an intire destitution of all sense, and ren- 
 ders the subject incapable of pleasure or pain. 
 Where then is the propriety of calling a state of 
 the quickest sensation, and the most intolerable 
 misery second to that which is altogether unlike it ? 
 
 While a person lives in this world, he is subject 
 to sorrow, adversity, sickness, and pain. Why 
 then would it not seem altogether more congruous 
 to call a state of misery hereafter the second life, 
 than to call it the second death, that is, second to 
 the death of the body ? 
 
 Another very great inconsistency in the common 
 use of our text is, that it supposes that after peo- 
 ple shall have ceased from all the sins which are 
 enumerated in the text, and are in a constitution of 
 existence in which no such crimes can ever be com- 
 mitted, they are then and there to be tormented 
 for what they did in this world. No one supposes 
 that there will be unbelievers, whoremongers, idol- 
 aters, &c. in the eternal world. What reason then 
 is there in supposing, that in a world where no 
 crime can ever be committed, crimes will be eter- 
 nally punished? rh this world we are obliged to 
 punish crimes, and the object is to reclaim the 
 criminal, or to deter others from committing like 
 offences, or both. But what is this punishment for 
 in the eternal world, in which no one pretends 
 that any crime can ever be committed ? 
 
 Will the advocate for this hereafter punishment, 
 pretend that it is inflicted on mankind because they
 
 243 
 
 have been sinful in this world ? We will then ei> 
 deavour to show that this is not a correct answer. 
 
 Suppose then that a man now commits a crime, 
 say theft, or murder, must he be punished ? Yes, 
 he surely must be punished. Why, what necessity 
 is there of this punishment ? Answer ; if he be 
 not punished, he will repeat the crime with impu- 
 nity, and restraint will be taken from others, and 
 crimes will be multiplied. 
 
 This is admitted as a rational answer, and pub- 
 lic sentiment yields to the execution of the law. 
 
 But this answer cannot be giren in relation to 
 this supposed punishment in the future world ; for 
 punishment can be no terror to evildoers, where 
 there are none. 
 
 In case of criminality in this world, could it be 
 made to appear, that the relinquishment of penalty 
 would in no way tend to multiply crimes, the hu- 
 manity and good sense of the public would most 
 surely discontinue to punish. 
 
 It is evident that punishment regards the future, 
 and directs its endeavours to reclaim from wicked- 
 ness and to prevent crimes. 
 
 By the prophet Isaiah, God says to sinful Israel ; 
 " Why should ye be stricken any more ? Ye will 
 revolt more and more." The evident sense of this 
 is, there is no good reason for punishing, unless evil 
 can be prevented by it. 
 
 But what evil will be prevented by this endless 
 punishment in the future world ? Its advocates do 
 not pretend that it will either make its subjects bet- 
 ter, or restrain others from sin. 
 
 But it is said, that it is necessary to hold up the 
 terrors of endless punishment to deter people 
 from committing sin in this world. If this be all, 
 there is no necessit) of the doctrine's being a truth, 
 if it be believed, though in fact it be false, it has 
 all the effect to deter people from committing sin 
 that it would have were it true.
 
 244 
 
 But we are ready to deny even this utility to the 
 doctrine in question. For the advocate of the 
 doctrine makes provisions which completely nullify 
 its power to produce any such effect. He informs 
 the transgressor that if he repent of his sins any 
 time in this life he will avoid this punishment here- 
 after ; and moreover he certifies him that repent- 
 ance is within his own power, and that he can re- 
 pent any time if he will. Now where is the terror ? 
 We will suppose that our legislature makes a 
 law, that if a man steal to the amount of a certain 
 sum, he shall, on conviction thereof be confined to 
 hard labour for life, unless he shall in one week af- 
 ter committing the crime wash his hands in clean 
 water. Would there be any terror in this law ? 
 Would this law prevent wicked men from stealing? 
 No, it would not. Nor does telling them that unless 
 they repent of their sins before they die they will 
 be punished for them in the future world prevent 
 their committing sins. 
 
 Having suggested these improprieties in the 
 common use of our text, we may now proceed to 
 inquire for the scripture doctrine concerning it. 
 
 As this lake of fire and brimstone is called the 
 second death, we wish to have it kept in mind, that 
 wherever we read of the lake of fire, the same is the 
 second death; and wherever we read of the second 
 death, the same is the lake of fire. 
 
 The first passage in which we find the second 
 death mentioned, in these words, is recorded in the 
 2d of Revelations, and in the epistle to the church 
 of Smyrna ; " Fear none of those things which thou 
 shalt suffer; behold, the devil shall cast some of 
 you into prison, that ye may be tried : and ye shall 
 have tribulation ten days : be thou faithful unto 
 death, and T will give thee a crown of life ; He 
 that hath an ear let him hear what the spirit saith 
 unto the churches : he that overcometh shall not be 
 hurt of the second death."
 
 245 
 
 This was written to a Christian church, and 
 plainly indicated that those who should not over- 
 come the trials with which they wereaboutto be tried, 
 but who should be overcome by them, should be 
 hurt of the second death. 
 
 Tf the hearer will use proper caution on this sub- 
 ject, what is meant by the second death will be 
 very plainly seen. This church of Smyrna had 
 been collected from among the Gentile idolaters. 
 The state they were in, before their conversion to 
 Christianity is called death in the language of the 
 JVevi Testament. In his epistle to the Ephesians, 
 St. Paul says ; " But, God who is rich in mercy, 
 for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when 
 we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together 
 with Christ." The blindness of the Jews and the 
 idolatry of the Gentiles are represented as a state 
 of death from which the gospel was designed to 
 raise and quicken the nations. Jesus said ; "The 
 hour is coming and now is, when the dead shall 
 hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that 
 hear shall live." St. John says; "We know that 
 we have passed from death unto life, because we 
 love the brethren." And St. Paul again says; 
 " For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus 
 hath made me free from the law of sin and death." 
 
 This state of moral death in which the gospel 
 found both Jews and Gentiles is the first death. 
 From this death the gospel quickened and raised its 
 converts into newness of life and espoused them 
 to Christ. 
 
 To the Romans St. Paul says ; " Likewise reckon 
 ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but 
 alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
 Let not sin, therefore reign in your mortal bodies, 
 that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof : Neith- 
 er yield ye your members as instruments of n- 
 righteousness unto sin ; but yield yourselves unto
 
 246 
 
 God, as those that are alive from the dead, arid your 
 members as instruments of righteousness untd 
 God." 
 
 Being made alive unto God by faith in Jesus, 
 and having turned their backs on the idols they had 
 formerly worshipped, these Gentile Christians were 
 exposed to grievous persecutions ; and in this 
 epistle, which St. John wrote on the isle of Patmos, 
 they are reminded of certain trials which they were 
 about to encounter, and are told that those, who 
 should overcome, should not be hurt of the second 
 death. That is, if they remained stedfast in the 
 doctrine of Christ, they should not again fall into 
 a state of death, which would be to them a second 
 death. 
 
 In the epistle to the church of Sardis we have 
 an account of this death's having actually taken 
 place. The following is the account ; " I know thy 
 works, that thou hast a name that thou livest ancj 
 art dead." This death had come upon them in 
 consequence of their having defiled their garments. 
 The writer says to the minister of the church ; 
 " Thou hast a few names even in Sardis, which have 
 not defiled their garments ; and they shall walk 
 with me in white: for they are worthy." This was 
 a plain intimation that the most of them in Sardis 
 had defiled their garments ; and if they had defiled 
 their garments, it proves that they had had clean 
 garments, for that which is not clean cannot be 
 defiled. 
 
 Here then the case is plain. Those people had 
 been washed in the water of regeneration ; their 
 garments had been made white in the blood of the 
 Lamb ; they had been made alive by the quicken- 
 ing spirit of Christ ; but now they had turned from 
 the holy commandments which bad been delivered 
 unto them; they had defiled their garments; and 
 though they retained the name of Christ, yet they
 
 247 
 
 were dead; and this death must be the second 
 death ; for they had been dead in sin before. 
 
 The writer of the epistle further observes ; 
 " He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in 
 white raiment ; and I will not blot out his name 
 out of the book of life, but I will confess his name 
 before my Father, and before his angels." Now 
 it is plain that those who had defiled their garments 
 had not overcome, and as they were dead, their 
 names were blotted out of the book of life. This 
 shows that their names had been in the book of 
 life, for if they had not, how could they have been 
 blotted out. Names that are in a book may be 
 blotted out of that book, but it is not possible to 
 blot a name out of a book in which it was never 
 written ! 
 
 We can now see the reasonableness of saying, 
 that the second death is the apostacy which has 
 taken place under the gospel dispensation. 
 
 Of this falling away we read in a number of 
 passages. St. Paul speaks of it to the Thessaloni- 
 ans as follows ; " Let no man deceive you by any 
 means ; for that day shall not come, except their 
 come a falling away first, and that man of sin be 
 revealed ; the son of perdition whom the Lord 
 shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and 
 shall destroy with the brightness of his coming." 
 
 St. Peter speaks of apostate Christians, and calls 
 them " cursed children ; which have for*aken the 
 right way, and are gone astray." And further he 
 says of them ; " If after they have escaped the 
 pollutions of the world, through the knowledge of 
 the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again 
 entangled therein, and overcome ; the latter end is 
 worse with them than the beginning. 
 
 For it had been better for them not to have 
 known the way of righteousness, than, after they 
 have known it, to turn from the holy command- 
 ments delivered unto them."
 
 it is evident that those of whom the Apostle 
 ripake, had been in the right way, otherwise they 
 could not have forsaken it. They had known the 
 way of righteousness, but had turned from the holy 
 commandments which they had received ; they had 
 escaped the pollutions of the world, through the 
 knowledge of Jesus, but were again entangled 
 therein and overcome. These were dead the 
 second time. Jude speaks of them as follows; 
 " These are spots in your feasts of charity, when 
 they feast with you, feeding, themselves without 
 fear ; clouds are they without water, carried about 
 of winds ; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, 
 twice dead, plucked up by the roots.'' 
 
 Let it be observed in this place, that the errors 
 by which Christianity was early corrupted, and the 
 false doctrines which were introduced into the 
 church, together with all the vile and abominable 
 idolatries and senseless superstitions which have 
 characterised Christianity for ages form what we 
 mean by the second death, and constitute what the 
 scriptures mean by a lake of fire and brimstone. 
 
 We have an account of this fire and brimstone 
 in the 14th of Revelations as follows; "And the 
 third angel followed them, saying with a loud 
 voice, if any man worship the beast and his image, 
 and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, 
 the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of 
 God, which is poured out without mixture into the 
 cup of his indignation ; and he shall be tormented 
 with fire and brimstone in the presence of the ho- 
 ly angels, and in the presence of the Lamb; and 
 the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever 
 and ever ; and they have no rest day nor night 
 who worship the beast arid his image, and whoso- 
 ever receiveth the mark of his name." 
 
 The hearer is requested to keep in mind that this 
 fire and brimstone, and the second death are the
 
 249 
 
 same. And as we have already seen that the prim- 
 itive Christians did, many of them, apostatize from 
 the truth, defile their garments, were overcome by 
 the corruptions of the world and were hurt of the 
 second death ; and as all this appears to have taken 
 place here in this mortal state, and to have not the 
 least allusion to a state of punishment in the future 
 world, we will now examine what we have just 
 quoted concerning this torment with fire and brim- 
 stone, and see if it be in this world or in the eter- 
 nal state. 
 
 The first thing the hearer is requested to get 
 possession of is, that this torment is experienced by 
 the worshippers of the beast at and during the time 
 of their worshipping him. This is of importance 
 to understand ; for the common use of this scrip- 
 ture supposes that the divine Being will torment 
 men in the future state, out of revenge because 
 they worshipped the beast here in time ; as if they 
 were the gainers here by worshipping the beast, 
 and he the loser, but finally the Almighty finds 
 means, in the eternal world to Inflict such ven- 
 geance on those deluded creatures, as will perfectly 
 satisfy him for the loss he sustained by their wor- 
 shipping the beast. 
 
 We do not mean to say that those who hold the 
 common opinion of the text, pretend to say, that 
 the divine Being is a loser by men's worshipping 
 the beast, or that they are gainers by such worship, 
 what we contend for is, that the divine Being will 
 certainly act on some principle, and as it is not al- 
 lowed that this punishment is designed to reclaim 
 or to deter, it must be to revenge, which supposes 
 an injury received. 
 
 Let us ask the candid questions, and let them be 
 candidly answered, if God have received no injury 
 from his creatures, why should he be unfriendly to- 
 wards them ? And if there be no real gains to the 
 creature who worships the beast, no profit arising 
 from all his services, why is not this foolish, idol- 
 32
 
 250 
 
 atrous, and superstitious worship bad enough to 
 punish its deluded votaries. 
 
 Let us try the force of the following metaphor, 
 which we shall find to be apposite to the present 
 subject. You who are the parent of a number of 
 children have an enemy, who, taking the advantage 
 of the dusk of the evening, and by putting on some 
 of your clothes and by imitating your voice de- 
 ceives your children, so that while they think the} 
 are following your directions through the most drea- 
 ry, unpleasant ways, they are zealously executing 
 your enemy's most cruel injunctions. The pool- 
 deluded children sometimes complain of their hard 
 service, and of being destitute of refreshment or 
 rest, but are told to hold on with good courage, 
 that though their lot be hard at present, they may 
 rest assured that as it is their kind falher who is 
 leading them, he will reward them ten-fold for all 
 they suffer. This deception goes on until morn- 
 ing. No sooner than day-light appears, one of 
 your children happens to get a glance of the haggard 
 visage of your inveterate foe ! He starts back and 
 refuses to go any further, and calls on his brethren 
 and sisters to stop, and tells them they are all de- 
 ceived, and are devoted to the service of their fath- 
 er's enemy. They no sooner find their error, than 
 their deluder leaves them, and you find your wan- 
 dering offspring, wounded, and half dead. When 
 they see you they rejoice and fly to your embrace, 
 deeply regret the delusion that has led them from 
 you, and humbly implore your favour. The ques- 
 tion now before you is this, will you now punish 
 your etnatiated offspring because they have been 
 deluded into misery and want? Your answer is 
 anticipated. You reply, No, surely my children 
 have sniffled enough, I will now let them see that 
 their father's yoke is easy, and that hisburden is light. 
 
 That this metaphor is justified by the subject, 
 may be seen by the following in St. Paul's epistle 
 to the Thessalonians. Speaking of the man of sin, 
 he says ; " Who opposeth and exalteth himself
 
 251 
 
 above all that is called God, or that is worshipped ; 
 $o that he ? as God, sitteth in the temple of God, 
 shewing himself that he is God." If the beast spok- 
 en of in Revelations had not deceived the people 
 he surely never would have been worshipped. 
 And if we examine the passage which speaks of the 
 torment endured by the worshippers of the beast, 
 we shall see that the worshippers are thus torment- 
 ed, while they worship. .Notice these words; "And 
 they have no rest day nor night, who worship the 
 beast." Have and worship, are in the same tense. 
 And we have no more authority for supposing that 
 the worshippers of the beast are to be tormented 
 any longer than they worship him, than for sup- 
 posing that they were thus tormented before they 
 worshipped him. 
 
 The hearer will also carefully notice these words; 
 " They have no rest day nor night." Here we find 
 the present tense and the present state distinctly 
 set forth. " They have no rest ;" that is, they are 
 now destitute of rest, " Day nor night.'* That ip, 
 here, where time is divided by day and night. 
 
 Having ascertained that this torment is during 
 day and night, and while the tormented are wor- 
 shipping the beast, it will contribute much to 
 the settling of the subject, to know how long this 
 beast is to be worshipped- In the 13th chapter of 
 the Revelations, we have the account wanted, it 
 reads thus ; " And there was given unto him a 
 mouth speaking great things, and blasphemies ; 
 and power was given unto him to continue forty 
 and two months." In the llth chapter, we are in- 
 formed that the Gentiles should tread the holy city 
 under foot forty and two months. This is the same 
 forty and two months, which the beast had power 
 to continue. 
 
 Now if we multiply forty-two by thirty, the 
 number of days which the Jews allowed to a month, 
 the amount is twelve hundred and sixty days. This 
 is t xactly the same time which the two witnesses 
 were to prophecy in sackcloth, as we read in chap-
 
 ter llth, " And I will give power to my two wit- 
 nesses, and they shall prophecy a thousand two 
 hundred and three score days, clothed in sackcloth.'* 
 One thousand two hundred and three score, is 
 twelve hundred and sixty. This is the same period 
 with the three days and an half which the dead bo- 
 dies of the two witnesses were to lie in the street of 
 the great city, which is spiritually called Sodom and 
 Egypt. If we call a day a year, three years and 
 an half contain forty and two months. And this is 
 the same as the time, times, and half a time, which 
 the woman, of whom we read in the 12th chapter, 
 was to be in the wilderness. Calling these times 
 prophetic years, we find the forty and two months, 
 which afford the twelve hundred and sixty days, 
 which we may suppose are so many years. 
 
 Twelve hundred and sixty natural years is as 
 long a time as can be allowed for the continuance 
 of the beast, of his worship, or the torment of his 
 worshippers with fire and brimstone, which is the 
 second death. 
 
 It is evident, beyond all dispute, that there is no 
 more propriety in carrying the second death, or 
 lake of fire and brimstone into the eternal world, 
 than there is in supposing that the forty and two 
 months the beast had power to continue, are to be 
 reckoned in the eternal world ; or in supposing that 
 the holy city will be trodden underfoot of the Gen- 
 tiles in the eternal world ; or in supposing that the 
 two witnesses will prophecy clothed in sackcloth in 
 the eternal world ; or that their dead bodies will lie 
 in the street of the gfeat city called Sodom and 
 Egypt, three days and an half, in the eternal world ; 
 or that the woman will be in the wilderness a time, 
 times and half a time in the eternal world. 
 
 This representation of the religion and doctrines 
 of the church of antichrist, by fire and brimstone 
 agrees with the prophecy of Isaiah, recorded in his 
 34th chapter. " And the streams thereof shall be 
 turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brim- 
 stone, and the land thereof shall become burning
 
 253 
 
 pitch. It shall not be quenched night nor day, the 
 smoke thereof shall go up forever; from genera- 
 tion to generation it shall lie waste ; none shall pass 
 through it forever and ever." 
 
 It would seem that a land of this description 
 could not be inhabited by any creature whatever ; 
 but the prophet says ;. " But the Cormorant and 
 the Bittern shall possess it ; the Owl also and the 
 Raven shall dwell in it." He further supposes that 
 wild beasts will dwell in this land of brimstone and 
 fire, and says ; " There shall the great Owl make 
 her nest, and lay and hatch, and gather under her 
 shadow." This language is so similar to the ac- 
 count we have of this fire and brimstone in Revela- 
 tions, that we may suppose they both relate to the 
 same subject. 
 
 The unclean beasts and birds, mentioned by 
 Isaiah, are the same as mentioned in Revelations 
 18th. "Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and 
 is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of 
 every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and 
 hateful bird." 
 
 It seems to have been the design of prophecy, 
 to represent the church and her doctrines by a land 
 whose very dust is brimstone, and whose streams 
 are burning pitch, and her clergy and rulers by 
 unclean birds and ravenous beasts. And it is 
 certain that the church of antichrist, with its rulers, 
 its clergy, its doctrines, and superstitions, has 
 answered the description in full. 
 
 We will now endeavour to show that the charac- 
 ters mentioned in our text are those who answer 
 to the worshippers of the beast, that they are the 
 unclean beasts and birds of Babylon, and that 
 their doctrine in room of being a pure river of the 
 water of life, is fire and brimstone by which they 
 are tormented. 
 
 The first character mentioned in our text is the 
 fearful. Fear is the very foundation of antichris- 
 tian religion. It views God in the character of 
 a most voracious beast. It worships him with a
 
 view to pacify his wrath. It represents him asfull 
 of vengeance towards all who do not render him 
 iaithfui service, and supposes that he will punish 
 f hem unmercifully, if they do not yield to his re- 
 quiremets. This religion says, take away the 
 fear of eternal damnation, and I would never wor- 
 ship God again, I would pay no regard to his 
 ordinances. 
 
 This religion is in fact a stream of fire and brim- 
 stone, fire, because it is full of zeal, and brimstone, 
 because it destroys the reason of its votaries. 
 There is nothing which more suddenly destroys 
 the regular action of the brain, than sulphur. Fear 
 is of this nature, it sets reason at defiance. So has 
 the religion of the church. It says, reason has 
 nothing to do with religion. What St. John says 
 of fear and love seem very appropriate in this 
 place, fie says " Fear hath torment,*' and again ; 
 " Perfect love casteth out fear." 
 
 The unbelieving is the second character men- 
 tioned. But who are unbelievers? They are 
 those whose creeds contradict the faith of Abra- 
 ham. God promised Abraham, that in him, and 
 HI his seed, all the natrons of the earth should 
 be blessed. And it is said, that Abraham believed 
 God, and it was counted to him for righteousness. 
 Vbraham was therefore called the friend of God, 
 and the father of the faithful. Now those who 
 beliove in that Babylonish creed which excludes 
 a great part of mankind from the blessings of 
 Jesus, and his grace, are the unbelieving mention- 
 ed in our text. These unbelievers suppose that 
 they are the only true believers on earth, and 
 their belief is like fire and brimstone, and the more 
 firmly they believe, the more intensely they are 
 burn!. They have their part in the lake that 
 burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second 
 '{.-? alb. 
 
 tJo\v much is a man's part in this torment ? Just 
 so much as will correspond with the perversness 
 of his abominable belief. In the same- ratio as
 
 they believe, tliey are tormented, and as tar UK 
 they doubt they find relief. 
 
 The abominable is the third character mentioned. 
 There are many sinful practices which are called 
 abominable in scripture; one trray be mentioned, 
 of which Israel was guilty, and by which the Chris- 
 tian church has become contaminated. In his 16th 
 chapter, Ezekiel charges Jerusalem of having com- 
 mitted more abominations than were committed by 
 Sodom and her daughters ; and among those the 
 following is stated ; "Moreover thou hast taken 
 thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast born 
 unto me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them 
 (idols) to be devoured." This has been done in 
 the antichristian church, by that doctrine which 
 consigns little children to everlasting torment for 
 tbe glory of that idol God, who delights in such 
 cruelty. Every soul that believes this doctrine is 
 tormented day and night. If they have children 
 how are their souls tormented with the fearful ap- 
 prehension of their everlasting destruction ? 
 
 Murderers are the fourth class. " He that loveth 
 not his brother is a murderer." And that anti- 
 christian doctrine which teaches that God hates his 
 creatures has caused men to hate one another, and 
 fo put thousands to death. This murderous, perse- 
 cuting spirit is a perpetual fire, and torments every 
 .soul that possesses it. 
 
 Whoremongers are the 5th class. These are those 
 who get their living by means of spiritual adultery 
 under the direction of the mother of harlots, 
 These are unclean birds. Isaiah calls them Owls, 
 Satirs, Ravens, c. He says ; " There shall the 
 great Owl make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and 
 gather under her shadow." This is au unclean 
 bird that is afraid of the light. 
 
 Sorcerers are tbe sixth character. These are 
 famous for their wisdom, and very deep understand- 
 ing in dark mysterious matters. They know ever} 
 thing about another world ; arid in their own con- 
 ceit, or pretensions can inform people concerning
 
 256 
 
 what they call heaven and hell. These are a, toi* 
 ment to themselves. 
 
 Idolaters form the seventh class. These are all 
 who worship the false God, who sits in the temple 
 of God, shewing himself to be God. 
 
 Liars are mentioned last. The author of our 
 text, has given a description of a liar. He says; 
 " Who is a liar, but he who denieth that Jesus is the 
 christ ; he is antichrist that denieth the Father and 
 the Son." 
 
 These worshippers of the beast are the dead, 
 small and great, which John saw stand before God ; 
 who were judged out of those things which were 
 written in the books, which are the doctrines of 
 men, according to their works. They had receiv- 
 ed the mark and name of the beast, therefore their 
 names were not in the Lamb's book, or doctrine, 
 of life. These were cast into the lake of fire and 
 brimstone, which is the second death. . 
 
 The hearer is requested to observe that the argu- 
 ments to which we have attended, go to prove that 
 the false doctrines of antichrist constitute the second 
 death, and the lake of fire and brimstone, and that 
 these doctrines perpetually torment them who be- 
 lieve them. Our reasoning disallows the continu- 
 ance of this torment after these doctrines of anti- 
 christ shall be discontinued. The worshippers of the 
 beast will be tormented as long as they worship 
 him ; but lie had po we*r given him to continue only 
 forty and two months. The hearer is likewise re- 
 quested to observe, what Jias already been noticed, 
 that in order to extend the second death or lake of 
 fire and brimstone into another state of existence, 
 we must also carry the time of the church in the wil- 
 derness, the time of theprophecyingof the two wit- 
 nesses, in sa-ckcloth, and the forty and two months of 
 the reign of the beast into a future state. All 
 which is palpably absurd. 
 
 My brethren, this discourse will close with the 
 following divine induction ; " Come out of her my 
 people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and 
 that ye receive not of her plagues."
 
 No. 17. " v *. 
 
 LECTURE SERMON, *! 
 
 DELIVERED AT THE 
 
 SECOND UNIVERSALIST MEETING, IN BOSTON, 
 MARCH 14, 1819. 
 
 BY HOSEA BALLOU, PASTOR. 
 
 Published Semi-Monthly by Henry Bowen, Devonshire-street. 
 
 2 TIMOTHY i. 9, 10. 
 
 " Who hath saved tw, and called us with an holy calling^ not according to 
 our works, but according to hit own purpose and grace^ which wasgiwn 
 us in Christ Jesus before the world began : But is now made manifest 
 ty the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, uho hath abolished death) 
 and hath, brought life and immortality to light through ihe gospel." 
 
 OUR first inquiry will be directed to ascertain 
 what the Apostle means by the word saved. With 
 a view to bring this subject to the understanding 
 of the hearer, in as plain and as profitable a man- 
 ner as possible, we shall attempt in the first piace 
 to examine the common doctrine of the church re- 
 specting salvation, and in the second place bring 
 the scripture testimony on the subject into view, that 
 the difference between the common doctrine and 
 the divine testimony may distinctly appear. 
 
 What we propose to examine in the first place is 
 found in the following statement, which is here 
 quoted from the shorter catechism ; " All mankind 
 by the fall lost commilriion with God, are under his 
 wrath and curse, and so made liable to all the mis- 
 cries of this life, to death itself, and to the pains of 
 hell forever.'* This is the miserable state into 
 which man fell, according to the sentiment under 
 33
 
 258 
 
 examination; and from which God provided means 
 to save some, accordingly as is expressed thus ; 
 "God having out of his mere good pleasure from 
 all eternity, elected some to everlasting life, did 
 enter into a covenant of grace to deliver them out 
 of the state of sin and misery, and to bring them 
 into a state of salvation by a Redeemer." 
 
 It is evident that the learned divines, who com- 
 posed this creed, designed to apply the doctrine of 
 salvation in a way to save the elect from the ever- 
 lasting pains of hell, more specially than to save 
 them from the miseries of this life and from death ; 
 for it is a fact well known to all, that whoever these 
 elected ones may be, they are subject to death as 
 well as others, and it is generally thought that they 
 have a larger share of the miseries of this life. 
 
 This common doctrine of salvation may there- 
 fore be stated thus; All mankind, the elect and 
 non elect, by the fell are under God's wrath and 
 curse, which curse is the pains of hell after the 
 death of the body and forever ; but in conformity 
 to a decree of God, made from all eternity, there is 
 a Redeemer provided to save the elect from this 
 everlasting curse. 
 
 Having now before us the doctrine of salvation 
 as it has been held in the Christian church for a 
 long lime, and as it is now held and taught to old 
 and young, let us attempt to examine its propriety. 
 And let this be done with all that candor which is 
 due to all subjects of moment, and especially to 
 this which evidently involves the character of the 
 divine Being. Let it be done too with that charity 
 towards the framers of this creed, and towards 
 those who now believe in it, which holds the high- 
 est rank among the Christian virtues ; for certain 
 it is that this candor and charity are necessary to 
 be kept in constant exercise, among such short- 
 sighted, benighted creatures.
 
 259 
 
 On approaching the proposition before us, the 
 following absurdities present themselves. 
 
 1st. It is absurd to say, that those whom God 
 elected from all eternity to be saved by a Redeemer, 
 are liable to the pains of hell forever. 
 
 2d. It appears absurd to say, that those whom 
 God entered into a covenant to save, are under his 
 wrath and curse, by which everlasting misery 
 hereafter is intended. 
 
 3d. This scheme of salvation accuses the divine 
 Being of partiality in the most direct manner. It 
 states that all mankind are in one condition, all un*- 
 der God's wrath and curse, and all liable to the 
 pains of hell forever; but that though all are in one 
 condition, the scheme of salvation embraces only a 
 part without extending the least benefit to the 
 rest. 
 
 4th. The doctrine under examination supposes 
 that the divine Being has condemned millions of 
 unborn infants to the pains of hell forever, for an 
 act which Adam and Eve committed in the garden 
 of Eden, which certainly appears to be unjust in 
 the extreme. 
 
 Let candor look, for one moment, at these ab- 
 surdities and improprieties, and at the same time 
 let charity kindly impute them to the imperfec- 
 tion of our common nature. 
 
 A body of learned divines have said, after much 
 deep study and profound deliberation, that God 
 from all eternity elected some of the human race 
 unto salvation by a Redeemer, and at the same 
 time say, that these elected ones are under his 
 curse which is the pains of hell forever in the fu- 
 ture world. These learned doctors, who knevr 
 that the scriptures assert the impartiality of God, 
 and who professed to believe that he is no respec- 
 ter of persons, have limited his eternal mercy to 
 but a part of mankind, and have excluded the rest
 
 280 
 
 from his favour forever. Notwithstanding they 
 well knew, that it is repugnant to the law of God 
 to condemn the innocent, and that ihe divine Be- 
 ing hath said, " the son shall not suffer for the ini* 
 quity of the father," yet for one act of Adam they 
 have condemned all mankind to a state of endless 
 misery. 
 
 According to these tenets thousands of millions 
 of unhappy wretches have already been sent to 
 this hell, of which these divines speak, without ever 
 knowing until they got there, that there ever was 
 an Adam, or that he had sinned and involved them 
 in this a\vful calamity to all eternity. How many 
 millions of infants, of people who were educated in 
 Christian countries, have gone from this world be- 
 fore they were old enough to understand the horri- 
 ble story framed by these divines ; but much more 
 numerous still is the number of those who Were 
 born in heathen lands and never heard of any part 
 of the Christian scriptures, much less, if possible of 
 this antiscriptural creed. 
 
 Such is the general corruption of the Christian 
 doctrine, introduced by the creed under considera- 
 tion, that all which people think of being saved 
 from is the pains of hell hereafter. 
 
 On this notion sermons in general have been 
 framed, and carefully directed to instruct people 
 in the way by which they may be saved from this 
 hell in the future state. 
 
 This future misery is the gloomy subject, which 
 is presented to people's minds, in all the vivid 
 forms which imagination and the most powerful 
 -eloquence have been able to set forth, in order to 
 terrify the mind and to call into action the most 
 fearful apprehensions of which the human mind is 
 susceptible. A II this is considered necessary in order 
 to lead sinners to repentance, by which they may 
 avoid this state of torment.
 
 261 
 
 This scheme of doctrine leads the mind to un- 
 derstand the scriptures, which speak of saving sin*- 
 ners, to mean the saving them from hell in the 
 eternal world, or from the wrath and curse of God 
 hereafter. 
 
 The hearer is requested to take this common 
 opinion into careful consideration and compare it 
 with the scripture testimony. First examine to 
 see if you can find this wrath and curse of God 
 resting on all mankind, of which such careful men- 
 tion is made in the creed to which we have alluded. 
 
 After a careful and patient examination of the 
 divine testimony, your humble servant has unspeak- 
 able joy in being able to say that this wrath and 
 curse of God is no where recorded in the scrip- 
 tures. 
 
 When those doctors, who framed the creed un- 
 dertook to describe the consequences of the first 
 transgression, did they a! all confine themselves to 
 the divine word? No, surely they did not; for if 
 they had done this, they would not have found that 
 God pronounced any curse even on Adam and 
 Eve themselves, much less on all mankind for what 
 these two did. 
 
 If this unaccountable notion of the wrath and 
 curse of God were a trufh would it not have been 
 announced by the Creator on his first visit to his 
 sinful children ? But did the merciful Father of 
 our spirits intimate to Adam and Eve, that they 
 had brought his wrath and curse, which are eternal 
 misery, not only on themselves, but on all their 
 numerous, unborn offspring? 
 
 No, blessed be his name, he mentioned but two 
 curses, and one of them was on the serpent, and 
 the other was on the ground. And in room of say- 
 ing one word concerning cursing all mankind with 
 the pains of hell in a future state, the divine Being 
 did not intimate that even the serpent himself would
 
 262 
 
 be subject to any infelicity beyond his natural life. 
 " Dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life ;" and 
 beyond this there was no intimation. It was said 
 to the serpent; "I will put enmity between thee 
 and the woman, and between thy seed and her 
 seed ; it shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise 
 his heel." Here in room of God's wrath and curse 
 on our first parents, is a blessed and glorious pro- 
 mise of a final victory over, and deliverance from 
 the power of the tempter. 
 
 Let us next inquire for the scripture testimony 
 concerning salvation, and endeavour to understand 
 what we are saved from, and by what means we 
 are saved. 
 
 On this particular, less will be necessary than 
 would be required if the same had not been notic- 
 ed in some of our former lectures ; yet such is the 
 importance of the doctrine under consideration, as 
 to justify its frequent investigation. 
 
 It was said by the Angel of God, to Joseph, con- 
 cerning the child Jesus, " Thou shalt call his name 
 Jesus for he shall save his people from their bins." 
 According to this, that from which Jesus saves us, 
 is our sins. But according to the common doctrine, 
 it seems that the angel would have said ; thou shalt 
 call his name Jesus for he shall save the elect from 
 the wrath and curse of God in the future world. 
 
 In justifying himself before the scribes and Phari- 
 sees, who accused him of receiving sinners and eat- 
 ing with them, our Saviour represented sinners by 
 a sheep gone astray, and the repentance and salva- 
 tion of sinners he represented by the return of the 
 lost sheep to the fold, by the diligent concern and 
 care of the shepherd. Let us here ask, what the 
 sheep that went astray was saved from ? Was it 
 saved from the wrath and curse of its owner ? Had 
 the shepherd any decree out against the comfort 
 and life of this strayed member of his flock? Would
 
 263 
 
 it not seem absurd in the extreme to pretend that 
 the shepherd went after the sheep with a view to 
 save it from his own vengeance ? The fact is, the 
 sheep was saved from its wanderings and from all 
 the inconveniences of the condition into which it 
 had wandered. 
 
 The parable of the prodigal son is another beau- 
 tiful representation of the salvation of sinners, and 
 is found in connection with the parable of the lost 
 sheep, and used by the Saviour for the same pur- 
 pose. 
 
 But what was the Prodigal finally saved from by 
 being brought to repentance, and to mV father's 
 house ? Was he saved from any wrath and curse 
 of his father ? Had the father any unmerciful de- 
 cree out against his son's life or happiness ? When 
 the returning son was yet a great way off, and the 
 father's compassion urged him to run and meet his 
 child, was this parental effort, and all the mighty 
 tide of compassion manifested on that occasion ex- 
 erted to save this son from his father's wrath and 
 curse ? 
 
 The hearer cannot but see that nothing could be 
 more unreasonable than this notion. And yet is it 
 not as plain as the gun at noon, that the common 
 doctrine of salvation is predicated exactly on this 
 absurdity ? Does it not explain scripture in a way 
 to represent the divine Creator as exerting the 
 means of his grace to save sinners from his own 
 wrath and curse ? Does it not hold up the idea 
 that God sent his son to surfer and die for sinners, 
 in order to save them from this curse of the Father, 
 which curse is said to be the pains of hell forever? 
 Does it not constantly hold forth the notion, that 
 the ministry of the gospel is now exerting all its 
 energies and means to snatch sinners away from 
 the divine wrath, as brands are plucked from a 
 fire?
 
 ... 
 
 The divine instructor on another similar oc- 
 casion to the one we have just noticed, made us$ 
 of the following simile ; " The whole, need not the 
 physician, but they that are sick. For the son of 
 man is not come to call the righteous, but sinner? 
 to repentance." 
 
 As the Saviour represented the case of the sin- 
 ner by one who is sick, and the salvation of the sin 
 ner by the recovery of the sick to health by means 
 of a physician, we may ask, if it could be reconcil- 
 ed with reason and common sense, to pretend that 
 the physician exerts his skill and the power of his 
 medicine to save his patient from his wrath and in- 
 dignation ? 
 
 The fact is, my Christian friends, Jesus who 
 dwells in the bosom of the Father, never repre- 
 sented his doctrine of salvation to be in any sense 
 Jike the doctrine of the church which we have ex- 
 amined. Our heavenly father, as manifested in his 
 son, and as held up by the preaching of Jesus, 
 loves his enemies, loves sinners, and because he 
 loves them he sent his son to be the propitiation 
 for our sins. He sent him to save us from our sins, 
 and to reconcile us to God. 
 
 St. Paul to the Colossians says of God ; " Who 
 hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and 
 hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear 
 son." 
 
 This passage very plainly shows us the nature of 
 that salvation of which our text speaks. It is a sal- 
 vation from error, deception, ignorance and all 
 their evils, to truth, knowledge, understanding and 
 all their blessings. 
 
 To the Ephesians he says, that "Christ loved 
 the church and gave himself for it, that he might 
 sanctify, and cleanse it with the washing of water 
 by the word; that he mi<rht present it to himself a 
 glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any
 
 265 
 
 4 
 
 such tiling ; but that it should be holy and without 
 blemish." 
 
 Let us carefully examine this representation, for 
 here the Apostle informs us the object which 
 Christ had in view when he gave himself for the 
 church. And what was it? Was it to appease 
 his Father's wrath ? Was it to reconcile the Fath- 
 er to the church ? Was it to save the church from 
 God's wrath and curse in the eternal world ? 
 
 No, my brethren, Jesus gave himself for the 
 church that he might sanctify and cleanse it. The 
 church was in an unsanctified, unclean state, 
 and the gospel or doctrine of Christ is that water 
 or word by which he cleanses and saves it from its 
 uncleanness. Christ saves his church from all spots 
 and wrinkles, and presents it to himself a glorious 
 church. Hark, and hear those sons and daughters 
 speak in loud exclaim ; " Thou hast loved us and 
 washed us from our sins in thine own blood." 
 
 Our next endeavours will be directed to illustrate 
 what the Apostle means by the holy calling, with 
 which he accompanies our salvation, and to show 
 the natural connection in which they stand to each 
 other. 
 
 This subject may'be seen most clearly by a lit- 
 tle improvement of the similes which were used to 
 represent the nature of salvation. But we may 
 commence these remarks by recuring to the words 
 of the Angel to Joseph ; " Thou shalt call his name 
 Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins." 
 Now it appears very consistent that when Jesus 
 saves a sinner from his sins, he should at the 
 same time call him to walk in holiness of life. 
 Otherwise what benefit could there result from this 
 salvation ? 
 
 If what is meant by saving the sinner, is to save 
 him from the penalty of the law, it is true such a 
 alvation might be entirely disconnected with a 
 holy calling. If a man for instance, have stolen, 
 lor which crime the law says he shall be thus and 
 34
 
 21>6 
 
 so punished, and we wish to save him from receiv- 
 ing such punishment, there would be no necessary 
 connection between such salvation and the reform- 
 ed and virtuous conduct of this man. But if the 
 object be to save the man from being a thief, it is 
 absolutely necessary in this case to furnish the man 
 with such moral sentiments, and such a sense of 
 moral virtue as will prevent his repeating the 
 crime. 
 
 There seems to be an evident connection like- 
 wise, between bringing the lost sheep back to the 
 fold, and such measures as might be necessary to 
 prevent it from again going astray ; for if the pro- 
 pensity to wander still remain, and there be no 
 provisions to prevent indulgence, there would seem 
 an impropriety in making those exertions by which 
 the sheep was found and returned to the fold. 
 
 This subject is very clearly seen in the case of 
 the reformed prodigal. If after he had relumed to 
 his father's house, and had been there most kindly 
 received ; if after all his penitence and reformation ; 
 if after he had been clothed with the best robe, had 
 shoes put on his feet, and his father's ring upon his 
 hand ; if after partaking of the fatted calf and the 
 joys of the family on this occasion, he had again 
 turned his back on his father and again acted the 
 prodigal, the joy that had lighted up the counte- 
 nances of the family would most surely have been 
 turned into mourning, and in room of festivity, fast- 
 ins: would be more suitable to the occasion. 
 
 ^ 
 
 But it is most clearly seen that every circum- 
 stance which contributed to the return of this lost 
 son, and all the favour which was shown him by his 
 father, together with all the enjoyments of the full 
 and well replenished house to which he was wel- 
 comed, called, in the most persuasive manner, on 
 him who had been dear!, but made alive, who had 
 been lost, but was found, to take heed to his ways, 
 to stand fast in the liberty wherewith his father had 
 made him free, that he might continue to enjoy 
 those invaluable blessings.
 
 267 
 
 My Christian friends, has our merciful Father lit 
 heaven condescended to forgive us all our trespass 
 ses, has he clothed us with the white linen of the 
 righteousness of Christ, have we tasted that the 
 Lord is gracious, and heen permitted to set at his 
 table, and to feast on those rich provisions with 
 which Zion is blessed? And do not these favours 
 cail us with an holy calling, to do justly, to love 
 niercv, and to walk humbly with God? 
 
 V * ** 
 
 This same Apostle has signified the sentiment of 
 our text, in the following words to Titus ; " For 
 the grace of God which bringeth salvation hath ap- 
 peared to all men, teaching us, that, denying un- 
 godliness and worldly lusls, we should live soberly, 
 righteously, and godly in this present world. 
 Looking tor that blessed hope, and the glorious 
 appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus 
 Christ, who gave himself for us, that he might re- 
 deem us from all iniquity, and purify unto him- 
 self a peculiar people zealous of good works." 
 Here is redemption from all iniquity, and purifica- 
 tion unto good works. And this is again express- 
 ed in the following words to the Ephesians ; " For 
 by grace are ye saved through faith ; and that not 
 of yourselves ; it is the gift of God : not of works, 
 lest any man should boast. For we are his work- 
 ma nship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, 
 which (iod hath before ordained that we should 
 walk in them." One passage more may suffice on 
 this particular. St. Peter addresses his brethren 
 as follows ; " Grace arid peace be multiplied unto 
 you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus 
 our Lord, according as his divine power hath given 
 unto us all things that pertain unto life and godli- 
 ness, through the knowledge of him that hath call- 
 ed us to glory and virtue ; whereby are given unto 
 us exceeding great and precious promises ; that by 
 these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, 
 having escaped the corruption that is in the world 
 through lust. And, beside this,giving all diligence.
 
 .add to your faith, virtue; and to virtue knowledge; 
 and to knowledge, temperance ; and to temperance, 
 patience ; and to patience, godliness ; and to god- 
 liness, brotherly kindness ; and to brotherly kind- 
 ness, charity. For if these things be in you, and 
 abound, they make you that ye shall neither be 
 barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is 
 blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotton 
 that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore 
 the rather brethren, give diligence to make your 
 calling and election sure ; for if ye do these things 
 ye shall never fall ; for so an entrance shall 
 be ministered unto you abundantly into the ever- 
 lasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus 
 Christ.' 1 : 
 
 By the similes and passages which we have em- 
 ployed in the illustration of this section of our text, 
 it appears that holiness of life is a requisition enjoin- 
 ed by the gospel, and that this holiness of conduct 
 should be considered as properly connected with 
 our salvation from sin. 
 
 In the passage quoted from St. Peter, we may 
 notice particularly that we are required to add to our 
 faith the Christian graces, such as virtue, knowledge, 
 temperance, patience, godliness, brother kindness, 
 and charity, with the assurance, that if these things 
 be in us, and abound, our fruitfulness in the know- 
 ledge of our Lord will be such whereby an en- 
 trance will be administered unto us abundantly 
 into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Sa- 
 viour Jesus Christ. 
 
 The conclusion then is evident, that although 
 we may profess the true faith, yet if we do not at- 
 tend to our holy calling, our faith becomes dead, 
 cannot work by love, nor purify the heart. 
 
 Let us therefore, my brethren, endeavour to 
 adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour, by walk- 
 ing worthy of the vocation wherewith we are 
 called.
 
 269 
 
 Our text informs us that our salvation and calk- 
 ing are not according to our works, but according 
 to the purpose and grace of God, which was given 
 us in Christ Jesus, before the world began. By 
 this we understand, that as early as the divine Be- 
 ing purposed the gift of Jesus Christ to the world 
 of mankind, he gave us in him this salvation and 
 holy calling. This grant therefore, could not be 
 governed by the works of man, it could not be said 
 to be according to our works for the following 
 reasons. 
 
 1st. Tt was given us in Jesus Christ before we 
 were either born or had done good or evil. 
 
 This subject may be represented by the follow- 
 ing similes, \\hen the Almighty made the earth, 
 the sun, the moon, and all things for the conven- 
 ience of all creatures, he gave the present genera- 
 tion of men the earth, the sun, the moon, and all 
 material things. This gift, being in the constitu- 
 tion of nature, and made sure to us ages before we 
 were born, could not have been given as a reward 
 for our works. 
 
 Again, When the Creator formed Adam, and 
 constituted him the natural father of us all, he then 
 gave us, in him, eyes, with which we see, ears, with 
 which we hear, mouths, with which we speak, feet, 
 with which we walk, and hands, with which we la- 
 bour. And it is very evident, that these gifts were 
 not given us as a compensation for our works. 
 But it appears very clear that our duty, and natural 
 calling, to make proper use of our eyes, our ears, 
 our moulhs, our feet, and our hands was given us 
 in that constitution in which those natural faculties 
 were given. 
 
 Though we are much crouded for want of time 
 to illustrate the several remaining particulars con- 
 tained in our text, we feel pressed to mention in 
 this place, the error so frequently urged on us by 
 those who exhort us to get an interest in Christ. 
 The hearer will perceive by these plain arguments,
 
 the passage under consideration, that we all 
 had an interest in Jesus Christ before the word be- 
 gan. And you will further observe that there is 
 just as much propriety in exhorting people to et 
 an interest in Adam so that they may inherit from 
 him the natural faculties of the body, as to exhort 
 us to get an interest in Christ. J>ut it is not only 
 proper, but highly necessary that all adhere to the 
 exhortation to improve all temporal and all spiritual 
 blessings and gifts in a way to honour the benevo- 
 lent giver. 
 
 2d. If the Apostle made a comparison between 
 his former conduct, when he was among the perse- 
 cutors of Christ, his doctrine, and his disciples, he 
 might very justly say that the-salvation which lie 
 had obtained by the gospel, and the holy calling 
 with which he was called were not according to his 
 former works. And if the comparison be made be- 
 tween the conduct of others, and this salvation, the 
 result is expressed by the Apostle to Titus as fol- 
 lows ; " For we ourselves also were sometimes 
 foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts 
 arid pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, 
 and hating one another. But after that the kind- 
 ness and love of God our Saviour toward man ap- 
 pxarel, not by works of righteousness which we 
 have done,, but according to his mercy he saved us, 
 by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of 
 the hoiy Ghost ; which he shed on us abundantly 
 through Jesus Christ our Saviour." 
 
 Having made these important statements to 
 which we have attended, the Apostle proceeds in 
 the, conclusion of our text, to speak of the vast 
 utility of the appearing of Jesus Christ in our 
 n-M-ld, which was to moke those things manifest by 
 abolMiirig death and bringing life and immortality 
 to lii'lit through the gospel. 
 
 It i- perfectly con-istent with the nature of things, 
 and wjth common observation, that the manifesta- 
 tion of things is subsequent to their being estaj)-
 
 271 
 
 lished in the counsel of him who ordains them, 
 And as it would bo a mistake of no small magni- 
 tude to attribute to the manifestation of things, 
 the cause of their existence, so it is an error of ex- 
 tensive magnitude, to attribute to the manifestation 
 or appearance of Jesus Christ, and what he did in 
 our world, the caute of that gift which was made 
 sure to us, in him, before the world began. 
 
 The divine truths taught by the Saviour, the doc- 
 trine of God's love to sinners, the forgiveness of 
 sins, were all as true before the birth, preaching, 
 and sufferings of Jesus, as they have been since. 
 The glorious doctrine of the resurrection and of 
 future eternal life was as true before the process 
 of Jesus commenced, as since. This accounts for 
 all the passages which represent our Saviour as the 
 faithful and true witness. It agrees with his own 
 words to Pilate ; " For this cause was I born, and to 
 this end came I into the world, that I should bear 
 witness to the truth." And the same thing is meant 
 by St. Paul to the Romans ; " But God commend- 
 elh his love toward us, in that, while we were yet 
 sinners, Christ died for us." 
 
 It seems that all which the Saviour did, was de- 
 signed as a manifestation of those divine things, 
 which our heavenly Father had given us before the 
 world began. Things that had been kept secret 
 from the foundation of the world were made known 
 when this sun of righteousness arose with healing: 
 
 *J c5 
 
 in his beams. So does the rising sun, which makes 
 our natural day, manifest the surrounding objects, 
 which the darkness of night had obscured from our 
 sight. 
 
 The resurrection of Jesus made manifest the 
 abolition of death. It brought to open light what 
 was shown unto Moses at the bush, when God said ; 
 " I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, 
 and the God of Jacob. God is not the God of the 
 , but of the living, for all live unto him,"
 
 272 
 
 Our text informs us, that Jesus Christ hath not only 
 abolished death, but hath brought life and immor- 
 tality to light through the gospel. This form of 
 expression fully acknowledges that life and immor- 
 tality were divine facts in the economy of God be- 
 fore the corning of Christ, but that his process was 
 necessary to make these glorious things known to 
 mankind. 
 
 To conclude, the arguments to which we have at- 
 tended are designed to show that the common no- 
 tion of saving mankind from the wrath arid curse 
 of God in the eternal world is without foundation, 
 either in scripture or reason ; and that according 
 to the scriptures our immortality and eternal life 
 were established in the economy of divine wisdom 
 before man existed. Also, that the salvation which 
 the gospel of Jesus Christ effects for us, is a salva- 
 tion from our sins, from our wanderings, from the 
 darkness of our deceived minds-, from all unclean- 
 ness, to righteousness, to reconciliation to God, to 
 the knowledge of the truth, and to holiness of life. 
 
 And if it be asked, what there is for us to do, if 
 we believe this doctrine, we reply in the words of 
 divine truth, which have been already noticed. 
 " Giving all diligence, add to your faith, virtue ; 
 and to virtue, knowledge ; and to knowledge, tern* 
 perance ; and to temperance, patience ; and to pa- 
 tience, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kind- 
 ness ; and to brotherly kindness, charity. 
 
 Furthermore, if we be asked, what reward we 
 may expect for our careful attention to these vir- 
 tues, we again reply; In keeping the command- 
 ments there is great reward. Great peace have 
 they that love the law, and nothing shall offend 
 them. "And the work of righteousness shall he 
 peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness, and 
 38SU ranee forever."
 
 . I - No. 18. ' v ( -i 
 
 LECTURE SERMON, ** 
 
 DELIVERED AT THE 
 
 SECOND UNIVERSALIST MEETING, IN BOSTON, 
 MARCH 28, 1819. 
 
 BY HOSEA BALLOU, PASTOR. 
 
 Published Semi-Monthly by Henry Bowen, Devonshire-street. 
 
 MATTHEW xxr. 46. 
 
 " And these thall go away into everlatting punishment : but the righleoiu 
 into life eternal." 
 
 WHILE calling the attention of this congregation 
 to the consideration of this portion of our Saviour's 
 f ^timony, many difficulties are presented to the 
 : and of the speaker ; some of which it may be profi- 
 table to name. 
 
 1. The long established use and application of 
 this text, by commentators, preachers, and all de- 
 nominations of Christians stand in direct opposition, 
 in one important particular, to the use and appli- 
 cation which your servant feels himself obligated 
 to make of it. The particular alluded to is the 
 applying of this text to a future state of our exist- 
 ence. And to this may be added another particu- 
 lar, nearly as universally assented to as the former, 
 which is the belief that this text proves the endless 
 duration of misery. 
 
 2d. The power of tradition in the human mind 
 forms the most material difficulty which seems to 
 oppose our attempt to bring the true meaning of 
 our Saviour, in the passage before us, to the hearer's 
 understanding. It is vain, my friends, to pretend 
 35
 
 274 
 
 that \ve are free in our minds from the force of 
 education. Indeed we ought not to be. We were 
 wisely so constituted, that what we imbibe in our 
 youth should fix a lasting prepossession in our 
 minds, in favour of opinions which are recommend- 
 ed by our instructors, and against those which 
 we have been taught to view erroneous. But we 
 should do well to consider, that while it is acknow- 
 ledged that great benefits arise from this natural 
 and necessary bias of the human mind, it is equally 
 true, that it may often s happen as to produce ef- 
 fects most pernicious. Solomon says ; " train up 
 a child in the way he should go, and when he is 
 old he will not depart from it." Here the author 
 relies on the force of education, and gives a most 
 wholesome advice to those who have the charge of 
 children, to bring them up in the way they should 
 go. And it is furthermore evident that the recom- 
 mendation designed to guard against the unhappy 
 effects of the same power in a case where an erro- 
 neous education should be imposed on youth. 
 
 Having been taught in our tender years that our 
 heavenly Father has ordained a stale of the most 
 dreadful torment in the future state for those who 
 are sinners in this world, and having been instructed 
 at the same time to apply the text under considera- 
 tion, together with almost all passages of scripture, 
 which speak of the punishment of the wicked to 
 this future state of misery, it has become as habitual 
 for the mind to apply such passages to this future 
 misery, as to apply the names London, Boston, and 
 Philadelphia to the Cities of these names ; or as to 
 apply the names Washington, Franklin, and Ad- 
 ams to the distinguished statesmen of these names. 
 
 Under these circumstances, the opposer of di- 
 vine truth has nothing to do, but to rest upon the 
 prejudice of the public mind. He comes forward 
 with all possible assurance and boldly asserts that 
 our Saviour has laid it down in the most solemn
 
 275 
 
 and unequivocal manner that " He that believeth 
 and is baptised shall be saved, and he that believeth 
 not shall be damned ;" laying an emphasis on the 
 damnatory term that causes our nerves to tremble. 
 He depends entirely on the prepossessions of the 
 public mind to apply this damnation to a future 
 state; an application in no way intimated by our 
 Saviour, and by no means intimated by any words 
 in connection with the passage. 
 
 In the same way the preacher f who applies our 
 text to a state of punishment in the future world, 
 manages with the prejudice of his hearers. He 
 says ; the divine teacher himself has told us, that at 
 the last judgment, when all the dead are raised and 
 brought to the tremendous bar of God, the sinner 
 will be placed on the left hand, and sentenced to 
 everlasting punishment. He depends entirely on 
 the blind prejudice of his hearer's minds to justify 
 his assertions, and the application he makes of the 
 text. There is not a word in the text nor in any 
 part of its connections, that intimates any thing 
 about a resurrection of any from the dead, or that 
 the judgment treated of in this chapter is the last 
 judgment, or that any part of the subject belongs 
 to a future state. 
 
 But notwithstanding the embarrassments which 
 have been named, and another, which is by no 
 means inconsiderable, the very limited abilities of 
 the speaker, which are sensibly felt as in adequate 
 to make a proper arrangement of the momentous 
 subject before us, and altogether unequal to the 
 task of contending against the host of prejudices 
 which are marshalled against the simplicity that is 
 in Christ, yet there are two considerations which 
 are highly encouraging. The testimony of Jesus 
 which lies before us, and which stands connected 
 with our text makes our subject so very plain that 
 it seems to promise conviction to every mind ; and 
 the remarkable candor which has characterised
 
 276 
 
 / 
 
 this congregation, which attending to this course of 
 Jectures, gives that support to the speaker, without 
 which he would have been discouraged. 
 
 It may be well for us to raise some queries re- 
 specting the general use of this portion of scrip- 
 ture, by which the mind of the hearer may be the 
 better prepared to seek for its true application. 
 
 1st. As this passage is usually applied to a fu- 
 ture state, let us ask whether in order to justify 
 such an application it be not indispensable that 
 some part of the testimony in connection with the 
 text should designate that it belongs, not to this 
 state, but to a future world ? For instance, should 
 the speaker, this evening contend that this twenty- 
 fifth of Matthew treated of things which took place 
 before Noah's flood, should you not feel justified 
 in opposing such an extravagant statement by say- 
 ing, that there is not a single intimation in the 
 whole chapter that gives any countenance to it ? 
 You certainly would. Then be so candid, kind 
 hearer, as to acknowledge, that in order to justify 
 the application of this scripture to a future state of 
 existence, there must be found something in the 
 testimony that so applies it. 
 
 2d. As it is the current opinion that in order for 
 the accomplishment of the judgment treated of in 
 this chapter, all the dead must be raised, have we 
 not a right to contend, that in order to support this 
 opinion, the resurrection of the dead should be 
 distinctly stated some where in the general ac- 
 count ? 
 
 If the speaker should now say, that according to 
 the testimony of the Saviour concerning the judg- 
 ment in the twenty-fifth of Matthew, the gift of 
 speech will be given to all the beasts, to all the 
 birds, and to all the fishes ; and that at that time 
 we shall hear them all talk in our native language, 
 if you thought proper to refute such a visionary 
 notion, would it not be sufficient to say that there
 
 277 
 
 is nothing in the chapter or its connection that 
 gives any authority for such a statement? : It is 
 hoped then that you will acknowledge, that if it be 
 allowed that all the dead will be raised before the 
 judgment, recorded in this chapter, can take place, 
 we must be able to find authority for this opinion 
 in the account before us. 
 
 3d. An it is held that the judgment/of which we 
 read in this chapter is the last judgment, is it not 
 very proper that we should be able to find some 
 proof of this idea in some part of the testimony of 
 the divine instructor ? 
 
 But in relation to these particulars, we feel con- 
 fident in what has already been said, that there is 
 no intimation in the whole account before us, that 
 this judgment is the last judgment, or that the dead 
 will be raised to be brought to it, or that it relates 
 to a future state. 
 
 The attention of the hearer is now solicited to 
 the following statements, which the speaker ex- 
 pects to prove in this discourse. 
 
 1st. The time of the judgment under considera- 
 tion, is confined to the generation in which our Sa- 
 Tiour lived on earth, according to his own testi- 
 mony. 
 
 2d. The Jews, as a people, who rejected the 
 gospel of Christ, and persecuted his Apostles were 
 those who were sentenced to everlasting punish- 
 ment. And, 
 
 3d. Those who believed in Jesus and received 
 the testimony, and administered to the necessities 
 of his persecuted Apostles, were those that were 
 blessed with life eternal. 
 
 The better to bring those statements, accompan- 
 ied with their proper proofs, before the mind of 
 the hearer, we shall commence our examination of 
 the divine testimony where the subject before us 
 seems to begin. This is in the latter part of the 
 23d chapter.
 
 278 
 
 it scours llial J< us was in the temple where ht 
 addressed the Scribes and Pharisees, calling them 
 hypocrites, blind guides, serpents, and a generation 
 of vipers* He then proceeds to testify to them the 
 judgment which would come upon them and the 
 occasion of it. "Wherefore, behold, I send unto 
 you prophets, and wise men, and scribes; and some 
 of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them 
 shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute 
 them from city to city : that upon you may come 
 all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from 
 the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zac- 
 irias, son of Barachias, whom ye slew between lira 
 temple and the altar. Verily, I say unto you, all 
 these tilings shall come upon this generation." 
 
 Be so good, my friends, as to remember this de- 
 claration of the Saviour. He here speaks of the 
 most tremendous judgment that ever fell on man- 
 kind, and he confines the time to that generation. 
 He then lamented over Jerusalem, spake of its des- 
 olation, and said ; " Ye shall not see me henceforth 
 till ye shall say, blessed is he that cometh in the 
 name of the Lord." 
 
 Here ends the 23d chapter, and the 24th com- 
 mences by informing us that " Jesus went out, and 
 departed from the temple : and his disciples came 
 to him, for to show him the buildings of the temple. 
 And Jesus said unto them, see ye not all these 
 things ? Verily I say unto you, there shall not be 
 left here one stone upon another, that shall not be 
 thrown down.'* Here it is evident, that Jesus al- 
 luded to the event of which he had been speaking 
 to the Scribes and Pharisees, which was the calam- 
 itous destruction and desolation of their city. 
 
 " And. as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the 
 disciples came unto him privately, saying, tell us, 
 when shall these things be ? and what shall be the 
 sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world ?
 
 279 
 
 Here let us carefully notice what is embijiced 
 in the questions proposed by the disciples. They 
 asked the divine master, when the things which he 
 had denounced on the Jews should take place. 
 And also, what would be the sign of his coming, 
 and of the end of the world. 
 
 In reply to these questions, Jesus delivered all 
 that is recorded in the remainder of this, and the 
 following chapter. So that in order to understand 
 what he meant in the 25th we must preserve the 
 connection of the subject, which evidently com- 
 mences in the 23, and continues to the end of the 
 25th. 
 
 Jesus replies ; " Take heed that no man deceive 
 you : for many shall come in iny name, saying, I 
 am Christ ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall 
 hear of wars, and rumours of wars; see that ye be 
 not troubled ; for all these things must come to 
 pass, but the end is not yet." 
 
 Here let us carefully inquire what Jesus meant 
 by the end? Did he here speak of the end of 
 what the disciples asked him ? No doubt. For if 
 they asked him concerning the end of the world, 
 and he, in his reply, spake of the end of something 
 else, and not of the end of the world, the answer 
 was calculated to deceive. It is evident, therefore, 
 that when Jesus said, as has been quoted ; " the 
 end is not yet," he meant that the end of the world, 
 of which his disciples asked him, was not yet. 
 
 He proceeds ; " For nation shall rise .against na- 
 tion, and kingdom against kingdom ; and there 
 shall be famines and pestilences, and earthquake? in 
 divers places. All these are the beginning of sor- 
 rows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflict- 
 ed, and shall kill you : and ye shall be hated of all 
 nations for my name's sake. And then shall many 
 be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall 
 hate one another. And many false prophets shall 
 rise, and shall deceive many. A no!, because ini*
 
 280 
 
 (juity shall abound, the love of many shall wax 
 cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the 
 same shall be saved." The end of what ? Answer, 
 the end of the world, of \\hich the disciples asked 
 him. 
 
 " And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preach- 
 ed in all the world, for a witness unto all nations; 
 and then shall the end corne." 
 
 The end of what? The end of the world. Ob- 
 serve, the disciples asked Jesus concerning the end 
 of the world, and he replies to their query. He 
 speaks of the emdthren times. He first says ; " the 
 end is not yet ;" secondly, he says ; " He that en- 
 dureth unto the end, the same shall be saved ; and 
 lastly, he says; " then shall the end come." And 
 as the end of the world was the only end spoken of, 
 we feel safe in believing that Jesus meant to speak 
 of what his disciples meant by the end of the 
 world. 
 
 A hope is entertained that the attention of the 
 hearer will be successful in obtaining a clear un- 
 derstanding of what is here meant by the end of the 
 world. We have been in the habit, by means of 
 our early education, of supposing that by the end 
 of the world here mentioned, the destruction of the 
 natural world was intended. And this is now the 
 general opinion. Religious people suppose that 
 the end of the world, of which mention is made in 
 this chapter, means the end of this material system. 
 And they expect that the earth, the sun, and the 
 moon, will be literally destroyed. The speaker 
 is apprehensive that many now in this congregation 
 have these views ; and consequently suppose that 
 when Jesus said ; "Then shall the end come, he 
 meant the same thing as has been held up by our 
 Christian divines, and preached upon so much, and 
 made a common topic in those frequent discourses, 
 the objects of which were to terrify people with 
 the thoughts of seeing the earth burn up, the dead
 
 281 
 
 coming out of their graves to judgment, and the 
 wicked plunged into hell. 
 
 My dear friends, if these are your views, your 
 servant feels no disposition to censure you, he knows 
 too well the effects of tradition to blame any one 
 for these notions ; but you are now called on to ex- 
 ercise that reason which distinguishes us from beasts, 
 and constitutes us the favoured subjects of a divine 
 revelation, so that you may be able to form a cor- 
 rect judgment of the subject now before you. Let 
 us carefully proceed with the testimony of Jesus, 
 and endeavour to learn the events with which he 
 connects and designates the end of the world. 
 
 "When ye, there fore, shall see the abomination of 
 desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand 
 in the holy place, then let them which be in Judea 
 flee into the mountains." When does Jesus direct 
 them that be in Judea to flee into the mountains? 
 Answer, at the end of the world. But if the end 
 of the world mean what tradition has taught us, 
 why should those that may be in Judea at the time, 
 when this earth is to be dissolved, and all the dead 
 raised to judgment, flee into the mountains ? 
 
 But we proceed. "Let him which is on the house 
 top not come down to take any thing put of his 
 house ; neither let him which is in the field return 
 back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that 
 are with child, and to them that give suck in those 
 days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the 
 winter, neither on the sabbath day ; for then shall 
 be great tribulation, such as was not since the be- 
 ginning of the world to this time, no nor ever shall 
 be." We have been told that there will be^ an 
 eternity of trouble, after the end of the world, infi- 
 nitely greater than any that ever preceeded ; but 
 here in the description of the end of the world, by 
 Jesus himself, he says, there shall never be such a 
 time of trouble afterward. 
 
 By the peculiar discription to which we have 
 attended, there is no reason to doubt that the Sav- 
 iour was giving an account of the destruction of 
 36
 
 282 
 
 Jerusalem by the Kornans. And it is evident, be- 
 yond all controversy, that all that was meant by 
 the end of the world, was the end of the Jewish 
 polity, and the destruction of the nation, the city 
 and temple. That the hearer may he further sat- 
 isfied, that by " the end of the world'' is not meant 
 what our tradition has taught, we notice the words 
 of St. Paul to the Hebrews. Speaking of Jesus he 
 says ; " But now once, in the end of the world, 
 hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice 
 of himself." The end of the world here meant was 
 the end of the Levitical priesthood. 
 
 The Saviour further says ; " Immediately after 
 the tribulation of those days shall the sun be dark- 
 ened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the 
 stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the 
 heaven shall be shaken : and then shall appear the 
 sign of the son of man in heaven; and then shall 
 all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see 
 the son of man coming in the clouds of heaven 
 with power and great glory. And he shall send 
 his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and 
 they shall gather together his elect from the four 
 winds, from one end of heaven to the other." Here 
 carefully observe that Jesus speaks of the sign of 
 his coming, and also of his coming with power and 
 great glory ; and of his sending forth his angels, &c. 
 Let us here ask the question, how we shall time the 
 event here spoken of? Has this event ever taken 
 place ? Tradition says, No, but it will take place 
 at the disolution of this earth. But what right 
 have we to time this event ? If Jesus did not lime 
 it, have we a right to ? And if Jesus has timed it, 
 have we a right to alter the time ? Hear his word?. 
 
 "Now learn a parable of the fig tree: When 
 his branches is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, 
 ye know that summer is nigh; so likewise ye, 
 when ye shall see all these things, know that it is 
 near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, 
 this generation shall not pass till all these things be 
 fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but 
 my word shall not pass away.''
 
 * 
 
 283 
 
 By this plain, undoubtful testimony of the divine 
 teacher we are authorised to believe that the time 
 of which he spake, when he should come in his 
 glory with his angels was in the generation in which 
 he lived. He had just before told the Pharisees 
 that all the righteous blood shed upon the earth 
 should come upon them, and was particular in say- 
 ing ; Verily, I say unto you, all these things shall 
 come upon this generation.'' And now when speak- 
 ing of his coming in his glory with his angels, he 
 says ; " Verily I say unto you, this generation shall 
 not pass till all these things be fulfilled." 
 
 The Saviour proceeds to inform his disciples, 
 that the particular day and hour of his coming 
 were known to his Father only ; and in the whole 
 of the remaining part of the chapter he refers the 
 events of which he speaks to the time he had before 
 designated and confined to that generation. This 
 24th chapter ends with an account of what should 
 be done to an evil servant, who should " say in his 
 heart, my lord delayeth his corning ; and shall be- 
 gin to smite his fellow servants, and to eat and 
 to drink with the drunken : the lord of that ser- 
 vant shall come in a day r when be looketh not for 
 him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and 
 shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion 
 with the hypocrites : there shall be weeping and 
 gnashing of teeth." As he had just before, in his 
 address to the Scribes and Pharisees, called them 
 hypocrites, and denounced the judgments of heaven 
 upon them, he now informed his disciples, that if 
 any who professed to be his servants, should get off 
 their watch, should say, my Lord delayeth his com- 
 ing, and should eat and drink with the drunken, 
 and abuse his fellow servants, he should be placed 
 among the hypocrites on whom he had denounced 
 those judgments. 
 
 The 25lh chapter begins with the word then, by 
 which it is evident that the speaker meant to refer 
 to the time he had before designated. "Then 
 shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten
 
 284 
 
 virgins." When did the Saviour say the kingdom 
 of heaven should be likened unto ten virgins ? 
 Answer, at the time when those judgments should 
 come on Jerusalem and on the Jews, of which he 
 had spoken ; all of which he confined to that gen- 
 eration. When he should come in the clouds of 
 heaven, with power and great glory, and send his 
 angels forth to gather together his elect ; all which 
 he confined to that generation. 
 
 This parable of the virgins was designed to re- 
 present the difference there would be between the 
 situations of those Jews who foolishly rejected the 
 Saviour, and who abused his Apostles, and those 
 who believed in him, and administered to the ne- 
 cessities of the promulgators of his doctrine. 
 
 The parable of the talents, which follows this of 
 the ten virgins, represents the same thing, and so 
 does this of the sheep and the goats. 
 
 This passage begins thus ; " When the son of 
 man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels 
 with him,then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory; 
 and before him shall be gathered all nations; and 
 he shall separate them one from another, as a shep- 
 herd divideth his sheep from the goats," &c. 
 
 Here.be cautious, <c When the son of man shall 
 come," &c. When was this? Look back to the 
 30th verse of the 24th chapter. " And they shall 
 see the son of man coming in the clouds of heaven 
 with power and great glory," &c. And then ob- 
 serve that the Saviour took all possible pains to 
 certify his disciples that all these things should 
 take place in tjiat generation. 
 
 The whole subject is perfectly plain. In the 24th 
 chapter Jesus spake of his coming in his glory with 
 h?s angels, and also of the judgment that he would 
 then execute on his enemies ; and here in the 2/ith 
 chapter, he represents these things and events by 
 the parable of the virgins, that of the talents, and 
 this of the sheep and goats; and by keeping the con- 
 nection of the subject it appears evident beyond all 
 doubt, that this parable alluded to the events which 
 took place in the generation in which he lived.
 
 285 
 
 But if this subject had been left in any respect 
 doubtful, inspecting the time of this judgment, yet 
 other passages of our Saviour's testimony respect- 
 ing the same event are perfectly sufficient to settle 
 the question and to remove all doubts. 
 
 See Matt. xvi. 27, 28, " For the son of man shall 
 come in the glory of his Father, with his angels; 
 and then he shall reward every man according to 
 his works. Verily I say unto you, there be some 
 standing here which shall not taste of death, till 
 they see the son of man coming in his kingdom " 
 Mark viii. 38. ix. 1. " Whosoever, therefore, shall 
 be ashamed of me, and of my words in this adul- 
 terious 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. And he 
 said unto them, verily I say unto you, that there 
 be some of them that stand here, which shall not 
 taste of death till they have seen the kingdom of 
 God come with power." Luke ix. 26, 27, For 
 whosoever shall be ashamed of me, and of my 
 words, of him shall the son of man be ashamed, 
 when he shall come in his own glory, and in his 
 Father's, and of the holy angels. But I tell you 
 of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall 
 not taste of death till they see the kingdom of God." 
 
 These passages fully and clearly show, that the 
 coming of Christ in his glory with his angels, to re- 
 ward every man according to his works, was an 
 event which took place in the generation that lived 
 at the time that Jesus was on the earth. And we 
 have another direct proof of this fact recorded in 
 Matt. x. 22, 23, And ye shall be hated of all men 
 for my name's sake; but he that endureth to the 
 end shall be saved. But when they persecute you 
 in this city, flee ye into another : for verily I say 
 unto you, ye shall not have gone over the cities of 
 Israel till the son of man be come.'' 
 
 The time of this judgment being thus settled, let 
 u inquire what accusation was brought against 
 those on the left hand for which they were sentenc-
 
 286 
 
 ed to everlasting punishment? The accusation 
 runs thus; " I was an hungred, and ye gave me no 
 meat : I was thirsty, arid ye gave me no drink : I 
 was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and 
 ye clothed me not : sick, and in prison, and ye vi- 
 sited me not." The accused ask when these things 
 took place ; and are told ; " Inasmuch as ye did it 
 not to one of the least of these, ye did it not unto 
 me." Notice here, that Jesus was delivering this 
 whole discourse to his disciples alone, on the mount 
 of Olives. By these, therefore, it is evident that he 
 meant his disciples ; and he gave them to under- 
 stand, that the persecutions that they should suffer, 
 he would reckon as done to himself. And on the 
 other hand, the righteous are justified for having 
 done those things to the disciples of Christ, which 
 the wicked had neglected to do; and he accepts 
 these acts of kindness as done to himself. 
 
 We will here ask those, who apply this subject 
 to the future state, whether they will allow that we 
 are to obtain an immortal state of endless felicity 
 for the performance of our duty, in administering 
 to the wants of our fellow creatures? The fact is, 
 after they have made such an application of this 
 scripi lire, they do not believe that our immortal state 
 of happiness is the reward of our good works here. 
 
 But we must attend to the argument of our op- 
 posers, who contend, that the words of this text ne- 
 cessarily mean an endless duration. 
 
 Everlasting punishment, and life eternal. They 
 are critical to observe, that the words everlasting 
 and eternal come from the same word in the Greek 
 testament, and they, therefore, infer that the dura- 
 tion of punishment must be as long as the duration 
 of happiness in the future world. But they assume 
 the application of these words to a future state, 
 without even an attempt to show, that, such an ap- 
 plication is justified by the testimony of the Sav- 
 iour. This application we have proved to be erro- 
 neous ; which necessarily applies the word render- 
 ed everlasting and eternal to what belongs to the
 
 287 
 
 present state. And that this application is correct 
 we prove as follows : The word in Greek, render- 
 ed everlasting and eternal in our language, is 
 aioonion, which is an adjective. The noun occurs 
 in the question which the disciples asked the divine 
 master, in the 3d verse of the 24th chapter : " Tell 
 us, when shall these things be? and what shall be 
 the sign of thy cotning,and of theendofthe(az'007ios) 
 world ?'' Now we have proved that the end of the 
 aioonoSy in the 24th chapter meant the end of the 
 Jewish dispensation. It follows therefore, by fair 
 analogy, that if the aioonos, which came to an end 
 in the generation that Jesus lived on the earth, 
 meant a dispensation or order of things, that which 
 followed meant the same (viz.) a dispensation or 
 order of things. 
 
 The plain simple truth is this; The dispensation 
 and order of the Jewish economy ended, and the 
 gospel dispensation and economy commenced ; and 
 so did the dispensation of that long and severe judg- 
 ment on the house of Israel, under which they have 
 groaned until this day. 
 
 We therefore render the text thus ; " These shall 
 go away into a dispensation of punishment, but the 
 righteous into a dispensation of life, or into the 
 gospel dispensation. This gospel dispensation or 
 aioonos, is mentioned by the Saviour, in Ma^tt.xxviii. 
 20, " Where Jesus sent forth his disciples to 
 preach, and said to them; Lo, I am with you al- 
 ways even unto the end of the (aioonos) world." 
 
 The hearer is referred to PARKHURST'S Greek Lex- 
 icon, where on this word he will find the following ; 
 " An age, period, periodical dispensation of divine 
 Providence. In Mat. xxiv. 3, it evidently refers to 
 the Jewish age, or age under the Mosaic law. (See 
 Whitby, Doddridge, and Macknight on that text.) 
 But in Matt, xxviii. 20, it seems plainly to denote 
 the age under the Messiah." 
 
 When this subject is seen in its own clear light, 
 when we look at it with the eye of unprejudiced 
 candor, and view it in its relation to the threaten-
 
 ings denounced by Moses on the rebellious house 
 of Israel, we see thai Jesus denounced on the Jews 
 no other punishment than such as Moses and the 
 Prophets had foretold. If the hearer will examine 
 the 26th chapter of Leviticus, the 28th of Deuter- 
 onomy, the 4th of Lamentations, and compare them 
 with the -24th and 25th of Matthew, he will be sat- 
 isfied that neither Moses, the Prophets, nor Jesus 
 spake any thing of punishing; the house of Israel 
 in a future state of existence; but he will be con- 
 vinced that not only Moses and the Prophets, but 
 Jesus likewise did denounce the most awful and 
 distressing calamities on the Jews, that we can pos- 
 sibly conceive of human sufferings in this world of 
 misery and woe. 
 
 When Pilate, being convinced of the innocence of Jesus, would 
 have released him, all the people answered, saying, "His blood 
 be on us and on our children." They pronounced the dreadful 
 imprecation and were taken at their word. God has visited the. 
 iniquity of the fathers upon the children of them who have hated 
 him, and has executed on the wicked the judgments which were 
 foretold by the prophets. 
 
 But all this seems nothing in the eye of that blind superstition, 
 which can see no punishment for sin in this world, and which ap- 
 plies the threatenings to a future state. But in the judgment of 
 reason, and in the light of divine revelation, the punishment* 
 which have been inflicted on the Jews for the wickedness with 
 which scripture and history charge them, have been according to 
 their sins. 
 
 As to the argument, that punishment must be as durable as hap- 
 piness, it not only seems to be destitute of any evidence, but re- 
 pugnant to reason. Punishment is designed to reclaim from sin, 
 that happiness may succeed ; but if punishment bo endless it cer- 
 tainly is the cnfl of divine Providence, and not the means by which 
 be bring? a more glorious end to pass. 
 
 To conclude : my friends, the dealings of God with his child- 
 ren in past ages, should be regarded by us as examples of his 
 faithfulness to his promises and his threatenings. As our heav- 
 enly Father has always rewarded'the righteous, and punished the 
 wicked in a way to make his approbation of the former and his 
 disapprobation of the latter evident to every observing mind, 
 let us be wise for ourselves and for our children. If we approve 
 the opportunity which God has offered us, to throw off error and 
 -superstition, and to receive Christ and his pure religion, we shall 
 enter into life, and our children after us, in room of inheriting 
 from us error and darkness, will bless their fathers and their 
 mothers, who resolved to throw off the doctrine of despair, and 
 to espouse the hope of the gospel of God our Saviour.
 
 ;/ No. 19. : ;^> 
 
 LECTURE SERMON, 
 
 DELIVERED AT THE 
 
 SECOND UNIVERSALIST MEETING, IN BOSTON, 
 APRIL 11, 1819. 
 
 BY HOSEA BALLOU, PASTOR. 
 
 Published Semi-Monthly by Henry Bowen, Devonshire-street. 
 
 PROVERBS xi. 31. 
 
 " Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth ; much more 
 the wicked and the sinner." 
 
 AMONG the reasons for calling your attention at 
 this time, to the consideration of this subject, the 
 following may be named : 
 
 1. This passage having been made the subject of 
 one of our discourses on the 1st sabbath of Novem- 
 ber last, a number, who heard the discourse at that 
 time, have since requested that it might have a 
 place among the lectures. And 
 
 2. This subject seems so nearly allied to our last, 
 that it is thought advisable to place it next in course, 
 that it may operate in some measure as a farther 
 illustration of it. 
 
 Our text gives evident support to the following 
 particular subjects : 
 
 1. There is righteousness in the earth. 
 
 2. There is wickedness in the earth. 
 
 3. There is a sure recompense for righteousness. 
 
 4. There is a sure recompense for wickedness. 
 
 5. The recompense of righteousness is in the earth. 
 
 6. The recompense of wickedness is in the earth. 
 
 37
 
 290 
 
 These particulars may be said to be fully prov- 
 ed by the text; for there ean be none righteous, 
 unless there be righteousness, and there can be 
 none wicked, unless there be wickedness ; nor can 
 righteousness be recompensed where there is none, 
 nor can wickedness be recompensed where it does 
 not exist. 
 
 The hearer's attention is now invited to an in- 
 quiry, which will be directed to ascertain how to 
 make a proper distinction between the righteous 
 and the wicked. The way in which this subject is 
 generally held, supposes that there is one class of 
 men who are exclusively righteous, and another 
 class exclusively wicked. Hence we hear so much 
 about two classes of mankind. Christian preach- 
 ers and commentators have filled their sermons 
 and their volumes with lengthy and intricate dis- 
 criptions of these two classes of people. If we say 
 any thing of the divine favour to all mankind, if 
 we express the least hope that God will have com- 
 passion on all men, if we bring plain scripture to 
 testify and say, " The Lord is good to all, and his 
 tender mercies are over all his works," we are se- 
 verely rebuked by those who call themselves righ- 
 teous, who tell us that the scriptures every where 
 make two classes of people, the righteous and the 
 wicked. 
 
 That the scriptures speak of two characters is 
 freely acknowledged ; but that they every where 
 or even any where give support to the notion that 
 one class of mankind is exclusively righteous, and 
 another class exclusively wicked is by no means 
 acknowledged. 
 
 It is worthy of special notice that the testimony 
 of scripture agrees with matter of fact For in- 
 stance, scriptur* says; "While the earth remain- 
 eth, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and 
 summer and winter, and day and night, shall not 
 cease." Now the matter of fact testified by the 
 
 f
 
 291 
 
 passage quoted, perfectly agrees with what we 
 know by experience to be true. But should we 
 find that the scriptures any where say, that while 
 the earth remaineth there shall be a certain class of 
 people, frotn generation to generation that shall be 
 exclusively righteous, and another class exclusively 
 wicked, could we say that this is evidently true ? 
 could we say that these two classes have always 
 been as distinguishable as seed time and harvest, 
 as cold and heat, as summer and winter, and as day 
 and night ? 
 
 My friends, look round you, do you know who 
 these righteous are ? Can you distinguish this righ- 
 teous class from the wicked class as easily as you 
 can distinguish day from night ? Who are they ? 
 Are they that company of meek, humble believers 
 in Jesus, who pray as the divine master taught 
 them ; " Our Father who art in heaven forgive us 
 our sins ?" If they are not sinners why do they 
 pray that their sins may be forgiven ? - 
 
 On the other hand, who are the wicked? Are 
 they that company of profane sailors, who appear 
 so careless about religion ? But these men, of all 
 grades of society are acknowledged to be the most 
 generous. They will impart to misery the last 
 dollar of the scanty wages for which they have risk- 
 ed their lives on the uncertain deep, while the 
 wealthy Christian, who goes to the sanctuary in 
 splendour, with great circumspection, gives to pov- 
 erty a shilling. But who are the wicked ? Are 
 they such as make no profession of religion, have 
 subscribed to no creed, joined no church ? But 
 where are these men, and what are they about 
 when their neighbours are sick, or are in want, or 
 are in distress ? Are they then carelessly loiter- 
 ing behind our high professors of religion, who are 
 administering all needed assistance to the distress- 
 ed ? Where are they when the devouring element 
 turns women and children into the streets ? Do
 
 292 
 
 they idly fold their arms and look on, while the 
 righteous put out the fire ? What do these wick- 
 ed people do when their country is invaded by a 
 plundering foe, and all that is dear to man lies at 
 stake ? Do they then sleep on beds of down, 
 while the saints watch in the camp ? The fact is, 
 if we are willing to acknowledge the truth, there is 
 no class of people who are so righteous that there 
 is no need of reformation ; nor is there a class 
 that is in no danger of growing worse. 
 
 We find the righteous and the wicked in the 
 same individual. David says; "Judge me, O 
 Lord, according to my righteousness." And again 
 he says; "The Lord rewarded me according to 
 my righteousness." But with what humility does 
 he acknowledge his sin. He says ; " Wash me 
 thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me 
 from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgres- 
 sion and my sin is ever before me." Yes, in the 
 same man, and at the same time we find the righte- 
 ous and the wicked, " him that serveth God and him 
 that serveth him not." St. Paul says ; " With the 
 mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the 
 flesh the law of sin." 
 
 The habit which professed Christians have so 
 long indulged, of thinking and speaking of the 
 wicked, as a class of people distinct from them- 
 selves, is a proof of the depravity of their own de- 
 ceived hearts. The publican, who dared not raise 
 his eyes toward heaven, but smote his breast, say- 
 ing, God be merciful to me a sinner, was rather 
 justified than the Pharisee, who thanked God that 
 he was not like other men. 
 
 The result of a candid examination of this par- 
 ticular subject may be represented by health and 
 sickness. And as this representation is warranted 
 by the declaration of the Saviour to those who 
 thought they were righteous when they were not, 
 it may be the more acceptable. Jesus said ; "They
 
 293 
 
 that are whole need not the physician, but they 
 that are sick." Now health and sickness are so di- 
 rectly opposite, that there is no difficulty in dis- 
 tinguishing one from the other. But there are ma- 
 ny cases where it would be difficult to determine 
 which of two that are sick is the most unwell. And 
 we may further observe that there is no such thing 
 as a class of people who are exclusively healthy, or 
 a class that is exclusively sickly. ^Those, who to 
 day are in health may be sick to morrow ; and 
 those who are indisposed to day may be restored 
 and enjoy health to morrow. Yes, and in the 
 same person, and at the same time we may find a 
 degree of health and a degree of sickness. De- 
 grees of health and sickness may increase or de- 
 crease, and the subjects may either recover, or de- 
 cline and die. 
 
 Let us in the next place endeavour to ascertain 
 the nature of the recompense which the divine 
 economy awards to the righteous, and what it is 
 designed for. 
 
 As we have seen that there are different degrees 
 in righteousness, so we may expect to 'find that re- 
 wards are so varied as to correspond with these dif- 
 ferent degrees. .Again, we may observe that in 
 some things a man may do that which is right, and 
 receive a recompense accordingly ; on the other 
 hand, the same man may do that which is wrong in 
 gome things and be recompensed accordingly. 
 
 The whole duty of man is embraced in two di- 
 vine requirements. The first requires us to love 
 God with all the heart, and the second being like 
 unto the first, requires us to love our neighbours 
 as ourselves. On these two commandments, Jesus 
 says, " hang all the law and the prophets." Now 
 as far as any person loves God so far is he recom- 
 pensed, and no further. And as far as he loves his 
 neighbour so far he is recompensed in that respect, 
 and no further.
 
 294 
 
 But wbat is the recompense which the soul en- 
 joys who loves God ? Answer, it is God himself. 
 " God is love ; and he that dwelleth in love, dwell- 
 eth in God, and God in him." In an exact propor- 
 tion to the love which the heart exercises towards 
 God is it recompensed with this richest of all re- 
 wards. There is no other object, on which the 
 affections of the heart can be placed, that- is so 
 sure of returning a recompense, in all respects 
 equal to the degree of love which is exercised. 
 
 Companious may love each other mest tenderly, 
 but by unavoidable circumstances they may be se- 
 parated, so as to render their affection even painful. 
 Again, there may be love to creature objects 
 where no return of affection is received. But who 
 ever loves God cannot be separated from him, nor 
 can he ever experience any want of love in God. 
 The soul that truly loves the divine Being IB bless- 
 ed with the presence of the object of affection. 
 There is no place nor condition that can exclude 
 the mind from this enjoyment. * Though we were 
 banished from the society of man, if we loved God 
 he would be present with us ; would be a well of 
 water springing up into everlasting life. How of- 
 ten do we see Our brethren and sisters in the hour 
 of death, rejoicing in a present Saviour, and cheer- 
 fully resign life and all earthly things for the en- 
 joyment of God. 
 
 What is this rich recompense designed for in the 
 divine economy ? It is designed for the only end 
 that divine love can possibly have in view. It is 
 to promote love and enlarge its enjoyments in the 
 soul that is exercised by it. 
 
 As there are secondary cases in which righte- 
 ousness manifests itself, so there are secondary re- 
 compenses corresponding with them. As conse- 
 quences growing out of love to God, we notice 
 those virtuous actions, and propriety of conduct, 
 which are attended with effects which sufficiently
 
 295 
 
 % 
 
 recompense and amply bless the agent in his deeds. 
 Who ever loves God, will love truth ; he will love 
 honesty ; he will love justice ; he will love mercy ; 
 he will love wisdom and knowledge. Now as he 
 loves these things he will speak the truth ; he will 
 be honest ; he will do justly ; he will be merciful ; 
 he will endeavour to acquire wisdom and know- 
 ledge, and he will consider all these things as dura- 
 ble riches and righteousness. 
 
 Now as these virtues are all calculated to reward 
 us for all our exertions in their principles, so it is 
 evident that our recompenses must be according to 
 our merits. Accordingly as a man loves the truth, 
 and speaks the truth, he enjoys the divine sunshine 
 in his breast; and in addition to this sure and ample 
 reward he gerarally is believed by others, and con- 
 fidence is plared in his word. In the same propor- 
 tion as a man is Jjonest in what he does, he has the 
 enjoyment of bib own conscience, which is a treas- 
 ure that the honest man prizes far above silver or 
 gold. And in addition to all this he has the satis- 
 faction of being esteemed by others for his honesty, 
 which is worthy of high estimation. 
 
 Those, who do justly, love mercy, and walk 
 humbly with God, who seek for wisdom as for hid- 
 den treasures, and find out knowledge of witty in- 
 ventions, enjoy a constant income of moral and in- 
 tellectual wealth which is far richer than the revenue 
 of silver, or the merchandise of the most precious 
 spices. 
 
 The design of these rich rewards, in the econo- 
 my of the divine government, is to induce moral 
 beings to labour with all possible diligence to per- 
 fect themselves in the love of God. 
 
 We may now ask what recompense the divine 
 government is pleased to render to the wicked, and 
 what is the design of such a recompense. 
 
 As wickedness is exactly the reverse of righte- 
 ousness, so the recompense of the former must be 
 the reverse of that of the latter.
 
 296 
 
 If we have no love to God we cannot enjoy him, 
 The thought that he exists and exercises universal 
 dominion, and controls all things by his Almighty 
 power is a source of infelicity. The soul, in room 
 of being refreshed with the sweet waters of life,is 
 suffused with anger, wrath, strife, and bitterness. 
 In the room of peace, there is trouble. " The 
 wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot 
 rest, whose wajters cast up mire and dirt There ia 
 no peace, saith my God, to the wicked." 
 
 Such is the establishment of moral rectitude in 
 the human soul, by the hand of our Maker, that our 
 reason is compelled to acknowledge the dignity of 
 divine justice, the purity of all the virtues, and the 
 excellency of righteousness. But where the affec- 
 tions of the heart are not devoted to these holy 
 qualities, the soul is forever under%ondemnation. 
 Self accusation, self reproach gnaw like the vul- 
 ture within. 
 
 In an exact proportion to the distance the soul 
 is in, from that love to God and our neighbour, 
 which is the fulness of the divine requirement, is 
 measured the recompense due to the sinner. There 
 is tribulation and anguish to every soul of man 
 that doeth evil ; and this tribulation and anguish 
 are in proportion to the evil for which they are a 
 recompense. 
 
 But why should the divine government so or- 
 dain, that sin should be recompensed with so much 
 misery ? Why does it not please God to adminis* 
 ter comfort, peace, and joy to the sinner, in his 
 sins? What is the design of the divine economy 
 in this thing ? 
 
 We may find a solution of these queries in our si- 
 militude of health and sickness. Health is the re- 
 ward of that kind of food, which is nourishment to 
 the body, of that temperance and exercise which 
 our nature requires; while food that is unwhole- 
 some, or that is rendered injurious by art, together
 
 297 
 
 with intemperance, and the want of proper exercise, 
 are recompensed with those natural disorders with 
 which the human body is afflicted. It is necessa- 
 rily so in the nature of things. It seems impossible 
 that it should be otherwise. And it is the certainty 
 of these consequences, which induces the prudent 
 to abstain from intemperance and idleness. 
 
 The evil consequences resulting from wrong 
 practices, are designed, by divine wisdom, for the 
 same benevolent purpose as the good effects which 
 are the recompense of doing well. When we do 
 well we enjoy the pleasant fruits of righteousness, and 
 this enjoyment opperates as an inducement to con- 
 tinue in well doing. On the contrary, when we do 
 wrong we suffer the recompense of our error, and 
 this suffering is wisely appointed as a mean to 
 wean us from that improper indulgence of inordi- 
 nate appetites and passions in consequence of which 
 we suffer, and to warn us to take heed to our ways. 
 The prophet Jeremiah, speaking to the wicked, 
 seems to express this idea with great plainness. He 
 says ; " Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, 
 and thy backslidings shall reprove thee." 
 
 In our reasoning on the subjects of the recom- 
 pensing of the righteous, and of rendering to the 
 wicked according to their works, attention has been 
 paid more to what we may term the internal fruits 
 of righteousness and sin, than to outward blessings 
 and calamities with which divine Providence has in 
 all ages of the world expressed his approbation of 
 righteousness, and his disapprobation of sin. We 
 shall now contemplate the subject more generally, 
 noticing some of the divine promises and threaten- 
 ings, connecting the subject with the consideration 
 of that part of the testimony of our text which in- 
 forms us, that the recompense of both the righteous 
 and the wicked is in the earth. 
 
 It may be proper, before we proceed further, to 
 apprise the hearer, that the arguments which are 
 38
 
 298 
 
 to follow will be found directed to disprove the 
 common doctrine, which teaches that those who are 
 righteous in this state of existence, will be recom- 
 pensed for their righteousness with immortality and 
 eternal life in the future state ; and that those who 
 are sinners in this life will be recompensed with 
 endless perdition hereafter. This we feel fully au- 
 thorised to undertake by the divine authority ex- 
 pressed in many more passages than can be cited 
 in one sermon ; this authority is evidently express- 
 ed in our text, in that it certifies us that both the 
 righteous and the wicked shall be recompensed in 
 the earth ; for it surely seems unreasonable to sup- 
 pose, that they are recompensed here in the earth, 
 and after this recompensed to all eternity. In fact 
 this idea is a most palpable absurdity ; for any thing 
 short of deserts is not a recompense ; nor can that 
 which is more than deserts be called a recompense. 
 
 With a view to bring this general subject before 
 the hearer in as plain a manner as is convenient, let 
 a few questions be asked, and let reason and exper- 
 ience answer them. 
 
 1. In a state like this, in which we are possessed 
 of inclinations, passions, and appetites, which, if not 
 properly chastened, duly restrained, and wisely 
 governed, will most assuredly lead us into sin, in or- 
 der to influence the mind, and bring its fortitude 
 into proper action, and the inclinations into the 
 right channel by the hope of a favourable recom- 
 pense, is it best to place this recompense in this 
 present life, or in a future state ? Professors of re- 
 ligion in general, and even preachers contend, that 
 unless the recompense for well doing is in a future 
 state, virtue is not worth pursuing, as there is not 
 in virtue itself and in its good consequences in this 
 life a sufficient reward for its duties. The question 
 now before us inquires whether it would not better 
 secure the object to have the recompense in this 
 life ? In favour of its being here may be urged.
 
 299 
 
 that all objects that are calculated to influence the 
 human rnind, have their powers increased by their 
 proximity to us, and deminished as they are placed 
 more remote. Man is so constituted that he thinks 
 more of his present necessities than he does of what 
 he may want in some future time. 
 
 If you wish to hire labourers into your service, 
 you can more readily obtain them by promising 
 them their pay every setting sun, than if you pro- 
 pose paying them ten or twenty years hence. If 
 your neighbour, or even your minister should tell 
 you, that if you wish to obtain faithful labourers, 
 you must by no means promise them immediate 
 pay, but promise it as long hence as will possibly 
 suit your conveniences ; and furthermore, you must 
 be careful when they are labouring for you, to al- 
 low them as little refreshment and rest as possibly 
 will keep them alive, or they will leave you, would 
 you think the advice was any evidence of the wisdom 
 and experience of him who gave it ? No, you would 
 not. And though you might possibly think your 
 advisor meant well, being ignorant, you would not 
 follow the advice. 
 
 Why then, my friends, should we believe, that 
 divinq wisdom, with an intention to engage us in 
 the service of virtue, should place its reward in a 
 future state of existence, in a world we know noth- 
 ing of, from which no traveller ever returned ? 
 Why should we believe that the wisdom of God, 
 with a design to make us faithful in his service, 
 should carefully make this service extremely toil- 
 some, and allow us no rest nor refreshment that is 
 comfortable during our labours ? 
 
 2. With a view to operate on the mind by fear, 
 and to restrain the passions by apprehensions of 
 danger, where would wisdom place the dreaded 
 object, in this life, or -in a future state ? 
 
 In favour of its being here, and before our eyes, 
 may be urged, that any terrific object has a greater
 
 300 
 
 influence on the mind being near and visible, than 
 when remote and invisible. Even a coward will 
 boast of his courage, and will dare the foe, while 
 he lies at a distance and out of sight, but when llie 
 hostile band presents the glittering armory that 
 dazzles his eyes, his. weak heart melts like wax be- 
 fore the sun. Why then should terror be placed 
 at a distance and out of sight in order to have the 
 greatest effect on the mind ? If it be necessary to 
 excite our fear, that we believe in the common doc- 
 trine of a burning lake in a future state, would it 
 not add an incalculable influence to the object if 
 our terrific preachers could draw away the curtain 
 and present the horrible scene to our open vision-? 
 As they take great satisfaction in describing to the 
 imagination of parents their children in hell, would 
 not the effect be still more powerful if the eye 
 could behold the fiery pit, arid see the beloved 
 children in the flames ? But all this must be car- 
 riedon in a secret place, out of sight of all the living; 
 and none to report it to us, only those who know 
 nothing about it. 
 
 3- Is it not a most evident fact, that for tempor- 
 al enjoyments, enjoyments of this life, men will ex- 
 ert their utmost powers, face the greatest dangers, 
 and surmount all surmountable difficulties ? For 
 these enjoyments the husbandman labours from 
 early morn until the shades of night cover him. 
 And this he repeats day after day, week after week, 
 month after month, year after year, until he wears 
 out his strength and his days. Ask him why he 
 thus toils ; will he inform you, either that he ex- 
 pects an immortal state of bliss hereafter as a re- 
 ward ; or that he fears>eternal torments if he should 
 quit his field? No, he will point to his wife and 
 to his children, and say ; it is for them I labour, 
 for them I toil, and the love I bear them makes my 
 labour easy and my burden light ; yea it is a pleas- 
 ure and content is my companion.
 
 301 
 
 Does not the mariner risk his life on the seas, 
 does he not encounter the most inclement weather, 
 put his face to the violence of the storm for 
 the sake of the comforts and luxuries of life? For 
 the enjoyments of this temporal state, we see the 
 warrior, far from his family, encountering the fa- 
 tigues of marches and counter marches ; lying upon 
 the cold damp earth ; his food coarse and often 
 loathsome, and when the hour of perilous danger 
 arrives, and he is summoned to the charge, does he 
 now expect immortality and eternal life if he fights, 
 and does he dread endless damnation if he refuses? 
 No, these are not the motives which stimulate him 
 to set his face to danger and his breast to the battle. 
 The defence of his country, the defence of his wife 
 and children, and his honour as a soldier are motives 
 sufficient. Why then, my friends, are we told that 
 no rewards in this life are sufficient to excite us to 
 religion and virtue ? Why are we told the pitiful 
 story, that nothing short of the hope of endless hap- 
 piness hereafter, and the dread of everlasting dam- 
 nation in the world to come are sufficient incentives 
 to move men to subscribe to a creed which men 
 have invented, and a covenant written by a clergy- 
 man, join a communion, and make a few prayers 
 which he learns by heart, and go to meeting on the 
 sabbath ? 
 
 4. Since the doctrine of endless rewards and 
 punishments has been advocated and preached by 
 the Christian clergy, and the anathemas of eternal 
 condemnation held up on every sabbath day ; and 
 since all classes of people have been habituated in 
 such a belief, has it all together had the desired ef- 
 fect ? Has it made men in reality any better? If 
 we place the least confidence in the most authentic 
 histories, and if we allow experience to judge in this 
 case the matter is plain, that a spirit of the most vio- 
 lent persecution has always accompanied this doo 
 trin, and the most shocking outrages on humanity 
 have marked its progress.
 
 302 
 
 ,0. Let us ask now, where true wisdom lies, and 
 where her peaceful path is to be found ? We find 
 the answer in the words of Jesus, who said ; " Come 
 unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, 
 and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, 
 and learn of me ; for I am meek and lowly in heart : 
 and ye shall find rest unto your soul. For my 
 yoke is easy and my burden is light." By these 
 precious words we learn that the Saviour endeav- 
 oured to persuade men into his service by assuring 
 them that his service was easy, and that he imposed 
 no burdens but light ones. He compares his reli- 
 gion with its opposite, as an easy service to one 
 that is hard ; as rest to fatigue. 
 
 As long as we are persuaded to believe that the 
 way of righteousness is a hard way, that it is attend- 
 ed with constant trouble, that few or no enjoyments 
 are found in obedience to its requirements, all the 
 promises which the preacher holds up of bliss in a 
 future world, will never induce usto travel the hated 
 road. On the contrary, as long as we are told that 
 sin and wickedness are attended with ease, pleasure, 
 delight, and perpetual gratification and satisfaction, 
 and as long as we believe this worst of all descep- 
 tions, so long we shall live in sin, notwithstanding 
 we may be told of the most horrid torments in a 
 future world as a recompense therefor. 
 
 Man loves happiness and hates misery, and this 
 love and hatred are the only inducements which 
 move him to action. Let us realize then that righ- 
 teousness will make us happy in the present life, 
 and that sin will make us miserable here on the 
 earth, and let us constantly withstand the testimony 
 of our preachers, and the temptations of the flesh to 
 the contrary, and we shall live as the grace of God 
 teaches, by denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, 
 and by living soberly, righteously, and godly in this 
 present world. 

 
 303 
 
 It is worthy of special regard, that the divine 
 promises and threatenings, recorded by Moses and 
 the prophets, with which God was pleased to signify 
 his approbation of righteousness, and his disapproba- 
 tion of sin, relate to blessings and punishments which 
 have been enjoyed and suffered by the house of 
 Israel in the earth. 
 
 For their encouragement the Lord promised them 
 all mariner of temporal blessings; and as a terror he 
 threatened them with all manner of temporal calam- 
 ities. And while they walked in the statutes of the 
 Lord, and did his judgments these promises were 
 faithfully fulfilled. The people multiplied greatly 
 and abounded in all the rich blessings of life, of 
 health and peace. But when they rebelled and 
 walked in the way of sin, they were visited with all 
 the plagues, judgments, and calamities with which 
 they had been threatened. NO people ever varied 
 their character more than have the Jews. At times 
 they were the most upright, the most pious, the 
 most virtuous of all the nations of the earth ; and 
 then they were blessed above all people in the 
 world. At other times they have been the most 
 perverse ; have so forsaken the true God, as to 
 carry idolatry to its extremes, have practiced vio- 
 lence and oppression, by which they became a prey 
 to their enemies, and were carried into captivities, 
 and punished with all the sore judgments which 
 were written in their law or denounced by their pro- 
 phets. And as no people have ever been more 
 wicked, so none have been more punished than they. 
 
 The judgments which our Saviour denounced on 
 the Jews were the same of which we read in the 
 26th of Leviticus and other writings of Moses, in 
 the Lamentations of Jeremiah and the other writ- 
 ings of this and the rest of the prophets. And it is 
 directly to our argument to observe that all these 
 Calamities have come on that people ; and that, we 
 have no more authority for applying either the
 
 304 
 
 promises for obedience, or the Hire a ten ings for dis- 
 obedience to a future state, than we have for be 
 lieving that the Jews, for their obedience in this 
 world, will be blessed in the future slate in the quiet 
 possession of the land of Canaan: and for their diso- 
 bedience will be visited with sickness and be carried 
 away into captivity by their enemies. 
 
 To conclude. Let us, my friends, open our eyes 
 on the certain consequences with which our heav- 
 enly Father rewards the obedient here in the earth. 
 Let us regard that calm sunshine of peace within, 
 which we are sure to enjoy as the reward of well 
 doing. Let us endeavour to estimate in a proper 
 manner the rich inheritance which is the certain lot 
 of those who keep the commandment;; of God. ' 
 
 Let us look round us, and see if prisons, dun- 
 geons, and gallows are not a sufficient argument to 
 prove, that the wicked are recompensed in the 
 earth. And if this sad scene be not sufficient, go 
 draw the veil from still greater horrors, where in- 
 temperance and uncleanness exhibit the warning 
 spectacle of degraded humanity. Beloved youth, 
 look, these terrors are no fictions ; they are awful 
 realities! Your feet stand in slippery places! O 
 put on the whole armour of righteousness that ye 
 may be able to stand in the evil day ; and pray 
 most fervently that you may not be led into temp- 
 tation, but that you may be delivered from evil.
 
 No. 20. - r ! ; . 
 LECTURE SERMON, 
 
 DELIVERED AT THE 
 
 SECOND UNIVERSALIST MEETING, IN BOSTON, 
 APRIL 25, 1819. 
 
 BY HOSEA BALLOU, PASTOR. 
 
 Published Semi-Monthly by Henry Bowen, Devonshire-street. 
 
 EZEKIEL xvi. last of 50. 
 " Therefore, I took them away as I saw good." 
 
 THE spirit of divine tmth, addressing Jerusalem 
 by the prophet, informed her that she was more cor- 
 rupted in her ways than her sisters, Samaria and 
 her daughters, or Sodom and her daughters. The 
 words of the prophet are these ; " As I live, saith 
 the Lord God, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she 
 nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy 
 daughters. Behold this was the iniquity of thy sis- 
 ter Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance 
 of idleness, was in her and in her daughters, neither 
 did she strengthen the hands of the poor and needy. 
 And they were haughty, and committed abomina- 
 tion before me ; therefore I took them away as I 
 saw good." 
 
 The destruction of the inhabitants of Sodom is 
 the subject of our text, and that to which the most 
 cautious attention of this Christian audience is now 
 most earnestly solicited. 
 
 By those who believe and preach the " heart- 
 chilling doctrine" of endless torment, the destruc- 
 tion of Sodom is constantly adverted to as an evi- 
 dent proof of this tenet, and an instance of its posi- 
 tive reality. > 
 39
 
 306 
 
 Now as it is one of the objects of this course of 
 lectures, to disprove the doctrine here mentioned, 
 and to show, that the divine testimony which its acl- 
 Tocates apply as proof of this tenet gives it no sup- 
 port, it is thought expedient to show that we have 
 no evidence to believe that the Sodomites are an 
 instance of an endless state of misery. A nd as sev- 
 eral other instances of the destruction of the wick- 
 ed are generally used for the same end as this of 
 the destruction of Sodom, notice will be taken of a 
 number of them in the present discourse, in a way 
 to show that they afford no evidence in support of 
 the doctrine, in favour of which they are perpetually 
 employed by our terrific preachers. 
 
 The first question which we shall attempt to ex- 
 amine is, whether the scriptures, which speak of the 
 destruction of Sodom, give any account of the end- 
 less misery of those people who died in that des- 
 truction ? 
 
 We are informed in the 18lh and 19th chapters 
 of Genesis, that, on account of the grieveous sin of 
 Sodom and Gomorrah, " the Lord rained upon 
 Sodom and upon Gomorrah, brimstone and fire 
 from the Lord out of heaven. And he overthrew 
 those cities and all the plain, and all the inhabitants 
 of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground." 
 
 This is the account which we have in Genesis of 
 the destruction of the Sodomites. But we find no 
 mention made of their being consigned to a state of 
 torment after their temporal destruction. 
 
 Here let us bring our subject into the light by 
 the following queries. 
 
 1. Of the two events, the temporal destruction 
 of the Sodomites and their being consigned to a 
 state of unspeakable torment in the invisible and 
 eternal world, whicfi is the greatest ? Every one 
 will acknowledge at once, that the last mentioned 
 of these events is infinitely greater than the first. 
 Indeed, those who believe and hold forth the idea 
 of the endless misery of the wicked hereafter, al
 
 307 
 
 ways inform us, that all the sufferings of this mor- 
 talstate are nothing compared with the sufferings of 
 the miserable in the eternal world. 
 
 2. Why, allowing the common opinion of the 
 miserable state of the Sodomites in the invisible 
 world, is there a particular account given of their 
 temporal destruction, and yet not a word about this 
 everlasting torment in the future state, which is a 
 subject infinitely greater ? To illustrate the nature 
 of this question, we will suppose, that we have an 
 account in our newspapers of a fire in the city 
 of Philadelphia that burnt several ware-houses 
 and consumed considerable property. This ac- 
 count falls into the hands of our Christian preachers, 
 and they come forward in public and state a most 
 lamentable account of the total destruction of the 
 city of Philadelphia by fire. They set forth, in the 
 most moving language the awful sufferings of the 
 wretched inhabitants of that city, not one of which 
 were able to make their escape from the devouring 
 flames ! They even go so far as to informs us of 
 certain manifestations of the tender sympathies of 
 husbands and wives, parents and children, brothers 
 and sisters in the last sad moments of their dreadful 
 destruction. After the peace of the whole town 
 should be thus trifled with for some time, and all 
 our hearts had been wrung with the keenest sor- 
 row for the astonishing sufferings of our fellow 
 mortals, some of us should ask our preachers how 
 they were informed of the sorrowful news of the 
 destruction of the inhabitants of Philadelphia? 
 They in a very careless indifferent manner, after a 
 few civilities, inform us that we have had the ac- 
 count in the public papers ; and ask us if we have 
 not seen the account of the burning of those ware- 
 houses and all the goods there were in them ? 
 What should we think in such a case ? Should we 
 not allow ourselves to query whether these good 
 teachers had not made some mistake ? or exagerat- 
 ed in a most unwarranted degree the account given
 
 308 
 
 in the papers ? You will all agree that no excuse 
 could possibly palliate for such a breach of our 
 peace, except it could be proved that our teachers, 
 who had thus troubled our souls, were actuated by 
 a delirium. But my .friends, even this comparison 
 falls infinitely short of the subject under considera- 
 tion. There is not so great a disproportion between 
 the supposed account of the fire in Philadelphia, 
 and the exageration of this account, which we have 
 supposed, as there is between the account recorded 
 in Genesis of the destruction of the Sodomites, and 
 the exagerations by which thousands have been led 
 to believe that those who were there destroyed, were 
 consigned to a state of interminable misery. The 
 question before you is like this ; Would the public 
 prints notice, in a particular manner, the burning 
 of a few ware-houses in the city of Philadelphia, but 
 say nothing of the burning of the whole city, inha- 
 bitants and all? 
 
 3. As it is acknowledged by all, who reason well 
 on the relation between testimony and facts, and the 
 legitimate powers of the former to establish the 
 latter, that extraordinary and naturally incredible 
 events require a strength of testimony and a clear- 
 ness of evidence which correspond with the extra- 
 ordinary character of what is to be proved, is it not 
 our indispensable duty, and what we owe to our- 
 selves and to the cause of truth, to ask our divines, 
 who insist on the endless misery of the Sodomites, 
 to produce evidence of this fact, the force and clear- 
 ness of which are equal to the extraordinary char- 
 acter of this supposed fact ? 
 
 That this supposed fact is naturally incredible 
 appears most evident by comparing it with the man- 
 ifest character of the divine Being. God is a being 
 of infinite wisdom, power, and goodness. 
 
 We may suppose, that if God were infinitely wise, 
 and infinitely powerful, but entirely destitute of 
 goodness, he might contrive a scheme of infinite 
 cruelty, and carry the same into effect ; but if he
 
 309 
 
 possess as much goodness as he does wisdom and 
 power, it is, palpably absurd to believe that he is 
 the author of any being to whom he is not good ; 
 and it is equally absurd to say that God is good to 
 the Sodomites if they are consigned to a state of 
 infinite misery. 
 
 That our heavenly Father was good and boun- 
 tiful to the inhabitants of Sodom in their mortal 
 state is evident from our context, in which we are 
 informed of the idleness of the people, their fulness 
 of bread, and their criminal neglect of the poor and 
 needy. These accusations fully show that they 
 were guilty of abusing the goodness of divine Pro- 
 vidence ; by which it is clear that God was good to 
 them. Now as it cannot be denied that our heav- 
 enly Father was good and bountiful to the inhabi- 
 tants of Sodom in their mortal state, is it consist- 
 ent for us to believe that he is not good to them in 
 the eternal word, if he there continues their exist- 
 ence ? Where is the evidence that he, who alone 
 can create, and preserve the existence of rational 
 beings, ever does this to the damage of his creatures? 
 
 The plain truth is this ; in room of having such 
 clear and positive evidence in support of this com- 
 mon notion of the endless misery of the inhabitants 
 of Sodom, as reason would require, there is not the 
 most distant hint of any such thing, in the account 
 recorded in Genesis. 
 
 There is a passage in the epistle of Jude, which 
 speaks of Sodom and Gomorrah as follows ; " Even 
 as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them 
 in like manner giving themselves over to fornica- 
 tion, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for 
 an example,suffering the vengeance of eternal fire." 
 This passage is frequently cited to prove that the 
 eternal state of the inhabitance of Sodom and Go- 
 morrah is miserable. Let us examine the passage 
 and see if it afford any such conclusion. The 
 words, "are set forth foftan example suffering the 
 vengeance of eternal' fire,'* are supposed to support
 
 the opinion in dispute. In order to show that these 
 words have no such meaning, we will notice two 
 passages where St. Paul uses the words, "set forth." 
 See Rom. iii. 25. " Whom God hath set forth to be 
 a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare 
 his righteousness for the remission of sins that are 
 past, through the forbearance of God." 1. Cor.iv. 
 9. "For I think that God hath set forth us the 
 Apostles last, as it were appointed to death : for 
 we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to an- 
 gels, and unto men." In both these passages, the 
 words " set forth" evidently mean a most open 
 and clear manifestation of that which was "set forth." 
 But who will pretend that the eternal torments of 
 the Sodomites, in the burning lake of the invisable 
 world, are set forth for an example ? 
 
 When God "set forth" his dear Son for a propi- 
 tiation of our sins, thousands of witnessing eyes be- 
 held him and saw his miracles of mercy ; thousands 
 of ears heard the gracious words which he spake, 
 and thousands felt the life giving, and health restor- 
 ing power of the Saviour. His whole process from 
 his birth to his ascension was attested by many wit- 
 nesses, who could not have made any material mis- 
 take respecting the subject of their testimony. But 
 have we the testimony of a single individual, who 
 has seen the Sodomites in torment since their 
 destruction, or heard their groans ? It is true, and 
 it is spoken with regret, that our terrific preachers 
 speak on this subject, with as much seeming assur- 
 ance, and in terms as positive as does the historian 
 who relates an account of which he is an eye witness. 
 
 The Apostles were " set forth ;" and being " set 
 forth," were a spectacle unto the world, and to an- 
 gels, and to men ; and Sodom and Gomorrah were 
 set forth for an example ;" but who were the spec- 
 tators ? Who were the witnesses? Have angels 
 and men seen them in the torments of the irivisable- 
 world ? No, there is iix> such thing; but we are 
 informed, by the divine historian, that " Abraham
 
 311 
 
 gat up early in the morning to the place where he 
 stood before the Lord. And he looked towards 
 Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of 
 the plain, and lo, the smoke of the country went up 
 as the smoke of a furnace." There can be no rea- 
 sonable doubt that the destruction of the inhabi- 
 tants of Sodom and the Cities of the plain was, "set 
 forth" before the eyes of all the inhabitants of the 
 surrounding country ; and there can be no doubt 
 but that it was considered by those who saw it, as 
 a dispensation of divine Providence for the wicked- 
 ness of the people. And it was recorded in the 
 scriptures for an example, and a warning to the in- 
 habitants of the earth not to practice their sins. 
 
 The fire which destroyed Sodom and the cities 
 of the plain, is called eternal fire on account of the 
 long time it continued in the country, and burned 
 in those pits of slime of which we read in the ac- 
 count of the battle between five kings on the part 
 of Sodom and its confederates, and the four kings 
 who went against them. 
 
 But the fact is we are assured in the most plain 
 terms that the punishment of the sin of Sodom is 
 not in a future state, but was executed on its inha- 
 bitants in a most sudden and expeditious manner. 
 See Lam. iv.6. "For the punishment of the iniquity 
 of the daughter of my people is greater than the 
 punishment of the sin of Sodom,that was overthrown 
 as in a moment, and no hand stayed on her." By 
 this testimony we learn the following facts, which 
 relate to the argument under consideration. 
 
 1. The punishment of the sin of Sodom, was 
 their temporal destruction. 
 
 2. This overthrow, which was the punishment of 
 their sins was executed in a very short time. 
 
 3. There was no protracted punishment execut- 
 ed on them after this sudden overthrow. This we 
 learn from the concluding words of the passage 
 quoted ; " No hand stayed on her." And
 
 312 
 
 4. This punishment of the sin of Sodom was less 
 than the punishment of the iniquity of the house of 
 Jsrael. And it is furthermore worthy of observa- 
 tion, that if the punishment of the sin of Sodom be 
 endless misery, it is a most palpable absurdity to 
 say, that the punishment of the iniquity of the house 
 of Israel was greater. The punishment which the 
 prophet describes, as being greater than the pun- 
 ishment of the sin of Sodom, was altogether the ca- 
 lamities of wars, famines, and other temporal judg- 
 ments which came on the people for their iniquities. 
 And by the prophet Ezekiel, in the place where 
 our text is recorded, we have the reason given why 
 the punishment of .Jerusalem aught, injustice, to be 
 greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom. 
 
 It is here staled that Jerasalem was more cor- 
 rupted in all her ways, than Sodom. 
 
 Having fully proved, as far as any thing can be 
 proved by the divine testimony, that the common 
 opinion concerning the punishment of the Sodom- 
 ites is not only without foundation in scripture, but 
 also in direct opposition to the plain testimony on 
 the subject, we may now notice the words of our 
 text, by way of the following inquiry. 
 
 As God says, by the prophet, in our text ; "There- 
 fore, I took them away as I saw good," what good 
 was there effected by their being taken away in 
 such a manner ? The reason why they were taken 
 away, was their sins. Now if they remained as 
 great sinners after they were destroyed, as they 
 were before, then the occasion of their being taken 
 away was not removed by their destruction. Here 
 then we see, what we always may notice in false 
 notions of the ways of God. They always repre- 
 sent the divine Being as capable of acting without 
 effect, or in a partial manner, or to a malevolent 
 purpose. God destroyed the Sodomites because 
 they were sinful ; yet after their destruction they 
 were no less sinful. Thus the object failed. Af- 
 ter their destruction, as their sin remained, the
 
 313 
 
 Almighty consigned them to burning flames etern- 
 ally, not to reform them of course, but to vent on 
 them his eternal wrath. Thus error represents the 
 divine Being, revengeful and cruel. 
 
 A desire is felt, that the hearer would lend an at- 
 tention to these questions, viz. Why should our heav- 
 enly Father manifest any disapprobation of sin ? 
 Does he suffer any inconvenience from it ? Does 
 the happiness of the sole Governor of the universe 
 depend on the conduct of his creatures? Now as 
 all will agree that the Almighty cannot be injured 
 by sin, so it is reasonable to conclude that he for- 
 bids it because it is injurious to man ; and it is rea- 
 sonable also to conclude that the judgments, by 
 which the divine disapprobation of sin is manifest- 
 ed, are designed to lessen and not to increase human 
 misery. But will any one undertake to prove that 
 human misery is lessened by inflicting unspeakable 
 torments on mankind as long as God shall exist ? 
 
 Let us, my friends, lay aside all the vain notions 
 of tradition and superstition respecting our subject, 
 notions which suppose that our Father in heaven is 
 acting the part of an implacable enemy to his own 
 rational offspring, and let us listen to the language 
 of our text; and- let us realize it as the language of 
 a kind and merciful father. " Therefore I took 
 them away as I saw good." My friends, how does 
 this language sound to you ? Does it carry any idea 
 of unmerciful vengeance ? No, it does not. But it 
 gives a clear idea that God acted in this instance, 
 consistantly with his nature which Js love, and with 
 his character as a Father. He acted for the good 
 of his creatures. 
 
 According to promise, we may now proceed to 
 notice some other instances of the destructien of the 
 wicked, which instances are generally used in sup- 
 port of the system of terror to which the destruction 
 of the Sodomites is so universally applied. 
 
 The first we propose to examine is the destruc- 
 tion of Pharaoh and his host in the red sea. 
 40
 
 314 
 
 There has been and continues to he much dispute 
 and opposition of opinion among divines, respecting 
 God's raising up Pharaoh and hardening his heart 
 for eternal destruction. Some insist that the Al- 
 mighty, by a sovereign act, created Pharaoh for ev- 
 erlasting misery in the eternal world, and that he 
 hardened his heart on purpose that he might com- 
 mit sin enough to justify his endless condemnation. 
 Others oppose such notions, and charge them with 
 making liod the author of sin. But they contend 
 that Pharaoh hardened his own heart, was the sole 
 author of his own sins and is justly sentenced to 
 everlasting perdition together with all his host for 
 disobedience in refusing to let the children of Israel 
 go peaceably out of Egypt. Thus there is one dar- 
 ling point, in which, after they have opposed one 
 another with all the arguments which they can pos- 
 sibly bring to bear on the subject in dispute, and 
 after they have reciprocally censured each other 
 for holding dangerous errors, they meet, and become 
 perfectly quiet in the belief, that Pharaoh and his 
 host are in the torments of hell, from which there is 
 no deliverance. 
 
 That which these opposing divines dispute about. 
 is not embraced in the present object, to which this 
 research is directed, but the point in which they 
 both meet, and concerning which they entertain no 
 doubt, is the question now to be settled. 
 
 But how are we to obtain our object ? The tra- 
 dition of the church says, that Pharaoh and his host 
 are in a state of endless torment. This tradition 
 is now called in question. But how are we to bring 
 this case to a fair decision ? The following meth- 
 od is proposed. Let those divines, who hold and 
 endeavour to maintain that Pharaoh and his host are 
 in a state of endless misery pursuant to an eternal 
 decree of God, and those who deny that tenet, but 
 maintain that Pharaoh and his host are in this state 
 of torment in consequence of abusing their moral 
 agency drop their dispute, until they shall have
 
 315 
 
 proved that Pharaoh and his host are actually in 
 such a state. And then let them all agree to be- 
 lieve nothing on this subject more than the divine 
 testimony proves. 
 
 When this method is agreed to, the ,\\hole ques- 
 tion is settled ; for the fact is, there is no intimation 
 in the scripture account that Pharaoh or any of his 
 host were sufferers after they were drowned in the 
 red sea. 
 
 It is a most humiliating thought, that our learned 
 doctors of ihe church should so long maintain this 
 phantom of their imagination, to the dishonor of 
 God, and to the discomfort of every tender sensi- 
 bility of the human heart. 
 
 But the day of trial and retribution is come ; and 
 this folly must be recompensed. It is true, they 
 may turn away their faces, they may wish to avoid 
 meeting these glaring absurdities ; but the spirit of 
 investigation, which is now manifesting itself, will 
 never suffer this matter to rest, until such barbarity 
 of sentiment is totally rescinded. 
 
 The hearer is cautioned against the supposition 
 that the preacher takes the least satisfaction in giv- 
 ing those, who maintain the errors which he is en- 
 deavouring to expose, the smallest sensation that 
 may disturb their comfort, and against harbouring 
 such a reprehensible disposition. But he may be 
 assured, that no respect due to fellow mortals, can 
 justly prevent us from bringing their false notions 
 to the light. 
 
 The next subject, which we propose to notice is 
 that of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. We have an 
 account in the 16th of Numbers of the destruction 
 of these persons, their families, and of all that ap- 
 pertained to them, by being swallowed up in the 
 earth. This is another instance of divine provi- 
 dence, which, those who believe and preach the doc- 
 trine of endless, unmerciful punishment advert to 
 as a certain proof of its reality. But how can the 
 account which we have of the destruction of those
 
 316 
 
 people prove what it says nothing of nor even im- 
 plies ? If one should say, that Korah, Dathan, and 
 Abiram with their families went immediately, after 
 they were swallowed up in the earth, to some one 
 of the planets, where they have all lived ever 
 since in a state of affluence, who could prove to the 
 contrary ? There is nothing in the account which 
 we have of those people that intimate what became 
 of them after they were swallowed up in the earth. 
 
 If we could be satisfied with the account which 
 we have of this matter, there is no difficulty in un- 
 derstanding why these people were swallowed up, 
 and the benefit thereby intended to the congregation. 
 
 As these men rose up to oppose Moses and Aa- 
 ron, and to excite the people to rebellion, Moses 
 told the congregation ; " Hereby shall ye know that 
 the Lord hath sent me to do all these works. If these 
 men die the common death of all men, or if they be 
 visited after the visitation of all men, then the Lord 
 hath not sent me ; but if the Lord make a new thing, 
 and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, 
 with all that appertaineth unto them, and they go 
 down quickly into the pit, then ye shall understand 
 that those men have provoked the Lord." Accord- 
 ing to these words the event took place, arid the re- 
 bellion was ended. 
 
 The question is now put to the candor of this 
 Christian audience, what is there in this account that 
 authorises the belief that Korah, Dathan, and Abi- 
 ram are now in a state of endless torment ? Moses 
 did not intimate to the congregation that these peo- 
 ple would be tormented after death ; and in fact if 
 he had told them so, they could not have been wit- 
 nesses of the truth of his testimony ; nor could any 
 other people since ha veknown whetherMoses spoke 
 the truth or not. We have no account either sacred 
 or prophane, that gives any information of the situ- 
 ation of this company after the earth swallowed 
 them up. If they have been in a state of torment 
 ever since, that torment has been no terror to the
 
 317 
 
 living, because the living have known nothing of it. 
 And it is certain, that those who advert to the case 
 of Korah and his company, as an instance proving 
 the doctrine of a future state of misery, do this 
 thing on no higher authority than human tradition. 
 The destruction of the old world by the flood, is 
 another event, on which, our preachers of punish- 
 ment in a future state, depend for proof of their 
 terrific doctrine. And such is the habit of thinking, 
 with pious and religious people, on this subject, 
 that whenever they think of the drowning of the 
 inhabitants of the old world, their minds are carried 
 directly to the idea of the awful state of suffering 
 which those people have been in ever since. They 
 never presume to call the matter in question. They 
 never think of asking whether there be any proof 
 of this horrible notion. They take it altogether 
 on tradition, without taking the trouble ever to 
 read the account to see what is said respecting it. 
 Yet it is worthy of notice, that these very people, 
 thus led away with superstition, will wonder, and 
 even laugh at the absurd superstitions of other peo- 
 ple, in matters of no consequence in comparison 
 with this which we have now called in question. For 
 instance, what a world of contention there has been 
 between Roman catholics and Protestants, on the 
 question respecting transubstantiation and what is 
 termed, the real presence. Protestants will even 
 ridicule the superstition of their opponents on this 
 subject; but after all, have they a thousandth part of 
 the evidence to prove that the inhabitants of the old 
 world are in a state of endless misery, as the catho- 
 lics have to prove the real presence? No, surely 
 they have not. When Jesus took bread and brake 
 it, he said ; " this is my body." Protestants say, 
 that Jesus spake figuratively ; bu t the catholics deny 
 this, and say, he meant as he said. Now what we 
 ask is this, is there in all the account which we have 
 of the destruction of the old world, any thing so 
 much in favour of the misery of the people after
 
 318 
 
 death, as the words of Christ are in favour of the 
 catholic sentiment ? The fact is, there is nothing 
 said on the subject. There is no intimation that 
 the inhabitants who were drowned by the flood were 
 made miserable at all in a future state. Thus Pro- 
 testants as well as the old pharisees " strain at a 
 gnat, and swallow a camel." 
 
 In the last place, we will notice the case of Judas, 
 who betrayed Jesus. Because Jesus said ; " It had 
 been good for that man if he had not been born," 
 it is now contended that Judas is in a state of misery 
 from which there is no deliverance. But did the 
 divine teacher say any thing on the subject of the 
 state of existence that Judas would be in after this 
 life ? No he surely did not. How then can his 
 words prove what they say nothing of? 
 
 Let us ask the following question ; Is it possible 
 to prove that Judas now has any existence, from 
 the words of Jesus, which we have quoted ? " It 
 had been good for that man if he had not been born." 
 Do those words prove that Judas is now in exist- 
 ence ? Surely no one will even pretend this. But 
 it is beyond all scruple, that a sentence which does 
 not prove that a man exists at a given time, cannot 
 prove that he is miserable or happy at the same 
 given time. 
 
 But it is said, if Judas exists, and if he should be 
 made happy in the eternal world, the words of Jesus 
 are not true, because the existence of Judas will be 
 a blessing. This we pronounce loose and fallacious 
 reasoning, such as is never used to prove any thing, 
 except the doctrine of a future or endless misery. 
 In all matters appertaining to men's interest, in this 
 life, better proof is required than what is here re- 
 lied on to prove a state of endless torment.. We 
 even venture to say, that there could not be found 
 a jury of twelve men who would award property to 
 the amount often dollars to a man, who could not 
 prove his claim to it by evidence more to his case. 
 We may suppose that Jesus meant, that it would
 
 319 
 
 have been good for Judas, if his lot had been ap- 
 pointed with those who never saw the light; or we 
 may suppose, that he meant, it would have been 
 iiood for Judas if he had not been born until after 
 
 ^ 
 
 that period of time ; or we may suppose that Jesus 
 meant, it would have been good for Judas if he had 
 not at that time been born of the spirit of truth ; for 
 Peter says of those that fall away ; "It had been 
 better for them not to have known the way of righ- 
 teousness, than after they have known it, to turn 
 from the holy commandments delivered unto them.'* 
 Either of these suppositions is within the possible 
 meaning of the words of Jesus, but the supposition 
 that Jesus meant, that it would have been good for 
 Ju^as not to have had an existence is not within the 
 possible meaning of his words ; for if he had not ex- 
 isted he could have receive^ no good in any way. 
 Whoever will carefully read what Job says con- 
 cerning his being born, in his 3d chapter, and like- 
 wise what Jeremiah says of his own birth in his 20th 
 chapter will surely find as much proof of the mise- 
 ry of these men in an other world, as they can find 
 in the words of Jesus respecting the misery of Ju- 
 das in the future state. 
 
 According to the words of Jesus in the 19th of 
 Matthew, Judas had followed him in the regenera- 
 tion. And we learn by the account we have in the 
 10th chapter, that Judas, as well as the rest of the 
 twelve Apostles was endowed with power to heal 
 the sick, to cleanse lepers, to raise the dead, and to 
 cast out devils; he was also commissioned to preach 
 the gospel. In the labours of this miraculous min- 
 istry we have no account that Judas was not as 
 faithful and as successful, as the rest of the twelve. 
 But he was a fallible man like the rest ; satan en- 
 tered into him, and he committed one act that was 
 base in the extreme ; he betrayed his master. Peter 
 also denied him, and confirmed his denial with oaths. 
 Judas was called a devil and Peter was called satan. 
 Our tradition has placed Judas in hell, in the eternal 
 world, and Peter in heaven.
 
 320 
 
 The exclamation that Judas made when he re- 
 pented and brought back the money, (O that all, 
 who profess to repent, would do likewise,) to the 
 chief priests is worthy of observation; " I have sin- 
 ned, in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. 
 This shows the high estimation in which this un- 
 happy man held innocence. It seems that the pain 
 of his heart was occasioned by his having betrayed 
 the innocent. 
 
 Now if lie had had no love nor regard for inno- 
 cence, but if entire opposition to all good had pos- 
 sessed his heart he surely would not have repented 
 and brought back the money ; he would not have 
 exclaimed, "I have sinned in that I have betrayed 
 the innocent blood." 
 
 My friends, the scriotures gives no account that 
 this man was miserable in another state ; but the 
 distress his soul was in, in consequence of having be- 
 trayed the innocent Jesus, should be a solemn warn- 
 ing to every one of us, that we never violate our duty 
 to the innocent. 
 
 To conclude ; God took away the Sodomites, 
 Pharaoh and his host, Korah and his company, the 
 inhabitants of the old world, Judas who betrayed 
 his master, and many other, as he saw good. His 
 designs are all the designs of goodness. And if the 
 Holy Ghost had intended to inform us that all (hose 
 people were miserable in the invisible world, we 
 should have found it so recorded in the faithful tes- 
 timony. But we have reason to be thankfnl, and to 
 praise the name of him, who gave himself a ransom 
 for all, who is the propitiation for the sins of the 
 whole world. We have great consolation in believ- 
 ing, that " as in Adam all die, even so in Christ 
 shall all be made alive. In opposition to the doc- 
 trine of future, endless misery, we present the un- 
 changeable goodness of that God, who " is good 
 unto all and whose tender mercies are over all his 
 works.
 
 DELIVERED AT THE 
 
 SECOND UNIVERSALIST MEETING, IN BOSTON, 
 MAY 9, 1819. 
 
 BY HOSEA BALLOU, PASTOR. 
 
 Published Semi-Monthly by Henry BoWen, Congress-street. 
 
 ISAIAH xxviii. last of 19. 
 " And. il Shall be a vexation only to understand the report,' 1 '' 
 
 THE prophet in this chapter, contemplates the 
 house of Israel in a state of great seeming security, 
 into which they had introduced themselves, by 
 making a covenant with death, and an agreement 
 with hell, and by preparing for themselves a refuge 
 of lies. 
 
 As is perfectly natural with those, who, by their 
 own wisdom, frame for themselves partial systems, 
 this people exulted in their confidence, and raised 
 their expectations of seeing the destructions and 
 calamities, from which they fapcied themselves se- 
 cure, fall like an overflowing scourge on those who 
 had neglected to enter into their covenant, to avail 
 themselves of their agreement, and to take shelter 
 in their refuge. 
 
 According to their confidence and expectation 
 they said ; " We have made a covenant with death, 
 and with hell are we at agreement ; when the over- 
 flowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come 
 unto us ; for we have made lies our refuge, and 
 under falsehood have we hid ourselves." 
 
 Thus an overflowing scourge was expected ; but 
 it was to come on others, they were safe. They 
 41
 
 322 
 
 had made due preparation* for security, and had 
 nothing to anticipate but their own safety ana the*" 
 destruction of others, who had neglected to get an 
 interest in their means of defence. 
 
 But the wisdom of man is foolishness with God. 
 When he thinks himself secure, and is looking out 
 for the destruction of others, he is frequently sub- 
 jected to the vexation of seeing his confidence fail, 
 his hope expire, and his expectations die. 
 
 Such was the lot of that people whom the 
 prophet addressed in this chapter. For in reply 
 to their boasting, the Lord says; Behold I lay 
 in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone ; a 
 precious cornor stone, a sure foundation ; he that 
 believeth shall not make haste. Judgment also 
 will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the 
 plummet ; and the hail shall sweep away the refuge 
 of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding 
 place. And your covenant with death shall be dis- 
 annulled, and your agreement with hell shall not 
 stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass 
 through, then ye shall be trodden down by it. 
 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you : 
 for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day 
 and by night; and it shall be a vexation, only to 
 understand the report. For the bed is shorter 
 than that a man can stretch himself on it; and the 
 covering narrower than that he can wrap himself 
 in it." This was widely different from their ex- 
 pectations. All their calculations failed. Their 
 covenant with death disannulled ; their agreement 
 with hell disolved; and the waters overflowed 
 the hiding places composed of lies. The bed pre- 
 pared for repose is found to be too short ; and the 
 covering designed for defence from the cold, is too 
 narrow. Thus their labour is lost : and in room of 
 security they find trouble, and in room of behold- 
 ing the dist ruction of others, thev are vexed with 
 
 ^> j tf 
 
 the report of their own.
 
 323 
 
 That the spirit of prophecy spake in this chap- 
 ter concerning Christ and the gospel day seems 
 evident from the 16th verse which has been quoted. 
 
 " Behold I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone, 
 a tried stone ; a precious corner stone, a sufe foun- 
 dation; he that believeth shall not make haste.' ? 
 Compare this with the following words of St. 
 Peter; "Wherefore also it is contained in the 
 scripture, behold I lay in Sion a chief corner 
 stone, elect, precious ; and he that believeth on 
 him shall not be confounded." Also Acts 4. II. 
 "This is the stone which was set at naught by you 
 builders, wiiich is become the head of the corner." 
 Likewise Psalm 118. 22, 23. "The stone which 
 the builders refused is become the head stone of 
 the corner. This is the Lord's doing ; k is mar- 
 velous in our eyes ;" compared with Mat. 21. 42. 
 " Jesus saith unto them, did ye never read in the 
 scriptures, the stone which the builders rejected, 
 the same is become the head of the corner ; this is 
 the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes?" 
 To this stone St. Paul alludes in the 9th of Romans 
 where he speaks of the stumbling of the house of 
 Israel, as follows ; " But Israel, which followed af- 
 ter the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the 
 law of righteousness. Wherefore ? Because they 
 sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works 
 of the law : for they stumbled at the stumbling 
 stone ; as it. is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a 
 gturnbling-stone, and a rock of offence : and who- 
 soever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. 
 
 By the light shed on our subject, by this compar- 
 ison of scripture testimony, we are assisted to make 
 the following conclusions. 
 
 I. The doctrine and religion of the old Jewish 
 church, were represented by the prophet, as a cov- 
 enant with death, an agreement with hell, and a re- 
 fuge of lies.
 
 II. The Messiah, his doctrine and religion are 
 represented by a precious corner stone, judgment 
 laid to the line and righteousness to the plummet, and 
 to hail and to waters forming an overflowing scourge, 
 by which the covenant with death is disannulled, 
 the argument with hell destroyed, and the refuge 
 of lies overflown. And 
 
 III. The vexation which the report of the doct- 
 rine, religion, and things of Jesus would cause his 
 enemies, in the day of the manifestation of his pow- 
 er and grace. 
 
 The doctrine and religion of the old pharisees, 
 the most religious sect among the Jews, being the 
 natural fruits of their carnal evil hearts, were very 
 justly represented by a covenant and an agreement 
 with death and hell. St. Paul says ; " To be car- 
 nally minded is death." And Jesus, speaking to 
 the pharisees, said; " O generation of vipers! how 
 can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of 
 the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. 
 A good man, out of the good treasure of his heart, 
 bringeth forth good things ; and an evil man, out 
 of the evil treasure, bringeth forth evil things." 
 
 There never was but two sorts of religion in the 
 world, the true and the false. True religion is the 
 natural growth of a good heart ; and false religion 
 is the spontaneous production of an evil heart. 
 There never was but two doctrines in the world, 
 the true and the false. The true doctrine is the 
 offspring of the wisdom which is from above ; and 
 the false is the vain imagination of the wisdom which 
 is from beneath. " The wisdom that is from above 
 is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be 
 intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without 
 partiality and without hypocrisy;" but the wisdom 
 which is from beneath is directly the reverse ; it is 
 impure,contentious,unkind, inexorable, unmerciful, 
 full of evil fruits, partial, and hypocritical.
 
 325 
 
 This last was the ckfctrine of the pharisees, it was 
 that leaven which had, in a great decree, leavened 
 the whole Jewish nation, it rendered the pharisees 
 and the people in general so inimical to Christ and 
 his gospel. 
 
 This doctrine which is represented by a covenant 
 with death, and an agreement with hell, may always 
 be known by its enmity. Put it into whatever 
 dress you may, call it by whatever name you please, 
 represent it as the most precious of all treasures, 
 all this does not alter its nature. Call it, if you will, 
 the apostolic faith, the holy catholic, the evangelic, 
 the Calvinistic, the Arminian, or the orthodox, if 
 there be partiality, if there be an unmerciful spirit, 
 and if there be an implacable wrath in it, it is a 
 covenant with death and an agreement with hell. 
 This doctrine may be taught by a renowned Gama- 
 liel, it may have and command the influence of 
 Colleges and eminent professors, it may be decora- 
 ed with gowns and bands, but it remains the same. 
 
 Lies and hypocrisy are its refuge. In his faith- 
 ful-ness to his adversaries, our Saviour did not fail to 
 point out their hypocrisy, and the methods by which 
 they deceived the people. He said ; " Wo unto 
 you, scribes and pharisees, hypocrites ! for ye de- 
 vour widow's houses, and for a pretence make long 
 prayer." All such prayers were falsehoods ; they 
 were mere pretences, designed to deceive the peo- 
 ple. For this species of hypocrisy, Jesus told them, 
 that they should receive the greater damnation. 
 
 Again, the Saviour said ; " Wo unto you scribes 
 and pharisees, hypocrites ! for ye compass sea and 
 land to make one proselyte ; and, when he is made, 
 ye make him two fold more the child of hell than 
 yourselves." This must have been done by false- 
 hood and deceit. 
 
 " Wo unto you scribes and pharisees, hypocrites! 
 for ye make clean the outside of the cup and the 
 platter, but within they are full of extortion and
 
 326 
 
 excess." This again is all deceit. " Wo unto you 
 scribes and pharisees, hypocrites ! for ye are like 
 unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beau- 
 tiful outward, but are within full of dead men's 
 bones, and of all uncleanness." All this was de- 
 signed to point out their hypocrisy, in appearing to 
 be righteous when they were full of iniquity. 
 
 " Wo unto you scribes and pharisees, hypocrites! 
 because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and 
 garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, and say, if 
 we had been in the days of our fathers, we would 
 not have been partakers with them in the blood of 
 the prophets." All this again was hypocrisy, 
 which proved them to be the children of those who 
 killed the prophets. The Saviour further said to 
 his enemies ; " Fill ye up then the measure of your 
 fathers. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers ! 
 how can ye escape the damnation of hell ?" 
 
 Speaking to his disciples concerning the scribes 
 and pharisees, Jesus said ; " All their works do 
 they to be seen of men : they make broad their 
 philacterJes, and enlarge the borders of their gar- 
 ments, and love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and 
 the chief seats in the synagogues, and greetings in 
 the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi." 
 
 When these hypocrites gave any thing to the 
 poor, they would sound a trumpet before them in 
 the Synagogues, and in the streets, that they might 
 have glory of men. When they fasted they were 
 careful to disfigure their faces and to appear with 
 sad countenances, that they might appear unto men 
 to fast. These solemn, but false indications form- 
 ed the refuge of lies which suitably become the par- 
 tial doctrine and illiberal religion which they pro- 
 fessed and practiced, and which the prophet repre- 
 sented by a covenant with death and an agreement 
 with hell. 
 
 We have already said that there never was but 
 one fal?e religion, that there never was but one
 
 327 
 
 false doctrine ; this false doctrine and spurious re- 
 ligion have always in all ages, do now, and will as 
 long as they exist in the world manifest themselves 
 by rve righteous, and they rvicktd. 
 
 When the advocates of partial religion talk of 
 the wicked, they always speak in the third person. 
 " This man receiveth sinners and eateth with them." 
 He is gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner. 
 This is the native language of false religion. It is 
 never heard to say, he is come to me a sinner, he re- 
 ceiveth me a sinner. It never says, "this is a faith- 
 ful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ 
 Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom 
 I am chief." 
 
 When we say that there is but one false doctrine, 
 we mean that all the doctrines invented by the wis- 
 dom of this world are one in spirit; they are par- 
 tial, they are full of enmity, they have treasures of 
 unmerciful wrath in them; in one word, you will 
 always find that a false doctrine is unmerciful to 
 sinners, but abundantly compassionate to the righ- 
 teous. All the errors in the world are but one in 
 this. 
 
 Those, who look on themselves as righteous, and 
 view others as sinners, calculate largely on their 
 own safety, on the rich rewards which they are to 
 receive; but are full of expectations arid horror on 
 account of the vengeance that is coming on the 
 \\icked. This is the case with the pharisee in all 
 countries, and has been in all ages. The old pbari- 
 sees of Jerusalem, those of the Christian church of 
 every denomination are one character, of one doc- 
 trine, of one spirit, they all speak one language. 
 They look out for an overflowing scourge to fall 
 on the wicked, but they are secure. 
 
 To such people the mild, merciful doctrine of 
 Jesus is an overflowing scourge ; to such doctrine, 
 that gospel which is as the rain, which distils as the 
 dew is as a storm of hail which beats the tender 
 herb to the ground.
 
 To hear llie news, to understand the report that 
 grace, mercy, and peace are flowing to sinners 
 through a kind Redeemer is indeed a vexation. 
 
 Let us, my hearers, notice some of the instances 
 of vexation occasioned by the good ness and mercy 
 of the Saviour, which are recorded in the New- 
 Testament. 
 
 But first let us observe how exactly the pharisees 
 were prepared to meet with disappointment and 
 vexation. They expected a Messiah, and were 
 looking out for him. They had no doubt but he 
 would be one of their order, and would come to 
 them as to the only righteous people on earth. 
 They expected to receive his full approbation, and 
 to hear all the anathemas which they had been in 
 the habit of pronouncing on sinners, who had neg- 
 lected to conform to their religion, reiterated by 
 their Messiah accompanied with executive wrath. 
 
 Under these circumstances, and with such expec- 
 tations, the chief priests, scribes, doctors of the law 
 and pharisees, at Jerusalem, hear a report which is 
 circulated about the city, of one Jesus, away in the 
 extreme part of the country, in Galilee of the gen- 
 tiles, who has undertaken to preach. In such a 
 case it would be natural for them to inquire, who 
 he was, and what sort of a man, and how he came 
 inducted into the ministry. They soon learn that 
 he is the son of a carpenter, and that he was baptis- 
 ed by that John, who, being possessed of the devil, 
 had the audacity to call them, as holy as they were, 
 a generation of vipers. This information gives 
 them disgust. 
 
 Another report comes which states what this 
 new preacher has insinuated respecting the scribes 
 and pharisees; this report says, that the preacher 
 has the impiety to tell his hearers ; " Except your 
 righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the 
 scribes and pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into 
 the kingdom of heaven." This is looked upon as
 
 329 
 
 most profane, yea abominable. There comes 
 another report, and the news flies about like light- 
 ning, that this new preacher pretends to be the Mes- 
 siah promised, and that he works miracles in confir- 
 mation of his divine mission ? This is vexation in- 
 deed. 
 
 My friends, can you conceive of any thing that 
 could have been a greater vexation to a religious 
 people, to a people, who really believed that they 
 were heaven's favourites ; and were conscious to 
 themselves that they had served God in a most per- 
 fect manner, than to be told by one, who could 
 heal the sick with a word, cast out demons by a 
 command, open the eyes of the blind, and call the 
 dead to life, that publicans and harlots should go 
 into the kingdom of heaven before them ? If the 
 man who made this declaration, had been an ordi- 
 nary character, or if he had been a person of no note 
 among the people, it might not have occasioned 
 them any trouble ; they might have suffered it to 
 pass like the unstable wind, which might the next 
 hour blow the other way. But what must have been 
 their astonishment, vexation, and confusion on hear- 
 ing this report from the lips of Jesus, whose fame 
 had already extended through all the country, 
 whose wonderful miracles had already set the peo- 
 ple all in motion, after whom thousands and thou- 
 sands were flocking, carrying their sick, their lame, 
 their blind and dumb, and who rejoiced in the man- 
 ifestations of the divine power in healing all infir- 
 mities among the people ? 
 
 "Publicans and harlots go into the kingdom of 
 God before you." What a vexation ! The chief 
 priests and elders of the people, who were in ex- 
 pectation of the Messiah, and who had made eTery 
 preparation for his reception, which they thought 
 necessary were now informed that publicans and 
 harlots were to go into the kingdom of God before 
 them. 
 
 42
 
 Never were people more vexed than were tbe 
 pharisees in the affair of the man who was born 
 blind. In the first place they would not believe 
 that he was born blind ; but after they had called 
 his parents, and were certified that this was the case, 
 they then asked him how he had received his sight. 
 He assured them that Jesus had opened his eyes. 
 They finally concluded that even if he did open his 
 eyes, yet he was a sinner because he had done it on 
 .the sabbath day. But others said; "how can a 
 man that is a sinner do such miracles, and there was 
 a division among them." 
 
 Such was the vexation occasioned by this aston- 
 ishing miracle, and by the testimony of him on 
 whom it was performed, that they cast him out of 
 the Synagogue. 
 
 The raising of Lazarus, and the report of this 
 fact caused great vexation among the pharisees. 
 who on this account, together with the chief priests, 
 gathered a council, and said, what do we ? for this 
 man doeth many miracles. If we let him thus alone, 
 all men will believe on him." And they took 
 counsel to put him to death. Nor did they think 
 that this would be sufficient to prevent the evil ; 
 they thought it expedient also to put Lazarus to 
 death, because many of the Jews believed on Jesus 
 on account of going to see Lazarus, and being made 
 acquainted with the fact of his having been dead, 
 but raised up by the power of Jesus. 
 
 This divine teacher gave his enemies unspeakable 
 vexation by charging them with hypocrisy to their 
 faces, by calling them serpents, and a generation of 
 vipers, and pronouncing on them woes and the dam- 
 nation of hell. 
 
 But nothing caused greater vexation to the self- 
 righteous, than the language of Jesus to sinners. 
 " Son, be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee ; 
 daughter, be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven 
 thee." For this they charged him with blasphemy.
 
 331 
 
 This forgiveness of sins, placed the sinner on the 
 same footing with the righteous, which was a vexa- 
 tion to those who had been at an incalculable ex- 
 pense and trouble to become righteous. 
 
 The parable of the labourers was designed to set 
 forth the impartial goodness of God, and the vexa- 
 tion that the self-righteous would feel on hearing the 
 report. All the day long did the labourers who 
 were first hired, make their calculations how much 
 better they were to fare at evening, than those who 
 were idle in the markets. And when they saw them 
 come into the vineyard at the eleventh hour, they 
 were persuaded that they would receive little, or 
 nothing for what they did ; but when they saw them 
 paid off, and knew that they received every man a 
 penny, they were in hopes of receiving more, but 
 what was their vexation when they received their 
 penny also? 
 
 They murmured, they complained, they accused 
 the good man of the house of unjust conduct; but 
 he told them that he would give unto the last even 
 as unto them. 
 
 The parable of the prodigal and the elder brother 
 is another representation of the vexation which the 
 doctrine of divine grace caused in the minds of the 
 pharisees. When the elder brother was coming 
 from the field at evening, he heard music and danc- 
 ing in the house and great merriment and rejoicing. 
 He sent a servant to know the occasion, who return- 
 ed and informed him that his brother had come 
 home, and that his father had killed the fatted calf, 
 because he had received him safe and sound. 
 
 O the vexation that this report occasioned ! Ele 
 now looked back on the tedious labours which he 
 for a long time, " lo many years," had faithfully 
 performed in the service of his father, without even 
 a kid to make merry with his friends. All this he 
 compared with the ease, and pleasure in which his 
 prodigal brother had passed his time, and wasted
 
 332 
 
 liis father's property, and the expensive entertain- 
 ment and sumptuous feasting with which his father 
 had welcomed him on his return. Such was the 
 vexation of this toil-worn labourer, on hearing this 
 report, that " he was angry and would not go in.' 1 
 INfo, he would not go into his own house, he would 
 not refresh himself on his own provisions, he would 
 not return to his own rest. His father came out 
 and entreated him, but to no effect, of which we are 
 informed. 
 
 My friends, what was the matter which caused 
 this anger and vexation ? It was simply this, the 
 father's compassion, his mercy and grace to the sin- 
 ner, was like an overflowing scourge, was like a 
 storm of hail to the malevolent, unmerciful senti- 
 ments of this self-righteous bigot, who felt as if he 
 could have rejoiced to see his brother excluded 
 from all mercy. 
 
 It seems next to impossible, that any should not 
 understand this case, and see the difference between 
 the doctrine of the self-righteous, and that doctrine 
 of divine grace, which gave such offence to the ene- 
 mies of Jesus. 
 
 Such was their offence, such their vexation, that 
 they finally procured the death of the Lord of Glory. 
 But by this means they were preparing for still 
 greater vexation. 
 
 u God moves in a mysterious way, 
 " His purpose to perform." 
 
 After they had crucified the merciful Jusus, they 
 made careful exertions to prevent his disciples im- 
 posing on the people a report of his resurrection. 
 A stone was set at the mouth of the sepulcher, and 
 a guard of soldiers to watch. 
 
 How hush, how still is the world ! Every thing 
 is now secure. No multitudes now flocking in 
 crowds to hear the preaching of Jesus, no poor blind 
 one grouping after him who could give sight to the
 
 333 
 
 blind, none rushing along the streets with their sick, 
 lame, and possessed of devils, to find him who con- 
 troled all maladies, no little children in the streets, 
 crying hosannah to the son of David, blessed is he 
 that cometh in the name of the Lord. Where are 
 the disciples of the crucified Jesus ? They have 
 fled, like timorous lambs from prowling wolves. 
 None dare show themselves. The powers of dark- 
 ness seem to triumph. 
 
 The scene changes, all Jerusalem is in astonish- 
 ment. The disciples are publicly preaching the 
 resurrection of Jesus ; are endowed with the holy 
 ghost and the gift of tongues, so that men of ail na- 
 tions hear them speak in their own language, the 
 wonderful works of God. 
 
 The report of these things must have vexed the 
 chief priests, the elders, the scribes and the pharisees 
 beyond all description. They now saw all their 
 efforts fail, and their hopes blasted. The Apostles 
 accused them of having murdered Jesus, whom God 
 had annointed; they performed most astonishing 
 miracles in confirmation of their testimony. When 
 Peter and John restored the lame man in the tem- 
 ple before all the people, and declared that this mi- 
 racle was wrought through faith in the name of Je- 
 sus, whom God had raised from the dead, these ene- 
 mies of the gospel were " grieved that they taught 
 the people, and preached through Jesus the resur- 
 rection of the dead." 
 
 After this manner the word of God prospered, 
 the gospel spread ; and though it was the rain of 
 righteousness and the gentle dew of peace divine to 
 those who had professed no religion, had formed no 
 covenant with death, nor agreement with hell, yet 
 to the pharisees, to the scribes, to the chief priests, 
 and to the elders it was an overflowing scourge, it 
 was as a storm of hail that beats the tender herb to 
 the earth.
 
 334 
 
 The report of the conversion of Saul, of his re- 
 nouncing their superstitions, deserting the cause of 
 persecuting the name of Jesus, and his preaching 
 the gospel to the gentiles, was calculated to give 
 them much perplexity and great .vexation. 
 
 Thus far, dear friends, we have noticed things 
 which took place in ancient times; let us now en- 
 quire if any thing similar is known in our day? Yes, 
 we have those who profess the name of Jesus, say 
 unto him, Lord, Lord, and yet are of the senti- 
 ments and description of the old pharisees. They 
 have made a covenant with death and an agreement 
 with hell. Death and hell compose their religion. 
 Do they not hide themselves in a refuge of lies ? 
 Do they not for a pretence make long prayer ? 
 but devour widow's houses ? Do they not appeal- 
 like whited sepulchers outward, and yet within are 
 they not full of extortion ? Do they not lie with 
 their countenances, by disfiguring their faces ? Did 
 you never see professors of religion wear a very 
 different face at one time than at another? Yes, 
 you reply, but you thought it was because they 
 were a most Godly people. Then you have given 
 them their reward, for this opinion of yours is all 
 that they disfigured their faces for. 
 
 These modern pharisees are the most zealous peo- 
 ple in religion, they look upon themselves as the 
 favourites of heaven, but those who do not sub- 
 scribe to their agreements and covenants, and take 
 shelter in their refuge of deceit, they esteem as ob- 
 jects of the divine wrath which is ready to burst 
 upon them, and lingers to blast them in everlasting 
 woe. 
 
 To these enemies of the meek, humble, kind and 
 merciful doctrine and religion of Jesus, the report, 
 which God is sending forth at this eventful period, 
 of his impartial grace, and his tender mercies which 
 are over all his works, is a most grevious vexation. 
 
 When the divine testimony is brought to them,
 
 335 
 
 which certifies that God " will have all men to be 
 saved and to come unto the knowledg of the truth," 
 that Jesus "gave himself a ransom for all to be testi- 
 fied in due time," that "where sin abounded, grace 
 did much more abound," that "as by the offence of 
 one,judgment came upon all men to condemnation; 
 even so by the righteousness of one, the free gift 
 came upon all men unto justification of life,' 5 that 
 as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be 
 made alive," in power, in glory, in honor, in incor- 
 ruption and immortality, this faithful report is a 
 vexation. 
 
 Stung with resentment, they exclaim, heresy, de- 
 lusion, a dangerous doctrine, a doctrine pleasing 
 to the carnal mind, and which tends to all manner 
 of vice. They complain that this doctrine holds 
 out no reward for righteousness, if God has mercy 
 on the sinner, then there is no encouragement to 
 serve him ; if sinners are not to be punished eter- 
 nally, it is no matter what th?y do. So murmured 
 the labourers who bore the burthen and the heat of 
 the day, at the good man who humbled their pride 
 by making the last equal with them. 
 
 Their eye was evil because goodness had extend- 
 ed beyond the narrow limits of their creed. They 
 had lotted on the gratification which they expect- 
 ed in seeing those, who spent so much of their time 
 in idleness, destitute and pennyless. Similar calcu- 
 lations are now made, and pretended saints are 
 exulting in the expectation of the joys which they 
 are to inherit in heaven in seeing sinners in endless 
 perdition. 
 
 So complained the elder brother, because his 
 father kindly received the prodigal and killed for 
 his entertainment the fatted calf. Such was his 
 resentment that he would not go into the house. 
 Similar resentment is now manifested, and the 
 proud boasting pharisee is heard to say, " if sinners 
 are going to heaven I wish riot to bear them com- 
 pany."
 
 336 
 
 O that these deceived souls could he introduced 
 to, and form an acquaintance with so great stran- 
 gers as they are to themselves. 
 
 Then should we hear from them a different 
 language. Then would they say if there be mercy 
 for sinner?, then is there a ray of hope for us. If 
 Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, 
 then are we the objects of his unmerited favour. 
 
 My Christian friends, you are most humbly and 
 affectionately entreated not to construe the faith- 
 fulness of this discourse, to signifiy that the speak- 
 er harbours one unfriendly feeling towards any 
 denomination or name in the world. The soul 
 object is to set truth before you, to show the differ- 
 ence between true and false religion, to endear 
 the character, the doctrine, and spirit of Jesus to 
 your hearts ; and to give you occasion to trust and 
 to rejoice in his grace. 
 
 " Let Pharisees of high esteem, 
 Their faith and zeal declare; 
 Ail their religion is a dream, 
 If love be wanting there." 
 
 God is love, and love worketh no ill. Through 
 all worlds and to all beings, God is love. With 
 him there is no variableness nor shadow of turn- 
 ing. What he has been, and what he is now, is 
 what he will forever remain. 
 
 Let us, my dear friends, imitate our Father in 
 heaven, let us love our neighbours as ourselves, 
 let us love our enemies and pray for them.
 
 No. 22. 
 
 LECTURE SERMON, 
 
 DELIVERED AT THE 
 
 SECOND UNIVERSALIST MEETING. IN BOSTON, 
 MAY 23, 1819. 
 
 BY HOSEA BALLOU, PASTOR. 
 
 Published Semi-Monthly by Henry Bowen, Congress-street. 
 
 ROMANS, y. 8. 
 
 411 But God eommendeth his lore toward us, in that, while tee ivere yet 
 sinners, Christ died for j." 
 
 THE general subject, on which the Apostle la- 
 boured, which led him to the statement made in 
 our text, was to show that the justification of man 
 unto spiritual life, depended on a covenant of pro- 
 mise, and not on a law of works. In the preceding 
 chapter our author is remarkably explicit, where he 
 says, " Now to him that worketh is the reward not 
 reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that 
 worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the 
 ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousnes." 
 And speaking of the faith of Abraham, even before 
 circumcision, he says, " For the promise that he 
 should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham 
 or to his seed, through the law, but through the 
 righteousness of faith. For if they which are of 
 the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the pro- 
 mise made of none effect. Therefore it is of faith, 
 that it might be by grace ; to the end the promise 
 might be sure to all the seed : not to that only which 
 is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of 
 Abraham, who is the father of us all*" The faith of 
 
 43 
 
 .
 
 338 
 
 which the Apostle here speaks, is the same which 
 he calls " the covenant of promise" in Ephesians 2. 
 12. It is an egregious mistake to suppose that 
 Abraham's believing in the promise of God, is the 
 "righteousness of faith," by which he was consti- 
 tuted the heir of the world; for Abraham could 
 not believe the promise that he should be the heir 
 of the world until such promise was communicated 
 to him, and this promise could not have been com- 
 municated to him at an earlier date than the estab- 
 lishment of its own truth in the purpose of him who 
 made the promise. 
 
 This covenant of promise is the FAITH, of which 
 the Apostle again speaks in the beginning of this 
 chapter as follows; " Therefore, being justified by 
 FAITH, we have peace with God, through our Lord 
 Jesus Christ." That this FAITH, by which we are 
 justified, is not our act of believing, will appear 
 evident by the connection in which the Apostle here 
 places it. That we may understand this subject 
 clearly, we must disregard the division of these two 
 chapters, and read the lastTerse of the fourth chap- 
 ter and the first of the fifth together. Speaking 
 of Jesus, the Apostle says, " Who was delivered 
 for our ofterices, and was raised again for our 
 justification. Therefore being justified by faith, 
 we have peace with God, through our Lord 
 Jesus Christ." Here it is evident that the inspired 
 Apostle makes the resurrection of Christ, and the 
 faith by which we are justified the same ; by which 
 it is evident, that by FAITH he no more meant the 
 act of believing, than he meant that the resurrection 
 of Jesus, for our justification, was the act of be- 
 lieving. 
 
 This FAITH, which is the covenant of promise, the 
 Apostle distinguishes most clearly from the act of 
 believing in chapter 3d, as follows ; " For what if 
 some did not believe ? shall their unbelief make the 
 faith of God without effect ? God. forbid : yea, let
 
 339 
 
 God be true, but every man a liar." No one will 
 suppose that the faith of God is his act of believing, 
 for the act of believing; is a consequence resulting 
 from the power of evidence in the mind, which 
 power can never act in the mind of him who is om- 
 niscient. But this FAITH of God is his covenant of 
 promise, made known to Abraham four hundred 
 and thirty years before the giving of the law by 
 Moses ; concerning which covenant our author 
 speaks to the Gallatians as follows ; " And this I 
 say, that the covenant that was confirmed before of 
 God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and 
 thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should 
 make the promise of none effect." This covenant 
 of promise this author again calls faith in the 1 Hh 
 of Hebrews. " Now faith is the substance of things 
 hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.*' 
 The substance of what we hope for is not our act of 
 believing, but the thing in which we believe. 
 
 It was thought needful to be thus particular on 
 this subject, for two reasons. 
 
 I. To expose the common error which supposes, 
 that our act of believing is required as a condition 
 of our justification before God. This error has so 
 confused the minds of professors of Christianity, 
 that they know not how to explain their own 
 thoughts. They believe that God requires our act 
 of believing as a condition of our justification; and 
 it is constantly held up and urged that our ever- 
 lasting destruction will be the just recompense of 
 our unbelief. But if we ask what there is for us to* 
 believe, there is no answer. For if the thing to be 
 believed were stated, the next question would be, 
 shall the unbelief of man make the faith of God 
 without effect ? And, 
 
 II. Because it was in the fulfilling of this cove- 
 nant of promise, that God commended his love to 
 sinners by the death and resurrection of Jesus.
 
 340 
 
 The particular mode by which the Apostle pre- 
 sented the testimony contained in our text was by 
 drawing a comparison between the compassion or 
 goodness of man, and the compassion or goodness of 
 God. The following are his words; " For when 
 we were yet without strength, in due time Christ 
 died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous 
 man will one die ; yet perad venture for a good man 
 some would even dare to die. But God commend- 
 eth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sin- 
 ners,Christ died for us." Here the comparison is clear 
 and striking to the mind; and evidently shows thai 
 the design of the Apostle was to show that the love 
 of God to sinners is vastly stronger than the love of 
 man toward man. 
 
 The first particular which we shall consider as 
 proved by the testimony of our text is, that neither 
 sin nor any thing else was ever the cause of enmity 
 in God toward man. 
 
 Though this proposition is of immense conse- 
 quence, it seems to have been overlooked by our 
 divines, who have constantly represented the divine 
 Being to be full of wrath and tremendous indigna- 
 tion against sinners. And yet the passage under 
 consideration is a direct and plain testimony against 
 all that has ever been said on this subject. 
 
 The hearer is requested to notice, with attention, 
 the two propositions which are in direct opposition 
 to each other, and which are the foundations of true 
 and false doctrine. One proposition asserts that 
 God loves sinners, and that nothing ever can cause 
 him to do otherwise ; and the other contends that 
 God hates the sinner, and will eternally exercise un- 
 merciful wrath on the transgressor. If one of these 
 be true, the other must be false ; they cannot both 
 be true, nor can they both be false. But which is 
 true ? 
 
 As there is like to be some dispute on this subject, 
 and as the hearer will wish to have it so conducted;
 
 341 
 
 as to make a clear distinction, both between the 
 parties, and their respective arguments, we will 
 give to the parties distinguishing names. The par- 
 ty, who contends that God loves the sinner, we will 
 call LIGHT, and the one who contends for the con- 
 trary proposition we will call DARKNESS. 
 
 Do you ask why these names are chosen ? Be- 
 cause light seems to be expressive of love, and dark- 
 ness of hatred. And the beloved John says, " He 
 that loveth his brother abideth in the light But he 
 that hateth his brother is in darkness." 
 
 Let us hear what darkness argues in support of 
 his favourite proposition, viz. that God hates the 
 sinner. 
 
 He says, as God is a Being of infinite holiness 
 and purity he cannot love unholiness and impurity, 
 but must consistently with his own essential attri- 
 butes, hate sin in an exact proportion to his love of 
 righteousness ; and as the sinner is not righteous, 
 but sinful ; is not holy, but unholy ; is not pure, 
 but impure, God must of necessity hate the sinner. 
 
 Light replies; Though I grant your premises, 
 yet I cannot concede to your conclusion. So far 
 from allowingyour conclusion to beajustdeduction 
 from your premises, I shall contend that it is in di- 
 rect opposition to them, and if it could be maintain- 
 ed as a truth, it must be by disproving the argument 
 from which you deduce it. 
 
 The amount of your argument is, that God is op- 
 posed to sin, This I grant. Now tell me Dark- 
 ness, what is sin ? 
 
 Sin is the transgression of the law. What does 
 
 o 
 
 the law require ? Thou shalt love the Lord thy 
 God, with all thy heart, and with all thy strength, 
 and thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 
 
 Rightly answered. Now, Darkness, do you not 
 see that hatred is the trangression of, and the only- 
 sin that can be committed against this law ? If it 
 be sin for man to hate God, is it holiness for God
 
 342 
 
 to hate man ! In room of haling sin, you contend 
 i hat (.iod hates the sinner, that is, he hates the man 
 \vho hates him. Thus you deny your own premi- 
 ses. For there is no more holiness in God's hatiug 
 man, than there is in man's hating God ; there is no 
 more righteousness in any supposed enmity in God 
 toward man, than there is in man's enmity toward 
 God. 
 
 Darkness says, that this argument is blasphemy, 
 that it accuses God with unholiness and sin. 
 
 Light denies the charge, arid says ; It is you, 
 Darkness, that accuses God with this unholy spirit 
 of hatred. To illustrate the subject light uses the 
 following methaphor. 
 
 The parent of a family of children gives to his 
 offspring^ a law which requires them all to love him 
 sincerely and to love each other; but these child- 
 ren fall out by the way, get wrong notions respect- 
 ing their parent's character and law, and are rilled 
 with hatred toward him, toward his law, and toward 
 one another. In consequence of this the parent, in 
 room of loving his children as he did when he first 
 gave them this law, now hates them and is full of 
 enmity towards his disobedient offspring. What a 
 sad scene is here ! The children are enemies to 
 iheir parent, and what is worse, the parent is an ene- 
 my to his children ! 
 
 Let candor judge in this case, let enlightened rea- 
 son decide the question, which is worst, for the child 
 to hate the parent, or for the parent to hate the 
 child ! Though the light shmeth in darkness, yet 
 the darkness comprehendeth it not. 
 
 If the death of Christ for sinners was a commen- 
 dation of the love of God toward us, it certainly 
 proves, beyond all contradiction, that sin, nor any 
 thing else had caused any hatred or enmity in God 
 toward man. 
 
 The second thing which we shall consider as prov- 
 ed by the declaration of our text is, that the com-
 
 343 
 
 mon opinion and doctrine of (he church, which has 
 represented the death of Christ as necessary in or- 
 der to reconcile God to mankind is erroneous. 
 
 This error has been exposed and disproved in 
 some of our former lectures, but as it is an error of 
 such vast magnitude, involving such palpable ab- 
 . surdities, representing God as a changeable. Being; 
 and as it is so generally believed among various de- 
 nominations, it seems proper to notice it in our dis- 
 course from the words under consideration, by 
 which the error is so fully exploded. 
 
 The error under consideration supposes, that 
 mankind in consequence of sin, was under the divine 
 wrath of God, which required the endless misery of 
 the transgressor : and that Jesus Christ suffered the 
 wrath of God in room and stead of the sinner, by 
 which God became reconciled and satisfied. The 
 statement is made thus plain, that the hearer may- 
 have a distinct view of the subject, and be able to 
 judge after hearing what may be offered on it. 
 
 That this testimony is by no means too high col- 
 oured may be seen by the following quotations from 
 our hymns. But before we attend to the quota- 
 tions, let it be observed, that we hold these hymns, 
 in general, in high estimation, and the authors of 
 them as bright and shining lights in the Christian 
 constellation ; but after all we are disposed to do 
 ourselves justice by gathering the good into vessels, 
 and by casting the bad away. 
 
 " Once we were fallen, O how lowl 
 Just on the brink of endless woe." 
 " Sinners to save from endless woe?. 
 The wrath divine he sinks beneath." 
 ' Think,' how his side was piero'd for you. 
 T" appease the wrath divine." 
 " He oq Calvary's summit di'd : 
 God, your Father's satisfi'd." 
 " Sinners to save from endless woe. 
 The Father's frown he sinks beneath." 
 '" Tis fmish'd Heaven is reconcil'd r 

 
 344 
 
 " The wrath of an offended God, 
 In sweet oblivion laid." 
 
 " And sinners freed from endless pains, 
 Own him their Saviour and their head." 
 
 Here are endless woes, endless pains, Divine wrath, 
 the Father's wrath, the wrath of an offended God, 
 an unreconciled heaven, all which stood threatening 
 mankind, but were poured forth on the devoted 
 head of Jesus, by which we are saved from the wrath 
 of God. 
 
 My brethren, such language as this certainly re- 
 presents our Father in heaven, to be a changeable 
 Being, and a Being capable of exercising the great- 
 est possible enmity. It supposes that our merciful 
 Father was so full of wrath, that he was just on the 
 point of sending mankind to a state of endless woe, 
 when Jesus stept between us and harm, snatched 
 the thunderbolt from the uplifted hand of stern jus- 
 tice, and received its burning vengeance in his own 
 innocent bosom, at which God was satisfied. 
 
 This is the theme our Christian doctors have in- 
 culcated and our Christian poets have sung, but it is 
 the blackness of darkness which has obscured the 
 beauty of the Divine countenance for ages, and 
 caused the mind to wander in the labyrinth of error. 
 
 This error is found in that creed, which lay on 
 our cradles in our infancy, and our dear mothers 
 taught us to repeat with infant lips, and to say, "All 
 mankind by the fall, lost communion with God, are 
 under his wrath and curse ; and so made liable to 
 all the miseries of this life, to death itself, and to 
 the pains of hell forever." 
 
 In opposition to this erroneous representation, 
 let us place our text together with a few concurrent 
 passages. 
 
 "But Godcommendethhislovetowardus, in that, 
 while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. God 
 so loved the world, that lie gave his only begotton 
 Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not
 
 345 
 
 perish, but have everlasting life. Herein is love, 
 .not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and 
 sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 
 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love 
 wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in 
 sins, 'hath quickened us together with Christ." 
 
 These passages, which are but a specimen of the 
 gospel, fully prove the following facts. 
 
 I. That God loved the sinful world of mankind 
 with a great love. 
 
 II. That in consequence of this love he sent his 
 Son into the world to be the propitiation for our 
 sins. And, 
 
 III. That in consequence of the love which God 
 had toward those who were dead in sins, he quick- 
 ened them together with Christ. Now just as plain 
 as these obvious facts are proved by the testimony 
 already recited, so evident it is that the death of 
 Christ was never necessary to reconcile our heaven- 
 ly Father to us ; but was a manifestation of his un- 
 changeable love toward us. 
 
 The third particular which you are invited to 
 contemplate relative to our text is, that its subject 
 belongs to that covenant of promise which was the 
 Apostle's theme which led him to speak these words. 
 That we may have a clear view of this, let us first 
 examine the character of the promise made to Abra- 
 ham, by which he was constituted the heir of the 
 world and the Father of us all ; and then bring our 
 text to compare with the promise, that their union 
 may be visible. The promise to Abraham reads 
 thus, " In thee shall all families of the earth be bles- 
 sed." St. Paul's comment on this promise in his 
 epistle to the Gallatians is as follows, " And the 
 scriptures, foreseeing that God would justify the 
 heathen through faith, preached before the gospel 
 unto Abraham, saying, in thee shall all nations be 
 blessed." By this passage we learn, that the bles- 
 sing which God promised to all the nations of tho 
 44
 
 346 
 
 earth was justification through faith ; which faith 
 we have proved to be the covenant of promise, or 
 the faith of God which cannot be made void by the 
 unbelief of man. Relative to this justification our 
 Apostle says to the Romans ; " For all have sinned 
 and come short of the glory of God ; being justified 
 freely hy his grace, through the redemption that is 
 in Christ Jesus." And again, in the chapter where 
 our text is recorded, he says ; " Therefore, as by 
 the offence of one, judgment came upon all men 
 unto condemnation, even so by the righteousness of 
 one, the free gift came upon all men unto justifica- 
 tion of life." 
 
 In the light of the divine promise to Abraham, 
 which the passages here quoted present, we can see 
 most clearly, that the gospel of eternal life was pro- 
 mised to all mankind, as the bountiful, unbought, 
 unasked favour of our heavenly Father. And this 
 favour, when stated in promise to Abraham, was, 
 as it now remains, the necessary production of the 
 divine, unchangeable love of God to mankind, 
 which never was, nor can be made less by the sin 
 of the world. Having this view of the goodness of 
 God, we seethe divine harmony of our text with the 
 covenant of promise. " God commendeth his love 
 toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ 
 died for us." The same covenant love which 
 was manifested to Abraham four hundred and thir- 
 ty years before the giving of the law, by Moses, is 
 now commended toward mankind, while yet in sin, 
 by the de'ath of him in whom all the families of the 
 earth are blessed with justification. In relation to 
 this divine subject Jesus said to the Jews ; " Your 
 father Abraham rejoiced to see my day ; and he 
 saw it, and was glad." 
 
 The fourth particular subject belonging to our 
 text, to which your attention is solicited, is embrac- 
 ed in the following question: Why did Christ die 
 for us ? We have already proved that there was
 
 347 
 
 no necessity of his dying in order to procure the fa- 
 vour of God toward sinners, for if that had been the 
 case, his death could not have been a commendatiou 
 of the divine love. And indeed,if there were any need 
 of more proof on this subject, than has been pre- 
 sented, we should find all deficiencies supplied, by 
 the prayer of Jesus vxhen dying on the cross. 
 
 Let us, my friends, with profound solemnity, lis- 
 ten to these words, \\hichcontain more true divinity, 
 more pure unadulterated gospel, than all the creeds 
 which have been written since the world began. 
 " Father forgive them, for they know not what they 
 do." Why did he not say ; " Father, forgive them, 
 for I have now suffered thy wrath which burned 
 against them ; I have drank the cup of thy fury 
 which was prepared for them; I have borne that 
 they may never bear thy righteous ire?" If all this 
 had been true, why should he pray as he did, and 
 request that God would forgive them? If the Fath- 
 er had exacted a full penalty for their sins, of his 
 son, how- could he after this be called on to forgive 
 them ? But the reason, the plea which the dying 
 Saviour stated in his prayer, was, " For they know 
 not what they do." 
 
 Our question remains. Why did Christ die for 
 us ? How are we benefited by his death ? Be pa- 
 tient, we still reply in the negative. Christ did not 
 die for us, that we might avoid condemnation if we 
 commit sin, nor did he suffer for us, that we might 
 not be punished for faults if we commit them. This 
 we know by our experience and by his word. We 
 know by experience, if we sin we feel condemned, 
 and this we must feel until the condemnation is re- 
 moved by repentance. And we know by the words 
 of Jesus, that, in place of his suffering in our room 
 and stead, as our erroneous doctrines have taught 
 us, he will render unto every man according to his 
 works.
 
 348 
 
 Why then did he die for us ? The answer is in 
 our text. He died to commend the love of God 
 toward us sinners. He died for us, that he might 
 take away our sins. " Behold the lamb of God, 
 which taketh away the sin of the world." He died, 
 the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to 
 God. He suffered for us, to set us an example, 
 that we should follow his steps. He died for us, 
 that he might bring life and immortality to light 
 through his resurrection. He died, rose and reviv- 
 ed, that he might be Lord, both of the dead and the 
 living. He died and rose again, that the scriptures 
 of the prophets might be fulfilled, and the ministry 
 of reconciliation be established. He suffered and 
 died to show us how sin and all moral evil are to be 
 overcome, by rendering good for evil, love for hat- 
 red, kindness for unkindness, and mercy for wrath. 
 
 Four important particulars may be distinctly no- 
 ticed which rendered the death and resurrection of 
 Christ of vast utility to mankind. 
 
 I. To commend and make known the unchange- 
 able love and mercy of God to a sinful world, there- 
 by to bring sinner's to repentance and to be recon- 
 ciled to God. 
 
 II. To fulfil all that the prophets had written 
 concerning him, that the authenticity of divine reve- 
 lation and the doctrine of the gospel might be suc- 
 cessfully communicated to the gentile nations. 
 
 III. That the patient sufferings which he endur- 
 ed for the benefit of his enemies and the whole 
 world, might ever remain as an example for his dis- 
 ciples to imitate, in all faithfulness, patience, and 
 resignation to the will of God. And, 
 
 IV. That he might bring life and immortality to 
 light by his glorious resurrection ; and manifest 
 the truth of a future happy existence for mankind. 
 
 If the mind will be serious and candid, it will at 
 once acknowledge that these four particulars, when 
 viewed in their harmony and proper connection,
 
 349 
 
 when considered in relation to the innumerable 
 blessings which they have already produced, and 
 promise to produce in future, are altogether wor- 
 thy of the wisdom, power, and goodness of our 
 heavenly Father. 
 
 But to pretend that it was necessary for Christ 
 to suffer and die to appease the wrath of our mer- 
 ciful Father in heaven, is the most unaccountable 
 perversion of divine truth, of which the vain imagi- 
 nation of benighted humanity was ever capable. 
 
 The fifth particular subject to which our text 
 seems to invite our most careful notice is, that the 
 love and mercy of God toward sinners, commended 
 to us by the death of Christ, is consistent with the 
 unchangeable principle of moral righteousness. 
 
 It might be thought, that in order to establish this 
 hypothesis, nothing more could be required as 
 evidence than the text under consideration. For 
 if we are certified that the divine Being does in fact 
 love sinners, that is sufficient evidence that it is 
 morally right that he should do so ; but our pre- 
 sent object is to do more than barely to prove the 
 fact, the object is to illustrate it to the understand- 
 ing. To do this we will first admit our opposer's 
 objection to be stated, The objection is this ; 
 
 According to the strict rule of moral righteous- 
 ness, every moral being must be treated according 
 to his works ; but if God does in reality love 
 sinners, if he grants them the infinite blessings of 
 his grace, it seems that he does not deal with them 
 according to their deserts. Reply, 
 
 It is granted that moral righteousness requires 
 that every transgression and disobedience should 
 receive a just recompense of reward, but then it 
 must be granted, that as the right to inflict punish- 
 ment is derived from the commission of crime, so 
 it is limited by the offence committed, and it is an 
 acknowledged fact that to extend punishment be- 
 yond the demerit of a crime, is, at least, as wide
 
 350 
 
 a departure from moral right as to come short. But 
 he right to do good and to show kindness is not 
 derived, nor is it limited. 
 
 In finite beings the power and means to do good 
 and to show favour are limited, but the right is not 
 limited. And in every instance in which our power 
 and means are too limited to grant all the favour 
 that is needed, we have the liberty still to extend 
 our benevolent wishes without limitation. 
 
 If one of our fellow creatures commits a crime 
 which is punishable by law, it is true, we have no 
 right to prevent this punishment, but we have an 
 unlimited right to love this criminal, and beyond 
 all the punishment of his crime, to wish him well, 
 and if in our power, to do him all the good that he 
 may need. Now, in punishing him according to 
 his offence moral righteousness is perfectly execut- 
 ed, but it now has all the right and all the inclina- 
 tion to love and do the subject good, as it had 
 before any crime was committed. 
 
 St. Paul, speaking of God says ; " Who hath 
 saved us and called us, with an holy calling, not 
 according to our works, but according to his own 
 purpose and grace, which was given unto us in 
 Christ Jesus before the world began." Before the 
 world began, who can dispute that God had a moral 
 right to purpose a dispensation of grace to man- 
 kind? Or who will contend, that his right to love 
 and to do good to the creatures which he should 
 create, could be in the least limited by what they 
 might do after they should be brought into being ? 
 
 A parent has an unlimited right to love an infant 
 child, he has a right to bestow on it an immense 
 fortune, even before the child has any knowledge 
 of its parents. Nor does this, in the least interfere 
 with either his right or duty to subject this same 
 child to a reasonable and righteous discipline, in 
 which the child may be rewarded for well doing, 
 and chastised for its disobedience.
 
 351 
 
 Thus in the eternal mind of our Creator, a boun- 
 ds store of divine riches was treasured up for his 
 rational offspring, before man was brought into be- 
 ing; and among ten thousand other favours, God 
 appointed a rod of correction, and a dispensation 
 of chastisement for the improvement and moral 
 benefit of mankind, while passing through a state 
 of imperfection, subject to vanity. 
 
 The sixth and last particular, which we now 
 propose to make of our text, is to contemplate its 
 sentiment as a pattern for our imitation, and as a 
 principle worthy to be practised. 
 
 This is the use which the Apostle John has made 
 of the same sentiment, expressed in a passage 
 which has already been noticed in this discourse. 
 " Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that 
 he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation 
 for our sins." From this rich and glorious senti- 
 ment the Apostle draws the following conclusion. 
 " Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love 
 one another." Certainly there cannot be a more 
 reasonable inference drawn from any proposition 
 ever laid down than the one which the Apostle here 
 draws from the love of God to mankind. If we 
 had good reason to believe that our Father in 
 heaven really hated his enemies or those who do 
 not love him, if we were consistent with such a be- 
 lief, we should hate all those whom we viewed of 
 this description. And this has been the case in the 
 Christian church as well as through the world. 
 Men have hated and persecuted one another on 
 this mistaken notion ; and verily thought they did 
 God service by so doing. But if we are convinc- 
 ed that God loved us, while we were yet enemies 
 to him by wicked works, and if we believe that he 
 loves every sinner of the human family, and that he 
 has manifested this love by the death of his holy 
 child Jesus, it is all as clear as the sun in a cloud- 
 less day, that we ought to love our enemies, and to
 
 351 
 
 do them all the good that is in our power. And 
 to do otherwise, my Christian friends, is to deny 
 our religion and our doctrine, and that in a more 
 effectual manner than Peter denied his Lord. 
 
 To conclude. Our subject presents before our 
 rejoicing eyes, a boundless scene of divine grace ; 
 it invites us to the sweetest field of contemplation, 
 where goodness, unlimited goodness, mercy, unlim- 
 ited and impartial mercy eternally flow as broad 
 rivers and streams ; as waters, risen waters for men 
 to swim in, which no man can pass. 
 
 Let us close with the appropriate words of the 
 poet: 
 
 " When all thy mercies, O my God, 
 My rising soul surveys ; 
 Transported with the view, Fm lost ; 
 In wonder, love and praise."
 
 No. 23. 
 
 LECTURE SERMON, 
 
 DELIVERED AT THE 
 
 SECOND UNIVERSALIST MEETING, IN BOSTON, 
 JUNE 6, 1819. 
 
 BY HOSEA BALLOU, PASTOR. 
 
 Published Semi-Monthly by Henry Bowen, Congress-street. 
 
 1 THESSALONIANS, iv. 13. 
 
 " But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them 
 which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope." 
 
 IN a world of sorrow, in a state of being incident 
 to the infinite variety of adversity with which man 
 is exercised, as nothing can be more needed, so 
 nothing is esteemed more precious than that which 
 is calculated to mitigate oursorrows,soothe our grief, 
 and sweeten adversity. To do these, and to strow 
 the thorny path of mortal life with the rose of con- 
 solation, and to open in the parched ground of hope- 
 less sorrow a living spring of ceaseless joy, the gos- 
 pel of eternal life has been sent from God to man. 
 
 As the parental sensibilities are moved with pity 
 at the sorrows of their offspring in affliction, and as 
 such an occasion is visited with special tokens of 
 compassion, so hath it pleased the Father of our 
 spirits to break through the dark clouds of mortal- 
 ity and death with the rain-bow of his covenant 
 and to send his annointed to bind up the broken- 
 hearted and to comfort all that mourn. 
 
 In possession of the knowledge of the unseen, 
 eternal things, belonging to the spiritual inheritance 
 of the rational offspring of God, and exercised with 
 that generous affection and those kind sympathies
 
 3J3 
 
 which ever seek the benefit of others, it was impos- 
 sible for the Apostle to stand an indifferent specta- 
 tor of hopeless sorrow, when in possession of that di- 
 vine knowledge by which a celestial cordial of con- 
 solation might be seasonably administered. 
 
 But in order to administer consolation to those 
 who are exercised with adversity or sorrow, it is 
 necessary that the cause should be understood and 
 likewise the extent of grief. Unless the physician 
 understands the cause of complaint, and the extent 
 of disease, it would be mere chance if he did not 
 give force to the former, and enhance the latter by 
 his prescriptions. The case of the woman in the 
 gospel is an instance of what we are now observing. 
 Twelve years was she troubled with her disorder, 
 " and had suffered many things of many physicians, 
 and had spent all that she had, and was nothing the 
 better, but rather grew worse." But when she 
 came to Jesus she was made whole without suffer- 
 ing any thing of him, and without expense. 
 
 The cause of that kind of sorrow which the Apos- 
 tle was desirous to prevent appears to be ignorance. 
 Observe the text ; " But I would not have you to 
 be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are 
 asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which 
 have no hope." 
 
 The particular subjects suggested by these words, 
 and to which our future labours in the present dis- 
 course may be directed are the following. 
 
 I. Ignorance concerning those which are asleep, 
 is the only cause of hopeless sorrow for 1hem. 
 
 II. The knowledge of the truth concerning those 
 which are asleep administers hope and comfort to 
 those who mourn for their friends. 
 
 III. This knowledge is communicated in the gos- 
 pel, through Jesus Christ. 
 
 There are two powers by which ignorance oper- 
 ates in the human mind, in a way to prevent happi- 
 ness and to augment sorrow, even to despair. The
 
 354 
 
 first prevents our knowing the things which belong 
 to our peace, and the second opens a door for an in- 
 finite variety of imaginations all calculated to ad- 
 minister affliction and to cause our sorrows to in- 
 crease. 
 
 The mind that is destitute of knowledge and at 
 the same time devoted to fearful imagination, is 
 like one disturbed by a frightful dream. 
 
 Safely slumbering in the peaceful chamber of 
 repose, and no danger nigh, one might dream of 
 descending a declivity directly leading to a fatal 
 precipice, view destruction as inevitable, and feel 
 the pang of despair; and the whole difficulty end 
 with the sudden interruption of the dream. In fact, 
 though there were every possible reason for sweet 
 content, supporting confidence, and joyful hope, 
 ignorance of all these things would not only pre- 
 vent these blesssings,but expose the mind to a thou- 
 sand imaginary anticipations which belong to the 
 family of despair. 
 
 A few examples from the scriptures may serve 
 further to illustrate this subject. 
 
 There were three particular events relative to 
 the patriarch Jacob, his ignorance of which was the 
 cause of the greatest anxiety, most fearful appre- 
 hensions, and hopeless sorrow. When he was in- 
 formed that his brother Esau, whom he had sup- 
 planted, was coming to meet him with four hundred 
 men, he feared the wrath of his injured brother, 
 and his soul was greatly troubled for his wives and 
 for his children. There was no way of escape by 
 flight, his means to oppose his brother were nothing, 
 he feared all was lost, and that the anger of his 
 brother would blot out his name forever from under 
 heaven. Now imagination presented before his al- 
 most distracted eyes the most shocking catastrophe 
 to which mothers and their innocent children could 
 possibly be exposed. His fearful heart melted 
 within him, and he placed his devoted family in the
 
 355 
 
 order in which, if they must be destroyed, his choice 
 would dictate, and in that arrangement which might 
 possibly afford him an opportunity of saving such 
 as were the most dear to his troubled heart. But 
 how suddenly were his fears all dispelled when 
 Esau ran to him, embraced him with fraternal af- 
 fection and tenderness, and kindly received and 
 compassionately treated every branch of his family. 
 
 What an expense of feelings, the most tormenting 
 would have been saved in this case, if the love and 
 forgiveness, which most bountifully flowed in the 
 heart of Esau toward his brother, had been known 
 to him, whose ignorance of the truth had deprived 
 him of peace, and had let a thousand frightful ap- 
 prehensions into his mind, which had no foundation 
 in fact. 
 
 It might be about ten years after this, that the sons of 
 Jacob brought to their father the coat of many col- 
 ours, which his beloved Joseph wore from home, 
 when he went to seek after the welfare of his breth- 
 ren. This coat they now presented to their father, 
 torn in pieces and covered with blood. " He knew 
 it, and said, it is my son's coat ; an evil beast hath 
 devoured him; Joseph, is without doubt, rent in 
 pieces. And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sack- 
 cloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many 
 days." Yea he refused all comfort and said ; " I 
 will go down into the grave unto my son mourning.' 5 
 
 Who can describe the sorrow which preyed on 
 the heart of the afflicted father ? Methinks I see 
 him seated alone beneath some favourite, salutary 
 shade, giving vent to his grief and indulgence to his 
 tears. He seems to ask ; was it the lion's paw that 
 struck the tender lad to the ground, or was it the 
 hungery jaw of the merciless tiger that dislocated 
 his youthful limbs, or was it the voracious leopard 
 that deprived me of the desire of my eyes ? O cruel 
 ignorance ! what distracting imaginations ! Could 
 Jacob but have known that his Joseph was safe in
 
 .356 
 
 Uie hands of the Angel of God who protected him, 
 hope would have brightened his countenance, sooth- 
 ed his affliction, and administered peace and joy to 
 his heart. 
 
 In the days of the famine, when the sons of Israel 
 were to go down to Egypt the second time, and 
 when they demanded Benjamin to go with them, 
 how trying was all this to the heart oi'the father of 
 the twelve tribes. How full of grief are his words. 
 " Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take 
 Benjamin away. All these things are against me." 
 Such were the hopeless sorrows of one who was ig- 
 norant concerning the subjects of his sorrow. At 
 the very moment when this dark and gloomy as- 
 pect lay before his eyes, Joseph was lord of all 
 Egypt, the owner of the vast grainei ies in that land 
 of plenty, and Simeon was safe in the hands of his 
 compassionate brother; and both were waiting with 
 fervent desire to see Benjamin. Had the venera- 
 ble Patriarch known at this time the truth, his heart 
 would have leaped for joy, as it afterwards did 
 when his children returned and told him that Jos- 
 eph was alive. 
 
 In the several cases which we have noticed, it is 
 evident that the ignorance of Jacob was that which 
 not only prevented the joyful expectations of hope, 
 but introduced the most tormenting imaginations. 
 
 Now the sentiment of our text supposes that this 
 is the case with those, who being ignorant concern- 
 ing them that are asleep, sorrow for them without 
 hope. 
 
 There are two opinions concerning those who 
 are fallen asleep in death, and but two, which are 
 calculated to exercise the mourner with hopeless 
 sorrow. 
 
 The least pernicious, is the opinion that there is 
 no future existence for mankind. When a person 
 of this opinion loses by death any near and beloved 
 connexion there are two grounds of sorrow. The
 
 357 
 
 first is the loss, the eternal loss of such a desirable 
 connexion, and the other is the everlasting extinc- 
 tion of this intellectual moral being. And it is im- 
 
 ~ 
 
 possible that either of these reflections should be 
 accompanied with the least ray of hope. Is it a 
 father or a mother, a wife or a child, a brother or a 
 sister, of which the mourner is bereaved ? And 
 was this connexion most dearly and tenderly belov- 
 ed ? What a gloomy thought, to believe that death 
 has blotted out of existence one so tenderly and af- 
 fectionately beloved, must present an impenetrable 
 cloud of darkness to the mind, that forbids its mak- 
 ing the least advance, repels, and drives it back on 
 its perishable self, and yawns to receive the hope- 
 less mourner to the abyss of nonentity. 
 
 Enough, you say, dwell not a moment on such 
 horror. But what shall we say ? the other opinion, 
 which denies the consolation of hope to the mourner 
 is, that our future existence is worse, far worse than 
 no existence at all. Such are the dismal horrors of 
 everlasting misery in the coming, eternal state, 
 which the traditions of the church have handed 
 down from generation to generation, as have ren- 
 dered the thoughts of eternity, thoughts of horror. 
 
 Is it replied, that our traditions admit that some 
 few of the human family will be happy hereafter, 
 and therefore when our friends die, we may enter- 
 tain a hope that they belong to this little favourite 
 number ? 
 
 We reply ; an absurdity is no just ground of 
 hope. If but a few of the human family are ap- 
 pointed unto salvation, it is absurd for all to hope 
 that they belong to that little number. It is a cir- 
 cumstance that affords matter of much contempla- 
 tion ; and one from which human weakness and hu- 
 man selfishness may he learned, that go where you 
 will, among whatever denomination of people, even 
 among those who hold the most illiberal sentiments, 
 and believe that not more than one out of a, thou-
 
 358 
 
 sand will be happy hereafter, yet if they lose any 
 of their friends by death, they hope they are gone 
 to rest. There are in this metropolis, no doubt, a 
 very respectable number of pious people, who be- 
 lieve without a doubt, that when the Saviour said ; 
 *'many are called, but few are chosen," he meant 
 that but a few of the whole family of mankind are 
 elected unto everlasting life in the eternal world ; 
 and yet when these people are visited with berear- 
 ing providences, and any of their connexions are 
 taken away by death, they hope it is well with them 
 hereafter. You cannot find one, in any possible 
 case who will say to the contrary. Fathers, mothers, 
 wives, children, brothers, sisters, near friends, inti- 
 mate acquaintances, none of them will admit the 
 doctrine of everlasting misery, in which they be- 
 lieve, to apply to each other, nor to themselves. 
 And yet, according to their creed, they have not 
 the least ground for the hopes which they entertain. 
 
 If you ask these people what reason they have 
 for the least comfort, they will say ; we do not 
 know whom God has reprobated, and therefore we 
 do not know that our friends or ourselves are ap- 
 pointed unto wrath. Thus their ignorance con- 
 cerning them that are asleep, in most of instances, 
 according to their creed, is the sole reason why they 
 are not distracted with gloomy and black despair. 
 
 Were this creed of limited salvation, and the doc- 
 trine of the endless misery of a great part of man- 
 kind the truth of the divine economy, and could the 
 vail of ignorance concerning them that are gone 
 from this mortal state be removed, what language 
 could possibly describe the horrors and the lamen- 
 tations which would be the unhappy consequence 
 of such a manifestation? 
 
 We have heard the heart-rending moans and 
 melting sighs of those, whose dear connexions were 
 toiling under the burden and lash of slavery. Their 
 interjections would seemingly move the stones to
 
 359 
 
 pity. What to these people is the sumptuous fare 
 of the board of plenty ? or what to them is the bed 
 of down ? or what to them are the thousands they 
 possess? All would they give could the father, 
 child or brother, as the case might be, return to 
 freedom and home. But compared with the dire 
 scenes of eternal misery under consideration, all 
 this is no more than the weight of a pebble to that 
 of the ponderous globe. 
 
 Do you believe this doctrine ? O tell it not to 
 the mourner. If you do not, and cannot believe it 
 for yourselves; if you can believe it only for others, 
 why tell it to them ? Can they bear to believe it 
 for themselves and for their friends, any more than 
 Vou can endure to believe it for yourselves and for 
 those whom you love ? 
 
 It is worthy of notice, that as the creed under 
 consideration requires people in general to be igno- 
 rant concerning them that are asleep, in order for 
 them to have any hope in the days of their mourn- 
 ing, it is exactly the reverse of the sentiment of our 
 (ext, which supposes that to be ignorant concerning 
 them who are asleep, exposes us to sorrow without 
 hope ; and on the contrary that the true knowledge 
 concerning the condition of such would be a source 
 of divine consolation. 
 
 Let us direct our attention in the next place to 
 ascertain that knowledge concerning those who have 
 fallen asleep in death, which the faithful word of 
 divine inspiration affords. 
 
 But before we proceed to notice any parctiu'lar 
 passages, it is of importance that we begin this in- 
 quiry under the influence of proper motives ; and it 
 is likewise necessary that in the pursuit of our object, 
 we should reason with due reference to the criterion 
 furnished by our text. The motives which ought 
 to induce us to this investigation should be free from 
 the influence of any particular creed, from embar- 
 rassments arising from prepossessions for, or against
 
 3'60 
 
 any party opinions, and should be entirely devoted 
 to the attainment of the truth, the promotion of the 
 honour of God, and the advancement of our own 
 rational and intellectual happiness. And if we pur- 
 sue this inquiry with due reference to the criterion 
 furnished by our text, we shall admit nothing as 
 true which is calculated to destroy our hope con- 
 cerning those who are asleep. 
 
 The words of Solomon recorded in Ecclesiastes 
 seem to be direct to our present subject. t( So I 
 turned, and considered all the oppressions that are 
 done under the sun ; and, behold, the tears of such 
 as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and 
 on the side of their oppressors there was power ; 
 but they had no comforter. Wherefore I praised 
 the dead which are already dead, more than the 
 living which are yet alive." 
 
 The three following ideas are evidently suggest- 
 ed by the passage recited : 
 
 I. In relation to all the oppressions tfone und^r 
 the sun, and in relation to all the oppressed, and all 
 the oppressors, they were both equally destitute of 
 comfort. 
 
 II. The condition of those who are dead is bet- 
 ter than the condition of those who are yet aljye. 
 And, 
 
 III. There is no just occasion for our mourning 
 because our friends are dead. 
 
 It may be proper to observe here, that we do not 
 mean that we have no just cause of mourning when 
 our friends are taken from us, in one certain sense. 
 We have reason to sorrow for the loss of their 
 sweet and agreeable company on our pilgrimage of 
 mortal life, but on their account, we have no just 
 cause to mourn that they are dead. It is with regret, 
 that we dismiss our children from the happy do- 
 mestic circle, where parental love and filial affec- 
 tions have been the blessing of both parents and 
 children, when we have po reason to doubt that 
 46
 
 361 
 
 tlieir departure is necessary for their future happi- 
 ness in life, and the tear of sensibility marks the 
 adieu which sanctions the separation. The house 
 they leave seems lonesome to those who are left 
 behind, and yet as long as it is believed by parents 
 that it is best for their children to be away, they 
 will not indulge a disposition to wish them back. 
 
 The Apostle in our text, does not forbid, nor 
 dissuade his brethren from sorrow for the loss of 
 their friends. But his reasoning was to prevent 
 their sorrowing without hope. And it is certain 
 that if we have the same opinion concerning the 
 dead, that Solomon expressed in the passage just 
 recited, though we may feel to mourn that we are 
 destitute of the society of those we tenderly love, 
 yet there is a consolation in believing that they are 
 better off than the living. 
 
 This author, speaking in another passage of the 
 dissolution of the body, says ; " Or ever the silver 
 cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or 
 the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel 
 broken at the cistern : then shall the dust return to 
 the earth as it was ; and the spirit shall return unto 
 God who gave it." 
 
 What can give more rational consolation to 
 those who mourn, than to realize that the spirits of 
 their departed connexions are with God ? or what 
 thought can possibly contribute more to tranquillize 
 our minds, and prepare us to meet our own disso- 
 lution, than a confident belief that we shall be with 
 God ? To be in the hands of a God of infinite wis- 
 dom, power, and goodness ; to be disposed of ac- 
 cording to his will, which is boundless goodness 
 and mercy, is all that a reasonable creature can 
 possibly desire; and of this we may be safely per- 
 suaded. 
 
 When the Sadducees questioned our Saviour con- 
 cerning the resurrection of the dead, he said to 
 them ; " But they which shall be accounted worthy
 
 362 
 
 to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the 
 dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage ; 
 neither can they die any more ; for they are equal 
 unto the angels; and are the children of God, be- 
 ing the children of the resurrection. Now, that the 
 dead are raised, even Moses shewed at the bush, 
 when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, and 
 the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. For he 
 is not a God of the dead, but of the living ; for all 
 live unto him." 
 
 By the authority of Jesus we are here certified, 
 that all that die live unto God in the resurrection, 
 and are the children of God, equal to angels, and 
 can die no more. 
 
 When we consider that he who thus testified was 
 sent of God to " bear witness unto the truth," that 
 the " spirit of the Lord God" was upon him, that 
 the Lord anointed him to Wnd up the broken 
 hearted, and to comfort all that mourn, shall we 
 ^ hesitate to believe his testimony ? There certain- 
 ly is no subject concerning which the divine teach- 
 er has left us his testimony, which is of greater 
 moment than this. The doctrine of the resurrec- 
 tion, which was the subject of debate between him 
 and the Sadducees, lies at the foundation of the reli- 
 gion of Jesus, and we have every re r asonto believe 
 that he was explicit when he refuted and silenced 
 his adversaries on a question of such impprtance. 
 We may further remark, that there is not the least 
 intimation that the divine teacher spake figuratively 
 or parabolically in this reply to the Sadducees ; but 
 every circumstance relative to the subject which we 
 have on record, goes to show that his words are to 
 be understood in the most plain and obvious sense. 
 
 We may now notice some passages from the 
 writings of the author of our text concerning them 
 that are asleep, which correspond perfectly with 
 the words of the divine teacher.
 
 J63 
 
 To the Romans he says ; " For he that is dead is 
 freed from sin." This information concerning 
 those that are asleep seems extremely necessary in 
 order to administer consolation to mourners. If 
 we may make further use of the simile of our child- 
 ren's'going from us, we may observe, that could 
 we always know that they would fall into no vi- 
 cious or irreligious habits, it would be a source of 
 much comfort. Of this we are certified concerning 
 those who have gone from this earthly corruptible 
 state; they are freed from sin. The temptations 
 of the flesh will no more allure, inordinate appetites 
 no more entice, unholy desires are extinct, and the 
 spirit is with God who gave it. 
 
 To the Corinthians this author says; " For we 
 know that, if our earthly house of this tabernacle 
 were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house 
 not made with hanc^i, eternal in the heavens." In 
 this mortal state, if our dwellings are superb and 
 every way convenient, we know that we shall en 1 ^ 
 joy them but a littte time ; but concerning them 
 that are asleep, they have an house eternal in the 
 heavens. Our earthly house of this tabernacle, let 
 it be ever so beautiful, must soon crumble y> dust, 
 and all the loveliness of mortal flesh is but a flower 
 for the tomb. Look we on our sons and daugh- 
 ters, and pride ourselves in their strength and beau- 
 ty? All is but a blossom exposed to the blast of 
 the east wind. "All flesh is grass, and all the 
 goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field." 
 But heavenly and eternal things are permanent. 
 
 On the subject of a future state, and of the im- 
 mortality of that constitution, St. Paul has said 
 more in the 15th chapter of his first epistle to the 
 Corinthians than is recorded by any other writer 
 in the scriptures. His first argument on the sub- 
 ject establishes the resurrection of Christ, his second 
 shows that, as in Adam all die, even so in Christ 
 shall all be made alive, and his third is directed tg>
 
 364 
 
 the consideration of the immortality and glory of 
 our future state. On these subjects the following 
 i.s selected ; " But now is Christ risen from the 
 dead", and become the first fruits of them that slept. 
 For since by man came death, by man came also 
 the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all 
 die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. It is 
 sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption ; it 
 is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory ; it is 
 sown in weakness, it is raised in power ; it is sown 
 a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. The 
 first man is of the earth, earthy ; the second man 
 is the Lord from heaven. And as we have borne 
 the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the im- 
 age of the heavenly. For this corruptible must 
 put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on 
 immortality. Then shall be brought to pass the 
 saying that is written, deathws swallowed up in 
 victory." 
 
 My Christian friends, if we may safely believe 
 what we have quoted from Solomon, from the tes- 
 timony of our divine Redeemer, and from his emi- 
 nent servant St. Paul, concerning them that are 
 asleep, we have every consolation that we could 
 reasonably require. If we believe that the spirit 
 goes to God who gave it, that the dead are better 
 off' than the living, that all live unto God in the re- 
 surrection, and are equal to angels, that they die 
 no more, that they are freed from sin, are raised in 
 power, in glory, and in immortality, in the image 
 of the heavenly man, what more could we ask con- 
 cerning our dear connexions which have gone be- 
 fore us, or what more can we require in order to 
 tranquilize our minds in the hour of death? 
 
 On the other hand, let us ask how we could en- 
 joy any reasonable consolation concerning them 
 Which are asleep, if what we have proved from 
 scripture be not believed ?
 
 It is true that many are earnestly contending 
 that the doctrine which we have so clearly pointed 
 out from the faithful word of truth, is a doctrine 
 dangerous to the eternal welfare of immortal souls, 
 and calculated to lead those who believe it into 
 every kind of sin. But how can this be the case ? 
 Is it supposable that a revelation from God would 
 in plain terms declare that which is dangerous to 
 our eternal welfare, and calculated to lead us into 
 sin ? This is a reflection against God. Will any one 
 come forward and acknowledge that a belief in all 
 this grace and goodness of God would lead them 
 into sin ? For instance, take this passage ; " He 
 that is dead is freed from sin." Suppose a person 
 believes this divine truth, would this belief induce 
 him to sin now? St. Paul, no doubt believed it, 
 did it lead him into sin? Suppose the following 
 case. One of you,* my hearers, have unhappily 
 imbibed a strong antipathy, even to hatred, against 
 your neighbour; a friend of yours comes to you 
 and tells you he has something of importance to 
 communicate to you. You accommodate him with 
 a convenient opportunity, and he says, I have come 
 to tell you that in one week from now, you and 
 your neighbour, whom you now so much dislike, 
 will be on terms of perfect amity and peace, he has 
 always been your friend and will certainly con- 
 vince you, that in room of ever having injured you, 
 he has been the means of all your prosperities. 
 Suppose you believe this statement, would your 
 belief lead you to hate your neighbour more than 
 ever? No, it would have a directly contrary effect; 
 you would love him the moment you believed it, 
 and would long for the time to come that you might 
 embrace him. 
 
 When Samuel told Saul that he should meet a 
 company of prophets, and that the spirit of the 
 Lord would come upon him, that he should be 
 turned to another man, and prophecy with the
 
 366 
 
 prophets, this did not lead the young man into sin. 
 Did the whole of this assembly really believe, that 
 in a short time they should be in a state of immor- 
 tal holiness and felicity, filled with the love of their 
 heavenly Father, and employed in songs of ever- 
 lasting praise to God and the lamb, such a belief, 
 my friends, would now work by love and purify 
 our hearts. 
 
 But the wisdom of this world has contrived 3 dif- 
 ferent way to make men love God, which is by 
 threatening them with his everlasting displeasure. 
 It has invented the most horrible reports and re- 
 presentations that imagination can possibly reach, 
 concerning them that are asleep, by which sorrow 
 is augmented to despair. Sermons full of the ter- 
 ror of eternal misery, and the representations of 
 the dismal stateof the dead are delivered to enhance 
 the sorrows of the bereaved. Little tracts are sent 
 to people gratis, to inform them that the probabil- 
 ity is, that their friends, who have left this world 
 are in a state of torment. It is impossible, on con- 
 sidering such inventions and practices, not to think 
 of the torn, the bloody coat presented to Jacob, 
 accompanied with these words ; " This have we 
 found ; know now whether it be thy son's coat or 
 no." How many bereaved, afflicted mothers have 
 read these tracts, and almost despairingly exclaim- 
 ed, " it is my son's coat," without do x ubt ray de- 
 parted child is miserable. 
 
 Never did our blessed Saviour manifest such a 
 spirit, never did he inculcate such doctrine. He 
 who wept by the tomb of Lazarus, in sympathy 
 with mourning sisters,, who declared himself the 
 resurrection and the life, hath brought life and im- 
 mortality to light through the gospel. His doc- 
 trine is full of consolation, it is full of that hope 
 which is an anchor of the soul, sure and stedfast, 
 entering into that within the vail, where our fore- 
 ninner hath far m entered.
 
 367 
 
 My friends, while looking round on perishable 
 nature, while contemplating the loss of our dear 
 connexions who have gone from this mortal state, 
 let us "lay hold on this hope which is set before us," 
 that we may not sorrow concerning them which are 
 asleep, even as those who have no hope. But let 
 us, with confidence in God our Father, and in Christ 
 our Saviour, sing, with solemn joy in the words of 
 Dr. Watts ; 
 
 " Why do we mourn departing friends? 
 Or shake at death's alarms? 
 'Tis but the voice that Jesus sends 
 To call them to his arms."
 
 No. 24. 
 
 LECTURE SERMON, 
 
 DELIVERED AT THE 
 
 SECOND UNIVERSALIST MEETING, IN BOSTON, 
 JUNE 20, 1819. 
 
 BY HO SEA BALLOU, PASTOR. 
 
 Published Semi-Monthly by Henry Bowen, Congress-street. 
 
 JOHN v. 28, 29. 
 
 ' Marvelnot at this : for the hour is coming, in the which all that Are in 
 the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth : they that have 
 done goorf, unto the resurrection of life ; and they that have done evil, 
 unto the resurrection of damnation." 
 
 THOUGH I have once spoken on these words in 
 this place, and likewise been induced to explain 
 them in a controversy that was published, it is still 
 requested by some of the readers of these lectures 
 that this passage should be noticed before the vol- 
 ume is completed. And as the common use of this 
 text is in opposition to the doctrine set forth in these 
 sermons, arid especially to the use we made of the 
 scriptures in our last, it is thought necessary thaf a 
 discourse on this subject should be placed next in 
 order. 
 
 This passage is one of a number which the pop- 
 ular doctrine of the church has applied to a future 
 state of condemnation and misery. It has been used 
 to set forth and maintain that those who do good in 
 this world will be raised from the dead hereafter 
 and be justified unto life in an immortal constitu- 
 tion, for the good works which they did in this 
 world ; and that those who do evil in this mortal 
 state will be raised, at the same time, into an -in> 
 47
 
 369 
 
 mortal constitution, and condemned to eveilasting 
 misery for the evil they did in this mortal consti- 
 tution. 
 
 In the first place we shall suggest some argu- 
 ments against the doctrine, for the support of which 
 this text has been used. 
 
 In this doctrine there is a manifest want of that 
 due connexion between cause and effect, which is 
 so wonderfully displayed in the natural order of 
 things. While we are here in the body, if we feed 
 on wholesome and nourishing food the natural ef- 
 fects are strength and health of body ; but if we, 
 from whatever cause, feed on that which is un- 
 wholesome or poisonous, the consequences are the 
 reverse of the former, and sickness and weakness 
 are sure to follow. But it would be evidently ab- 
 surd to attempt to argue, on physical principles, 
 that these effects, either health or sickness, strength 
 jor weakness will be experienced in a state of im- 
 mortality, after this corruptible shall have put on 
 incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on im- 
 mortality. Now it is plain from the scriptures, 
 that all sin, all wickedness, and all evil doings are 
 the works of the flesh; and there appears no more 
 reason for supposing that the effects of these works 
 are to extend into the immortal state, than for sup- 
 posing that the effects of wholesome, or unwhole- 
 some food are to extend to that state. 
 
 If one sow grain in a field in New-England, it 
 follows of natural consequence that the harvest 
 will be gathered from the same field ; but there 
 appears no natural connexion, as between cause 
 and effect, between sowing grain in this country 
 and gathering a harvest from it in Europe. St. 
 Paul says; " He that soweth to his flesh, shall of 
 (he flesh reap corruption." This seems perfectly 
 natural, because " whatsoever a man soweth, that 
 shall he also reap." But to argue that corruption 
 rmay be gathered from an incorruptible state is to 
 argue against the very nature of things.
 
 370 
 
 The apostie to the Romans is explicit on this 
 subject, where he says ; " There is, therefore, now 
 no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, 
 who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit." 
 
 By this it is evident that condemnation cannot 
 exist any longer than men walk after the flesh. 
 But none pretend that any of the human family 
 will walk after the flesh in that incorruptible state 
 of which the apostle speaks, where he says ; " This 
 corruptible shall put on incorruption, and this mor- 
 tal shall put on immortality." 
 
 We can easily discern the natural connexion be- 
 tween all the vices which are practised by men 
 and the infelicities which these vices introduce into 
 society, and the unhappinessthey occasion to those 
 who practice them ; but it is totally impossible to 
 trace the connexion between these vices and a state 
 of permanent misery in an immortal state. 
 
 Secondly, as this opinion of a state of immortal 
 happiness for the good works of men in this life, 
 and a state of endless misery for their evil works 
 while here is supposed to fall under the notice of 
 those scriptures which teach us that God will 
 render to every man according to his works, it seems 
 proper that we look to see if we can find such a 
 proportion between the virtues which are practis- 
 ed in this life and a state of immortal felicity, and 
 between the vices committed here and a state of 
 endless torment as will justify this doctrine. The 
 moment this inquiry is proposed the absurdity of 
 the doctrine appears; for there is a much nearer 
 proportion between the labour of one hour and 
 the wealth of the whole world as its reward, than 
 can be seen between all the good works which a 
 
 CT 
 
 man could perform during a long life, and a re- 
 compense of an immortal state of complete happi- 
 ness. Nor is there so great a proportion between 
 all the sins which one could possibly commii in this 
 life and the recompense of a state of endless misery,
 
 371 
 
 as between the smallest offence ever committed on 
 earth arid a retaliation of the most severe and pro- 
 tracted tortures which could be inflicted in this 
 mortal state. These statements are self evident 
 facts, which we know to be true as well as we know 
 that a day is not as long as a year, or that one grain 
 is not equal to a ton weight. 
 
 According to the scriptures, we are authorised to 
 believe, that the blessings of the gospel in this life 
 are far too great to be considered as being accord- 
 ing to our works. St. Paul says ; se Who hath saved 
 us, and called us with an holy calling, not according 
 to our works, but according to his own purpose 
 and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus be- 
 fore the world began." Again the same author 
 says; "Not by works of righteousness which we 
 have done, but according to his mercy he saved us.'* 
 Now if the salvation obtained in this life by the 
 grace of God is too great to be considered accord- 
 ing to our works, there surely is not the shadow of 
 propriety in supposing that a state of permanent 
 felicity in the eternal world is according to our 
 works in this. But the proportion between our 
 good works in this world and a state of endless hap- 
 piness in the next is as near as between our sins here 
 and a state of endless misery hereafter. 
 
 Thirdly, this doctrine of endless rewards and 
 punishments is involved in an insuperable difficulty 
 for the uant of the power to distinguish between the 
 meet subjects for these respective rewards. 
 
 What will this doctrine do, for instance, with 
 David, king of Israel ? That he did evil, and that 
 to a most heinous degree is evident from the faith- 
 ful records of scripture. Now if they who in this 
 life have done evil are to be raised into an immor- 
 tal state of misery, David, king of Israel, will be 
 thus raised to condemnation. Will it be said that 
 David become a good man, and did many good 
 things after he committed the abominations which
 
 372 
 
 are recorded of him ? This we are happy to ac- 
 knowledge; but what does this prove, only that 
 David was like other men, and sometimes did that 
 which was right and sometimes that which was 
 wrong? For another instance, where will the doc- 
 trine under consideration place St. Paul in the eter- 
 nal state ? That he did evil in this world the scrip- 
 tures as fully prove as they prove any thing. But . 
 it will be said that this man was reformed and be- 
 came a good man ; this too we are happy to ac- 
 knowledge, but what more does this prove than 
 that St. Paul was like David, and like other men, 
 a changeable creature ! who sometimes did right, 
 at other times, wrong ? The fact is, as was fully 
 shown in' our lecture on the recompensing of the 
 righteous and the wicked in the earth, all men are 
 in some degree righteous and in some degree wick- 
 ed. And it follows that if all that do good in this 
 world are to be eternally happy hereafter, all man- 
 kind will be happy ; and on the other hand, if all 
 who do evil in this life are to be endlessly miserable 
 in the next, all men will be thus miserable ! 
 Fourthly,thedoctrine under consideration is absurd 
 in that it supposes that the good works and virtues 
 of men in this imperfect state are more meritorious 
 than the perfect and permanent virtue which will 
 characterize the blessed in heaven ; for if that im- 
 mortal state of holiness and felicity is merited by 
 the virtue imperfectly practised in this mortal state, 
 there remains no merit in the virtues practised in 
 the future world nor any reward for that sliperiour 
 degree of righteousness. And on the other hand, this 
 doctrine involves another absurdity, in that it re- 
 compenses the sins of this life with a state of end- 
 less arid positive misery, but reserves no punish- 
 ment for the sins of which the souls of the miserable 
 will be guilty in that state where they will sin with- 
 out restraint. Why should imperfect righteous- 
 ness merit an eternity of happiness, and yet perfect
 
 373 
 
 righteousness merit nothing ? Why should the sins 
 of this life be recompensed with a state of everlast- 
 ing or eternal misery, and the entire sin of the eter- 
 nal world go forever unpunished ? 
 
 Once more, this doctrine maintains that God will 
 punish his rational offspring without mercy, with- 
 out designing their reconciliation or profit. This, 
 of all the objections which we have to the doctrine 
 under consideration is the greatest. This supposes 
 that God possesses a worse disposition, and practi- 
 ses greater cruelty than the wicked possess or prac- 
 tise. All the cruelties of heathen idolatry are ten- 
 der mercies, in comparison with the cruelty attri- 
 buted to our heavenly Father by this doctrine. 
 People are deceived by the names which supersti- 
 tion uses to identify this cruelty in God, but the 
 name of a thing alters not its nature. Vindictive 
 wrath, holy anger, retributive justice are terms us- 
 ed to designate a property of the divine nature 
 which, when examined impartially and without a 
 superstitious awe, is found to be worthy of no bet- 
 ter name than unmerciful malevolence ! To attri- 
 bute such a quality or character to God, we view 
 as the vilest act that moral darkness has ever pro- 
 duced ; and we reject the sentiment with the deep- 
 est horror. 
 
 Let it be distinctly noticed here, that this argu- 
 ment does not lie between the doctrine of endless 
 punishment, and no punishment for sin ; we have 
 all along in these lectures maintained that sin is 
 punished, but we find that it is punished in the world 
 where it is, and not in an immortal state where it 
 is not. 
 
 Having, as was proposed, suggested a few argu- 
 ments against the doctrine for the support of which 
 our text has been generally used, our next labour 
 will be directed to bring the portion of scripture 
 under consideration before the hearer in connex- 
 ion with such other passages as relate to event?
 
 374 
 
 which evidently belong to the present state of exis- 
 tence, but where language signifying a resurrection 
 is used; at the same time carefully comparing with 
 them those passages which evidently relate to a 
 resurrection into an immortal state, that it may be 
 clearly anderstood that the latter and former clas- 
 ses of scripture cannot, with any propriety, be ap- 
 plied to the same event. 
 
 The arguments to which we have attended in 
 this discourse, are designed to show that the text 
 under consideration ought not to be applied in the 
 usual way, by showing that the doctrine supported 
 by it when so used is not true. The arguments 
 now designed will go to show that the scriptures 
 make use of words signifying a resurrection, in a 
 figurative sense, when nothing beyond this mortal 
 state is intended, that the passage under considera- 
 tion is of this description ; and that it is proved to 
 be so by comparing it with other passages which 
 evidently have their application in time, and also 
 by comparing it with passages which speak of a re- 
 surrection into an immortal state, by observing the 
 difference there is between the two classes. 
 
 That our text evidently belongs to that class of 
 scriptures which speak of a spiritual resurrection, 
 or of a resurrection which has no allusion to a fu- 
 ture state of being may be seen by attending to the 
 context, which reads as follows ; " Verily, verily, 
 I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and be- 
 Jieveth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, 
 and shall not come into condemnation, but is pass- 
 ed from death unto life." Here it is perfectly 
 plain that the death from which the believers had 
 passed was of a moral, and not a literal kind ; and 
 it is perfectly plain also that the life into which 
 they had already entered was of a spiritual nature, 
 which believers enjoy by the means of believing in 
 the word of Jesus in the present tense. And it is 
 furthermore evident that the condemnation men-
 
 375 
 
 iioned in the passage already quoted is a condem- 
 nation which is the consequence of unbelief in the 
 present life, and is the same as is signified by the 
 following words of Jesus ; " He that believeth 'not 
 is condemned already." The next words to those 
 quoted from our context are the following ; " Ve- 
 rily, verily, I say unto you, the hour is coming, 
 and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of 
 the son of God, and they that hear shall live. For 
 as the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given 
 to the son to have life in himself, and hath given 
 him authority to execute judgment also, because 
 he is the son of man." It is abundantly evident 
 that the Saviour still continued to speak of the 
 dead in trespasses and sins, of their hearing and be- 
 lieving bis word, and of the spiritual life which faith 
 in the gospel wrought in them. And it is also evi- 
 dent that his authority, which he here mentions, to 
 execute judgment, administers that condemnation 
 into which the unbeliever is brought. 
 
 Our text follows the words last quoted ; " Mar- 
 vel not at this ; for the hour is coming, in the which, 
 all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and 
 shall come forth ; they that have done good unto 
 the resurrection of life; and they that have done 
 evil unto the resurrection of damnation." Now as 
 it is acknowledged by all that Jesus was speaking 
 figuratively in the context, until he came to the 
 words of our text, it seems entirely unwarranted 
 to make him now, all of a sudden, speak of a literal 
 resurrection. It/is altogether more reasonable to 
 suppose, that as he meant the dead in a moral or 
 spiritual sense, by the dead who should hear his 
 voice and live, he now means the carnal state of 
 carnal minds by the graves from which the dead 
 were to come forth. 
 
 That the word graves is used figuratively in 
 scripture we learn from the 37th of Ezekiel, where 
 the prophet represents the return of the captivity
 
 376 
 
 of Israel from the countries where they had been 
 scattered, first by the resurrection of the dry bones 
 in the valley of vision, and secondly, by bringing 
 them out of their graves. And here we may re- 
 mark, that there would be the same propriety in 
 understanding the prophet to mean a figurative re- 
 surrection by the dry bones, representing the re- 
 turn of Israel's captivity ; but when he speaks of 
 bringing them out of their graves, to mean their re- 
 surrection from their literal graves into an immor- 
 tal state, as there is in explaining our text and con- 
 text in the usual way. 
 
 There is a passage in the 12th of Daniel which 
 commentators very justly consider a parallel pas 
 sage, with our text; it reads as follows; " And at 
 tfeat time sliall Michael stand up, the great prince 
 which standeth for the children of thy people ; and 
 there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was 
 since there was a nation even to that same time : 
 and at that time thy people shall be delivered, eve- 
 ry one that shall be found written in the book. 
 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the 
 earth, shall awake, some to everlasting life, and 
 some to shame and everlasting contempt." It 
 seems reasonable to suppose, that as Jesus came to 
 fulfil the law and the prophets, he had his eye on 
 this passage in Daniel when he spake the words of 
 our text ; and that he meant by those who were in 
 the graves the same as Daniel meant by those who 
 were asleep in the dust of the earth ; and by those, 
 who should come forth to the resurrection of life, 
 he meant the same as Daniel did by those who 
 should awake from the dust of the earth to everlast- 
 ing life ; and by those who should come forth to 
 the resurrection of condemnation, the same as 
 Daniel meant by those, who shoujd come forth unto 
 shame and everlasting contempt. 
 
 Will the hearer now say that all this may be, 
 and that both Daniel and the Saviour were speak- 
 48
 
 ing of the resurrection of mankind to a state of im- 
 mortal- happiness and misery in a future world ? 
 To this we reply, when Jesus spoke to his disciples 
 of the destruction of Jerusalem and of the calami- 
 ties which should shortly come on the Jews, he us- 
 es the words of Daniel nearly verbatim when he 
 speaks of the time of trouble. By this circum- 
 stance we are instructed that both Daniel and the 
 Saviour spake of the same time and of the same 
 events, and that that time was when Jerusalem was 
 destroyed by the Romans. 
 
 The true meaning of the words of Jesus and of 
 the passage in Daniel appears to be this; those 
 Jews who listened to the mild voice of the gospel, 
 proclaimed by Christ and his Apostles, came forth 
 from spiritual death to the life of faith in the new 
 covenant; but those Jews, who rejected the doc- 
 trine of salvation, crucified the Saviour, and perse- 
 cuted his apostles, were those who had done evil, 
 and they were roused from the dormant state in 
 which they lay, as in a covenant of death and a 
 refuge of lies, by the voice of judgment and come 
 forth to the resurrection of that condemnation 
 which is so particularly pointed out in the 24th and 
 25th chapters of Matthew ; and which was illus- 
 trated in our lecture on that subject. 
 
 That the resurrection under consideration is not 
 a resurrection from this mortal to an immortal 
 state, may be made to appear by comparing the 
 account of it with the account given of the resur- 
 rection into a state of immortality, which we find 
 in several passages and which were noticed in our 
 last lecture. 
 
 In the account of the resurrection noticed in our 
 text, some are raised to life and some to condem- 
 nation ; and this account we have seen agrees so 
 well with the testimony quoted from Daniel, that 
 no doubt remains that the Saviour and the prophet 
 spake of the same event. But can we make St. 

 
 378 
 
 Paul's account of the resurrection of all mankind 
 into an immortal stale agree with these several tes- 
 timonies so as to be satisfied that the apostle was 
 treating on the same subject of which Daniel and 
 the Saviour treated ? 
 
 Jesus says ; that they who have done good shall 
 come forth to the resurrection of life, and they that 
 have done evil to the resurrection of damnation. 
 Daniel says; " And many of them that sleep in the 
 dust of the earth shall come forth, some to ever- 
 lasting life, and some to shame and everlasting con- 
 tempt" St. Paul says ; " As in Adam all die even 
 so in Christ shall all be made alive." And he is par- 
 ticular in stating the constitution which all men 
 will receive in the resurrection of which he speaks. 
 It is spiritual, incorruptible, immortal, and glorious; 
 it is the image of the Lord from heaven. He 
 makes no distinction. He says nothing of the good 
 works of some and the evil works of others. His 
 testimony is, in fact, directly against any distinc- 
 tion or difference in that immortal state. All 
 are made alive in Christ ; and as this life is spirit- 
 ual, incorruptible and immortal, this testimony 
 agrees with the testimony of Jesus to the Sadducees 
 on the same subject of the resurrection, in which he 
 says, that in the resurrection they are the children 
 of God, equal unto the angels, and can die no more. 
 
 In his debate with the Sadducees, Jesus gave no 
 intimation that any would rise from the dead to a 
 state of condemnation, but was particular in saying 
 that all live unto God. 
 
 In our present light of this subject, we can plain- 
 ly see, that by supposing that Jesus spake in our 
 text of the same subject of which he spake in his 
 reply to the Sadducees, we make him contradict 
 himself. And by supposing that our text is a tes- 
 timony of the same event of which St. Paul spake 
 in his argument on the resurrection in the 15th of 
 the first of Corinthians, we set the testimony of Je- 
 sus and St. Paul at an irreconcilable variance.
 
 379 
 
 Our present subject may be represented by sup- 
 posing, that a traveller returns to this town from 
 the state of Vermont, and informs us that in conse- 
 quence of a disturbance among the convicts in the 
 State prison, the prisoners were all brought out 
 under sufficient guards, to be examined and tried 
 for their conduct. This trial, our traveller informs 
 us, finally terminated in the solitary confinement of 
 a large number of the leaders of the disturbance, 
 but in the liberation from prison of many who were 
 found to be meritorious in their conduct in endeav- 
 oring to suppress and prevent the wicked designs 
 of the others. 
 
 This traveller being a man of respectable stand- 
 ing in society, and of undoubted reputation, no one 
 is disposed to doubt the truth of the testimony 
 which he has given on this subject. Not long af- 
 ter having this information in the way here related, 
 our traveller returns from a tour through New- 
 Hampshire, and informs us that the new govern- 
 our in that state has seen cause to set all the pri- 
 soners in the state at liberty, and that he was aw 
 eye witness of the fact. For want of proper cau- 
 tion some of us now 7 confound the two reports, and 
 think that these several relations are concerning 
 what took place relative to the prisoners in Ver- 
 mont. 
 
 In this way we should make the testimony of 
 our traveller destroy itself and the veracity of its 
 author. And yet his whole testimony in both ca- 
 ses, when understood according to the different sub- 
 jects related, and the proper distinctions preserved 
 according to the plainest sense of the several ac- 
 counts given, all appears clear and without the 
 leabl contradiction. 
 
 By applying, in an indiscriminate manner, those 
 passages of scripture which specially belong to 
 the temporal, mutable state of man in this life, and 
 those which speak of an immortal state, all to the
 
 380 
 
 future existence of mankind, the greatest absurdi- 
 ties have been supported by the scriptures. In the 
 same way the dispute between those who contend 
 for salvation by the agency of the creature, and 
 those who maintain that works are out of the ques- 
 tion relative to salvation has been protracted for 
 ages in the Christian church. And yet if the pas- 
 sages of scripture, which are quoted on both sides 
 of the argument were applied to their respective 
 subjects there would be no room for dispute or oc- 
 casion for any difference of sentiment. 
 
 For instance, the account we have of the judg- 
 ment in the 2 r >th of Matthew proceeds according 
 to the works of those who are judged ; and those 
 who are welcome to the kingdom, are justified ac- 
 cording to their works, and those who are sentenc- 
 ed to punishment are so condemned according to 
 their conduct. Now as this passage is applied to 
 the eternal state of the unseen world by both par- 
 ties in the dispute just named, those who rest the 
 final justification of the creature on his works seem 
 to have a decided advantage in the dispute. And 
 it is all in vain for the opposer to try to reconcile 
 this passage with his notion of justifying the crea- 
 ture to everlasting life in the eternal world without 
 any reference to his good works in this world. 
 This he will not attempt to do ; but in order to do 
 away the force of this judgment, he quotes some 
 passages which speak of grace to Ihe exclusion of 
 works ; such as the following ; " Who hath saved 
 us and called us with an holy calling, not accord- 
 ing to our works, but according to his own pur- 
 pose and grace. Not by works of righteousness 
 which we have done, but according to his mercy 
 he saved us. By grace are ye saved, through faith, 
 and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. 
 Not of works lest any man should boast. Now to 
 him that worketh the reward is not reckoned of 
 grace but of debt ; but to him that worketh not,
 
 but believeth on him wliojustitieth the ungodly, 
 his faith is counted unto him for righteousness." 
 As it is perfectly evident that these passages, on 
 the very face of them, were designed to set forth 
 the grace and salvation of God in a way to exclude 
 the works of the saved as the ground of such salva- 
 tion, the argument now fairly turns in favor of the 
 other side ; for here are more passages than the one 
 brought in favour of the contrary side. 
 
 What is the next thing to be done? Does he who 
 predicates salvation on works undertake to show 
 that the passages last quoted do not indicate the 
 fact for which they are adduced ? No, for this 
 would be labour lost : it would be as easy to prove 
 that these passages mean nothing. What then does 
 he do ? He proceeds to quote some more scrip- 
 ture on the other side, such as the following; "The 
 willing and obedient shall eat the good of the land, 
 but if ye rebel ye shall be devoured with the 
 sword, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. 
 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall 
 not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall 
 the father bear the iniquity of the son; the righte- 
 ousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the 
 wickedness of the wicked shall be -upon him. Say 
 ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him; 
 for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Woe 
 unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him ; for the 
 reward of his hands shall be given him. For the 
 son of man shall come in the glory of his Father, 
 with his angels, and then he shall reward every 
 man according to his works. For we must all ap- 
 pear before the judgment seat of Christ, that every 
 one may receive the things done in his body, ac- 
 cording to that he hath done, whether it be good, 
 or bad." As it is perfectly evident that these last 
 quoted passages do not indicate that men are justi- 
 fied without good works, but in consequence of 
 them, the dispute stands exactly as it did when it
 
 382 
 
 began, and where it must stand until these dispu- 
 tants come to a determination to understand parti- 
 cular passages of the scriptures according to the 
 particular subjects to which they respectively be- 
 long. 
 
 All those passages, which speak of judging and 
 rewarding men according to their works have their 
 true and just application to that divine economy in 
 which our heavenly Father administers to his mor- 
 al offspring that discipline which grows from his 
 love and faithfulness and which our imperfection 
 requires. 
 
 On the other band, all those passages which speak 
 of the abundant grace of God, of his great love to 
 sinners, of his saving us, not according to our works, 
 but according to his own purpose and grace, which 
 was given unto us in Christ Jesus before the world 
 began, have their true and just application to that 
 divinely gracious economy of the Father of our 
 spirits, in which he has made ample provisions for 
 the spiritual and eternal welfare of all mankind. 
 And if we '.i - e careful to keep the different subjects 
 of which the scriptures treat, as distinct from each 
 . other as the divine testimony requires, we shall 
 never apply the passage under consideration to the 
 immortal state of man, nor is it believed by your 
 servant, that any other passage can be found, which 
 speaks of rewarding men for their good works, and 
 of punishing others for evil works, which can, with 
 the least colour of propriety be applied to the state 
 of man, when this mortal shall have put on immor- 
 tality, and this corruptible incorruption. 
 
 To pretend that it is not convenient or proper 
 for men to be rewarded in this world according to 
 their works here, is more absurd than it would be 
 to argue, that it is not convenient or proper for 
 children to receive rewards of merit, and chastise- 
 ments for disobedience at the school where they re- 
 ceive their education. And to contend that all the
 
 383 
 
 good works, and all the evil works' done in this 
 mortal state are to be judged and recompensed in 
 the eternal world, is a thousand times more unrea- 
 sonable than it would be for a parent of vast wealth 
 to go to the school master who educated his children 
 and get a particular account of every thing his 
 children did while at school, and then proceed to 
 make his last will and testament according to that 
 account. 
 
 To conclude, while our text assures us, that good 
 works will never go unrewarded, nor evil works 
 unrecompensed, it by no means intrudes on the 
 eternal inheritance given us in Christ Jesus before 
 the world began ; nor does it in any way contradict 
 the testimony, that " as in Adam all die, even so in 
 Christ shall all be made alive."
 
 No. 25. 
 
 LECTURE SERMON, 
 
 DELIVERED AT THE 
 
 SECOND UNIVERSALIST MEETING, IN BOSTON, 
 JULY 4, 1819. 
 
 BY HO SEA BALLOU, PASTOR. 
 
 Published Semi-Monthly by Henry Bowen, Congress-street. 
 
 ZEPHANIAH, iii. part 17. 
 " He will rest in his Zoe." 
 
 L\ this short book of the prophecy of Zephaniah 
 there is much said on the subject of the sins of va- 
 rious nations, and of the sore punishments which 
 the divine ruler had seen fit to execute upon them 
 for their correction, and as an admonition to his 
 chosen people, the Jews. 
 
 The design of the judgments of God is most 
 clearly expressed in the following, recorded in our 
 context : " Therefore, wait ye upon me, saith the 
 Lord, until the day that I shall rise up to the prey ; 
 for my determination is to gather the nations, that 
 I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them 
 mine indignation, even all my fierce anger ; for all 
 the earth shall be devoured with the fi*e of my 
 jealousy. For then will I turn to the people a 
 pure language, that they may all call upon the name 
 of the Lord, to serve him with one consent.'* 
 
 The account here given by the prophet, con- 
 cerning the indignation and fierce anger of the. 
 Lord, is of a very different nature from the account 
 49
 
 385 
 
 of the same subject, which is current in our times. 
 The divine indignation or anger according to our 
 Christian doctors, is totally unmerciful ; and Ihose 
 on whom it is fully and completely executed, no 
 more than begin to feel its horrors in this world, 
 but are duly prepared by an astonishing miracle, 
 to endure the fierceness of its burning forever in 
 the eternal world. In the days of divine inspira- 
 tion and prophecy, when men " spake as they were 
 movefd by the Holy Ghost," no such horrible sen- 
 timents were held up to the people. Then the de- 
 solation of cities, the captivity of their inhabitants, 
 plagues, famines, and pestilences were among the 
 usual denunciations of the judgments of God ; but 
 now, nothing that can be suffered in this world 
 seems to answer the purpose ; and our wise men 
 pretend to know the particulars of the eternal 
 world much better than of this, and speak of the 
 horrors of future condemnation, and of the indig- 
 nation of the Lord in that state, without the small- 
 est hesitation. Whether they are correct, or the 
 inspired prophets we are at liberty to judge for 
 ourselves. It is a plain fact that their accounts 
 differ, and that as widely as day from night. 
 
 According to the prophet in the passage just 
 cited, the indignation, even all the fierce anger of 
 the Lord is poured out on the whole earth. No- 
 thing said of reserving any for a future state. And 
 what is worthy of special notice is, after all this 
 fierce anger of the Lord is poured out on the peo- 
 ple, and the whole earth is devoured with the fire 
 of his jealousy, God says, " then will I turn to the 
 people a pure language, that they may all call up- 
 on the name of the Lord, and serve him with one 
 consent." So that the very same people who suf- 
 fer all God's fierce anger, are thereby prepared to 
 learn a pure language in which they shall all call 
 on the name of the Lord, with dispositions and 
 hearts to serve him.
 
 386 
 
 As consequences resulting to the house of Israel, 
 from the execution of the divine indignation, the 
 following is recorded by the prophet ; " In that 
 day shalt thou not be ashamed for all thy doings, 
 wherein thou hast transgressed against me; for 
 then I will take away out of the midst of thee them 
 that rejoice in thy pride ; and thou shalt no more 
 be haughty because of my holy mountain. The 
 remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak 
 lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in 
 their mouth : for they shall feed and lie down, and 
 none shall make them afraid. Sing, O daughter of 
 Zion; shout, O Israel ; be glad and rejoice with 
 all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. The Lord 
 hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out 
 thine enemy ; the King of Israel, even the Lord, is 
 in the midst of thee : thou shall not see evil any 
 more. The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is 
 mighty ; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with 
 joy ; he will rest in his love ; he will joy over thee 
 with singing." 
 
 In this most interesting representation we are led 
 to contemplate the happy issue of the judgments of 
 God, even all his fierce anger, in the salvation of 
 his people, in their rest and joy. Even God him- 
 self is represented as rejoicing over them with joy, 
 and as finding rest in his love toward them. 
 
 In order that one may rest in love the following 
 particulars seem to be necessary. 
 
 I. Love must be holy and all its desires right- 
 eous. And, 
 
 II. The desires of Jove must all be accomplished 
 in their fullest extent. 
 
 To a moral being an unholy love and unlawful 
 desires are a source of inquietude, and the more 
 such love and desires are indulged the greater is 
 the infelicity occasioned by them. But the con- 
 trary is the effect of a holy love and of righteous 
 and lawful desires. The more they are indulged
 
 387 
 
 the greater is the satisfaction, and the more perfect 
 that rest which results from such indulgence. The 
 love of our heavenly Father toward his offspring 
 is a holy love, and all its desires are lawful and 
 right. It is the holiness of love and the lawfulness 
 of its desires which justifies all the means which 
 are necessary to carry these desires into effect. 
 
 This subject may be represented by the love of 
 parents toward their children. The parental love 
 is lawful and all its desires are righteous. It looks 
 on children with strong desires for their improve- 
 ment and happiness. If they are disobedient, love 
 desires their reformation ; and it is the purity of 
 this love and the righteousness of its desires that 
 justify those rebukes, warnings, and chastisements 
 which are necessary for the bringing of the disobe- 
 dient to submit to those wholesome precepts which 
 are alone designed for their benefit* Take away 
 this parental love, and remove the desire of doing 
 good to the disobedient child, and every rebuke, eve- 
 ry admonition, and every punishment inflicted, would 
 be as destitute of righteousness, as the heart of the 
 parent is of love. But where this holy love and 
 these pure desires are in exercise, they fully justify 
 the greatest severity which may be necessary for 
 the good of the disobedient. And here let us cau- 
 
 O 
 
 tiously observe, that the parent never finds rest un- 
 til all that love desires is accomplished. While 
 stubbornness and disobedience remain in the child, 
 and during the administration of chastisement, the 
 parent has no rest. Anxiety, pity, grief, love and 
 tender affections mingle in the feeling heart with 
 indignation, severity and faithfulness; but when 
 this stubbornness is subdued, and the disobedient 
 heart brought to submit, how calm, how quiet is 
 the rest which the parent finds in that victori- 
 ous love, which has now conquered all opposition, 
 and carried into effect its utmost desires. If the 
 parent could find rest in the administration of pun-
 
 ishment, then in order to continue this rest, the 
 punishment would be protracted ; but rest is taken 
 after the labour is clone, and the longer the labour 
 continues, the longer rest is defered. 
 
 To apply our metaphor, we may observe, that 
 God's love toward mankind is a holy love, and all 
 the desires of that love are righteous. The holi- 
 ness of his love and the righteousness of its desires 
 sanctify his severest judgments and direct them all 
 to the accomplishment of the desires of love. 
 
 The figure of expression used in our text is very 
 strong; it seems to represent the divine Being as 
 being in want of rest from the exercise of his se- 
 verity and indignation, and as finding that rest in 
 his love toward those whom he had chastised, by 
 pouring on them all his fierce anger, which termi- 
 nated in their subjection to his will. But the scrip- 
 tures, without intending to represent the Almighty 
 as being changeable, use such metaphors for the 
 purpose of conveying an idea of the ultimate de- 
 sign and goodness of God, in all his works. 
 
 Where we have an account of the creation of all 
 things, we are informed that God proceeded with 
 his work day after day for six days, and when he 
 had ended his work, he rested on the seventh. But 
 here let us remark, that he rested in his love, for 
 he was .able, after taking a perfect survey of all 
 his works, to pronounce the whole " very good." 
 If there had been any part of the creation which 
 would not answer the purpose for which it was 
 made, God would not have pronounced it good, 
 nor could he have loved that which was not good, 
 nor could he have rested in his love. 
 
 Man was the last work which the divine Creator 
 performed, and man he made in his own image. 
 Man he stiles his offspring, he calls himself our Fa- 
 ther, and he directs his providence and grace in a 
 way to provide for us, and to bring us to the en- 
 joyment of himself.
 
 389 
 
 When man had sinned, and God came to him in 
 the cool of the day, he pronounced his judgments 
 with such limitations as to manifest his purpose in 
 the final deliverance of his sinful children from the 
 power of the tempter by the seed of the woman 
 who should bruise his head. Thus we see that God 
 rests no where but in his love. 
 
 Had the creator on this occasion, denounced on 
 man the malediction of never ending misery, ac- 
 cording to the doctrine of our catechism ; and had 
 it been his pleasure to inform them, as the writers 
 of our creeds have informed us, that by this first 
 transgression the whole posterity of Adam and Eve 
 had become liable to the pains of hell forever, we 
 could hardly find how to reconcile this doctrine 
 with the idea that our heavenly Father rests no 
 where but in his love. 
 
 It may be profitable in this place, though it be 
 painful, to spend a few reflections on the resting 
 place, which the wisdom of this world has invented 
 for the Father of our spirits. This invention, in 
 order to accommodate our heavenly father with the 
 most perfect and quiet rest, has assigned a great 
 part of his rational offspring to the most exquisite 
 torments which improved imagination has been 
 able to suggest, and has assigned the execution 
 of this torture to him ! That parents may not 
 only see this subject, but feel a little by having it 
 represented in subordination to our understanding, 
 we may suppose a similar invention for the accom- 
 modation of the parent of a numerous family, to 
 give him the most perfect rest. Thus three quar- 
 ters of his children are to suffer the most exquisite 
 torments which human invention can devise; and 
 to have this torture so administered as to be pro- 
 tracted for a long time, and the parent himself must 
 execute this punishment ! 
 
 Parents, would you call this a bed of roses ? Do 
 you wish to repose your weary limbs, after care- 
 fully nursing and bringing up children, on such
 
 390 
 
 down as this? Disgusted, you reply, why do you 
 torture our feelings and grate our ears with such 
 unnatural similes? 
 
 We deserve to have our feelings harrowed with 
 these thorns, with these briars and thistles, for we 
 have spread them out by our wicked inventions for 
 our merciful and compassionate Father in heaven 
 to rest himself on to all eternity ! The creeds of 
 the Christian church now contain the invention un- 
 der consideration, our preachers dwell upon it, and 
 on its different parts, with an earnestness by which 
 they evince their zeal for God, and professors pa- 
 tiently hear this doctrine proclaimed, and pro- 
 nounce it wholesome orthodoxy. As long as this 
 remains to be the case, a hope is entertained that 
 people in one way or another, will be made to hear 
 their doctrine applied in a way to make them feel 
 its effects. 
 
 However men may err in their inventions, how- 
 ever they may attribute the worst of designs to God, 
 he is of one mind and none can turn him. The 
 love in which he rested on the seventh day, after he 
 had created all things, is the same love which he 
 manifested after man had sinned. This is the love 
 which he has had in view in the administration of 
 all his judgments, arid the same which he has man- 
 ifested through Jesus for the salvation of mankind 
 from sin and death. The hearer will recollect that 
 we have said that in order for one to rest in love, 
 all that love desires must be accomplished. This 
 idea is within your easy comprehension. If one 
 has a desired object, an object of the most affection- 
 ate regard in view, but great difficulties and dan- 
 gers lie in the way of obtaining this object, you 
 know that this condition is by no means calculated 
 to give rest. But if the difficulties become sur- 
 mounted, and the dangers removed, and the longed 
 for object finally obtained, the successful soul finds 
 rest in love. Thus Joseph the persecuted brother,
 
 391 
 
 tenderly loved his brethren, suffered many things 
 for their profit, overcome all embarrassments and 
 finally received them all under his safe protection 
 and found a calm, a sweet repose in his love. To 
 prove them, to try them, for a season he treated 
 them roughly, and with seventy. He accused them 
 of being spies, come to see the nakedness of the 
 land. He kept Simeon bound while he sent the 
 rest to their families. He directed the silver cup 
 to be deposited in Benjamin's sack, he gave orders 
 for his arrest, and greatly tried the hearts x>f those 
 who had sold him; but during all this time Joseph 
 did not rest in this manifestation of anger. How 
 often did he weep alone with love, pity, and grief 
 for his brethren ; but when he had humbled them 
 enough and made himself known to them, embraced 
 them all and granted them forgiveness, he rested in 
 his love. Had he failed in his heart's desire of see- 
 ing all his brethren duly humbled, and had two 
 thirds of the whole utterly refused to acknowledge 
 their faults, or submit themselves to him, we may 
 reasonably suppose, that he would not have enjoy- 
 ed that rest in his love which he did when he fed 
 them all at his own table. 
 
 Let the mind pass from this circumstance to the 
 consideration of the love of God to mankind and 
 to consider the extent of mercy's design as mani- 
 fested through Jesus. The following passages re- 
 late to this subject. " For God so loved the world, 
 that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever 
 believeth in him, should not perish, but have ever- 
 lasting life. For God sent not his son into the 
 world to condemn the world; but that the world 
 through him might be saved. But God commend- 
 eth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet 
 enemies, Christ died for us. Herein is love, not 
 that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent 
 his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. We 
 have seen and do testify that the Father sent the
 
 392 
 
 Son to be the Saviour of the world." By these 
 passages we learn that the grand design of the Fa- 
 ther's love in sending the son into the world was to 
 save the world, and this design must be fully ac- 
 complished in order for the Father to rest in his 
 love. My friends, you know that love which de- 
 sires that which we can never obtain, in room of 
 affording us rest, gives us uneasiness. Now if 
 the design or desire of the Father's love is the sal- 
 vation of the world, how can he ever find rest in 
 his love if this desire is never accomplished? But 
 he worketh all things after the council of his own 
 will. His judgments and his mercies will be em- 
 ployed and well directed to their object, until the 
 vast design of lore is completed in the reconcilia- 
 tion of all things to God, who will forever rest in 
 his love. Thus are the judgments of God explained 
 in the song of Moses the servant of God, and the 
 song of the Lamb. " Great and marvellous are thy 
 works, Lord God Almighty ; just and true are thy 
 ways, thou king of saints. Who shall not fear 
 thee, O Lord, arid glorify thy name ? for thou only 
 art holy ; for all nations shall come and worship 
 before thee ; for thy judgments are made manifest." 
 
 The divine economy in the moral system may be 
 represented by a bountiful and benevolent provi- 
 dence, by which our temporal wants are satisfied. 
 Winter, in which appears no promise of bread in 
 future, spring, in which promises but just make 
 their appearance, and summer full of labour and 
 toil precede the bountiful autumn, when rest and 
 festivity cause to forget the labours of the past sea- 
 sons, and we find that all has happily terminated 
 for good. 
 
 This general subject may be contemplated to 
 
 advantage, by taking into consideration the labors 
 
 and sufferings of our blessed Redeemer, all which 
 
 terminate in giving him rest in his love. After the 
 
 50
 
 393 
 
 prophet Isaiah gave a most circumstantial account 
 of the Saviour's sufferings and the object of them, 
 in which account he stales the following : ' He was 
 wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for 
 our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was 
 upon him ; and with his stripes we are healed," he 
 further says; "He shall see of the travail of his 
 soul, and shall be satisfied ; by his knowledge shall 
 my righteous servant justify many for he shall bear 
 their iniquities." St. Paul informs us that the man 
 Christ Jesus gave himself a ransom for all men to 
 be testified in due time, and that he by the grace 
 of God tasted death fot every man. And St. John 
 says, he is the propitiation for the sins of the whole 
 world. Jesus himself says; the true shepherd lay- 
 eth down his life for the sheep. Now these pas- 
 sages all go to show what was the desire of the Sa- 
 viour's heart, " who loved us and washed us from 
 our sins in his own blood.'* And they contain evi- 
 dence that the whole of his desire will finally be 
 accomplished. When this is done, it will be evi- 
 dent that he rests in his love. 
 
 When Jesus wept over Jerusalem, and said ; " O 
 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophet*, 
 and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how 
 often would I have gathered thy children together, 
 even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her 
 wings, and ye would not ! Behold your house is 
 left unto you desolate ; he further added ; for I 
 say unto you, ye shall not see me henceforth, till 
 ye shall say, blessed is he that cometh in the name 
 of the Lord." It is worthy of notice, that in this 
 instance, and on this most interesting occasion, the 
 Saviour terminated his prophetic malediction in a 
 way to give place to his blessed appearance and 
 his being hailed with " Blessed is he that cometh 
 in the name of the Lord." Thus the blessed Jesus 
 rested no where but in his love.
 
 394 
 
 When on the cross, at the close of his sufferings, 
 the dear Redeemer manifested that love was his 
 resting place. He prayed for his enemies, saying ; 
 " Father forgive them, for they know not what 
 they do." 
 
 Keep in mind that the whole which love desires 
 must be accomplished in order that love may give 
 rest. If the Saviour loved his enemies, if he loved 
 sinners, if he designed their redemption, their for- 
 giveness, and salvation, can he ever rest in this love 
 unless this desire be granted ? " He shall see of 
 the travail of his soul and be satisfied." But he 
 never can be satisfied with any thing short of the 
 joy that was sat before him, for which he endured 
 the cross, and despised the shame. 
 
 If, as has been erroneously held, and is now be- 
 lieved and taught, after the dispensation of divine 
 mercy through Jesus Christ, shall have accomplish- 
 ed all it ever will accomplish ; if after it has recon- 
 ciled all that it ever will reconcile, millions are to 
 remain in eternal rebellion under the dominion of 
 sin, darkness and death ; and if the same blessed 
 mediator, who gave himself a ransom for all men, 
 who is the propitiation for the sins of the whole 
 world, who by the grace of Go,d tasted death for 
 every man, is to execute on those wretched millions 
 never ending wrath, how is it that he can ever rest 
 in his love ? 
 
 The prophet Isaiah calls the promised Shiloh, 
 "the everlasting Father and the Prince of Peace." 
 But with what propriety he can be called a father 
 to those for whom he has no mercy is utterly in- 
 conceivable ; or how he is properly called the 
 prince of peace, when he is the administrator of 
 endless wrath on his own subjects, is truly difficult 
 to understand. 
 
 Let us again repeat, in order that love may give 
 rest, all that love desires must be accomplished,
 
 395 
 
 St. Paul exhorted husbands lo love their " wives, 
 even as Christ loved the church, arid gave himself 
 for it ; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the 
 washing of water by the word ; that he might pre- 
 sent it to himself a glorious church, not having 
 spot or wrinkle, or any such thing ; but that il 
 should be holy and without blemish." According 
 to this declaration Christ gave himself for the 
 church because he loved it, and because he loved 
 it he undertook to sanctify and cleanse it, that he 
 might free it from every spot arid wrinkle, and pre- 
 sent it to himself a glorious church. This same 
 Apostle says that Christ gave himself a ransom for 
 all men. All men are therefore of his church. His 
 church was unsanctified, unclean, full of spots and 
 wrinkles, and inglorious ; but by the ministration 
 of the word of life, he will sanctify and cleanse it. 
 But short of the completion of this work, he cannot 
 rest in his love. The uncleanness of human nature 
 was the reason why his love moved him to the min- 
 istration of his cleansing word, and as long as one 
 spot or wrinkle remains the washing must be con- 
 tinued ; but when sin is finished, when all shall 
 know the Lord from the least to the greatest, then 
 will that love which moved the Saviour to give 
 himself for us, afford a heaven of rest to him whose 
 soul travailed for man's salvation. 
 
 Our subject may be profitably contemplated by 
 applying it to the love which actuates the Christian's 
 heart ; and especially to the love which moves the 
 faithful minister of Jesus Christ to be vigilant in 
 his ministry. And here let us remark, that as Jesus 
 undertook the ministry of his grace from pure love 
 to sinners, so it is indispensably necessary that the 
 ministers of his word of life should have the same 
 love which moved their divine master to our re- 
 demption. If Jesus had had no love for mankind, 
 if he had been as strenuous for man's endless mise-
 
 3915 
 
 ry as many appear to be in our day, he never would 
 have given himself for us. Remember the caution 
 which our Saviour observed with Peter. " Simon 
 Peter, lovest thou me ?'* being answered in the af- 
 firmative, says ; " feed my sheep." He did not say, 
 terrify and frighten my sheep ; but feed my sheep; 
 and Peter did most faithfully feed the sheep ; and 
 it was because of the love which he bore to the w 
 chief shepherd, and to the sheep. And this was 
 the case with the whole of that immortal band of 
 Apostles who went forth to feed the flock, which 
 Christ had purchased with his own blood, and to 
 wash the church with the washing of water by the 
 word. They laboured, they suffered, but they had 
 peace and rest. They rested in that triumphant 
 love which incited them to the work of the minis- 
 try. But this love could have given them no rest, 
 if it had not the power to promise success to their 
 labours. 
 
 For many centuries the ministry in the Christian 
 church has seemed to labour more to persuade peo- 
 ple into a belief of the general failure of the gospel 
 dispensation, than to inspire a hope that its success 
 will eventually correspond with the universal and 
 impartial love of the Saviour ; and though the 
 preachers have uniformly professed great love for 
 sinners, and a willingness to exert all their means 
 to prevent the everlasting ruin of souls, yet they 
 have as constantly insisted that they shall rejoice 
 in heaven to see the unconverted part of their con- 
 gregations in a state of hopeless misery ! But how 
 is this consistent with the idea of resting in their 
 love ? It is easy to conceive how the minister of 
 the word rests in his love to the people and to the 
 gospel, if he has the prospect bright before him, of 
 the final, full, and entire success of the ministry. 
 St Paul says ; " Having this ministry we faint not." 
 But what is the peculiar nature of this ministry
 
 397 
 
 which caused the Apostles not to faint? See the 
 answer in the same Apostle's words ; " Who hath 
 made us able ministers of the IS'ew Testament, not 
 of the letter, but of the spirit ; for the letter killeth, 
 but the spirit giveth life." Possessing the love for 
 mankind which the Apostles evidently did, they 
 must have fainted if their ministry had been a min- 
 istry of death; but their ministry was a ministiy 
 of life, of righteousness, and reconciliation, in which 
 they laboured that they might " present every man 
 perfect in Christ Jesus." 
 
 The same spirit of love, which gives rest to the 
 faithful minister of the word of life, is the rest of ev- 
 ery true believer. It is acknowledged by all denom- 
 inations of Christians, that the spirit of Christ is the 
 spirit of love, and that this love extends to all man- 
 kind. With the different persuasions among us, 
 there is but one sentiment on this subject. All 
 Christian people profess to love the whole human 
 family, and to pray for the salvation of all. Now 
 since this is uniformly the case, let us ask, what rest 
 ean they have while exercising this generous love 
 and benevolence, and yet believing that millions 
 of their fellow creatures must inevitably, not only 
 be excluded the joys and peace of heaven, but be 
 the subjects of positive misery forever? 
 
 It is true we have been told the extravagant sto- 
 ry that the saints in heaven will rejoice forever in 
 the everlasting misery of the unconverted. We 
 have been told, that parents will rejoice in the sen- 
 tence of endless condemnation passed on their own 
 offspring in the eternal world ! But will this be 
 resting in love ? If parents have as much love for 
 their children in the next state as they have here, 
 will that love allow them to rest in heaven, while 
 their offspring are tortured in everlasting burnings? 
 No, allowing the doctrine of future endless misery, 
 those who rest must rest in eternal hatred ! but HI 
 hatred there is no rest.
 
 398 
 
 My brethren, did you ever find rest in a spirit of 
 enmity ? in a disposition to rejoice in another's 
 misery ? Is it possible for unmerciful wrath to give 
 rest ? No, if we ever find rest either in this world 
 or in the next, it must be in love. And love, that 
 it may give rest, must have its vast desires accom- 
 plished. 
 
 What an unbounded field of glory and beauty 
 our subject presents to our rejoicing eyes ! The 
 vast, the unbounded, the incomprehensible love of 
 our heavenly Father,is-his eternal rest. After all his 
 judgments, after all his righteous indignation is ful- 
 filled on all his enemies, he will retain his unchange- 
 able love to all his offspring, and rest forever in 
 seeing all the desires of his universal, impartial love 
 fully accomplished. 
 
 Jesus, the mediator, who loved us and gave him- 
 self for us, shall see of the travail of his soul, and 
 be satisfied, shall see all the desires of his heart ac- 
 complished, shall have the heathen for his inheri- 
 tance and the uttermost parts of the earth for his 
 possession, and shall rest in his love for mankind 
 forever. 
 
 The Apostles of the Lamb, who following the 
 steps and the example of their divine master, loved 
 the human race, laboured in the ministry of right- 
 eousness, and reconciliation, suffered the loss of 
 all earthly things for the establishment and promo- 
 tion of the truth, shall see all the desires of their 
 love fulfilled, and rest in their love. 
 
 All the faithful successors of the Apostles, in the 
 ministry, who have been excited by the powerful 
 influences of the spirit of love, to fulfill their minis- 
 try, in the Lord Jesus, tp testify the gospel of the 
 grace of God, shall see all the desires of their love 
 fulfilled in the reconciliation of all things to God, 
 fhrough Jesus, and shall rest forever in their love.
 
 Every true believer in Jesus, who Lath been 
 quickened by the spirit of the gospel, which is the 
 spirit of love, shall see the boundless desires of his 
 heart fulfilled in the subjection of every creature 
 in heaven and on earth, to the authority and love 
 of Christ, and shall forever rest in his love. 
 
 To conclude My friends, let us never seek rest 
 but in love. " Let not the sun go down upon your 
 wrath." " Let us love one another, for love is of 
 God." " He that loveth another hath fulfilled the 
 law."
 
 No. 26. 
 
 LECTURE SERMON, 
 
 DELIVERED AT THE 
 
 SECOND UNIVERSALIST MEETING, IN BOSTON, 
 JULY 18, 1819. 
 
 BY HOSEA BALLOU, PASTOR. 
 
 Published Semi-Monthly by Henry Bowen, Congress-street. 
 
 MARK v. 31. 
 
 " Thou seest the vfiultitudt thronging thee, and sayesl thou, who touched 
 
 me .?" 
 
 THE occasion of these words was the following 
 circumstance. One of the rulers of the synagogue, 
 of the name of Jairus, came to Jesus, and falling 
 down at his feet, besought him most earnestly, say- 
 ing, " my little daughter lies at the point of death. 
 I pray thee come and lay thy hands upon her, that 
 she may be healed, and she shall live." The com- 
 passionate Saviour was moved at a petition which 
 flowed so directly from a parent's heart, and which 
 indicated such strong faith in his power to heal. 
 He immediately went with the afflicted father. 
 % No sooner was it known that he was going to heal 
 the sick child, than a great crowd of people follow- 
 ed and pressed hard upon him. They were, no 
 doubt, extremely anxious to be eye witnesses of the 
 miracle. In this vast concourse there was a woman, 
 who had been afflicted for twelve years with a dis- 
 tressing disorder, " and had suffered many things 
 of many physicians, and had spent all that she 
 had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew 
 worse." This afflicted woman had lost all hopes 
 of recovery by the assistance of human aid ; indeed 
 51
 
 401 
 
 she was poor and pennyless. Her little estate had 
 already passed over into the hands of her physicians, 
 who in room of doing her any good, had caused her 
 many painful sufferings. Destitute, alone and 
 friendless, a thought came into her mind, and it im- 
 mediately formed itself into a resolution accom- 
 panied with a perfect confidence, that if she could, 
 by any possible means, press through the crowd of 
 people so as to but touch the clothes of Jesus she 
 should be made whole. 
 
 It is scarcely possible to imagine a circumstance 
 more calculated to excite exertion than this. She 
 was, no doubt, a very feeble person, a great multi- 
 tude of people were crowding, and pressing to keep 
 close to Jesus that they might not miss of seeing the 
 miracle. The difficulty of getting through the 
 crowd was, no doubt, very great; but salvation 
 was so near and so desirable, that it invigorated 
 her feeble system to such a degree that her efforts 
 were availing. It is not unlikely that we may form 
 a pretty correct idea of the manner of this woman's 
 exertions on this occasion. She would naturally 
 direct her eyes toward Jesus and get a glimpse of 
 him as often as possible ; when it so happened that 
 she could, by the greatest exertion get before one 
 of the crowd, she never let the opportunity slip ; 
 one step gained was cautiously kept; she was care- 
 ful that no one should crowd her back ; she looked 
 well to her feet that they should not slide ; spake 
 not a word to any one lest she might miss an op- 
 portunity to advance ; the nearer she gets to the 
 prize the stronger and more active she grows, till 
 she eagerly reaches forth her hand and touches the 
 garment of the Saviour. She now realizes her 
 faith, her confidence has not deceived her, she is 
 made whole. 
 
 Though this woman did not once think that the 
 Saviour was apprehensive of her approach, we have 
 good reason to believe that he who knew the very
 
 402 
 
 thoughts of men's hearts, who saw Nathaniel under 
 the fig-tree, knew her case, her faith and the efforts 
 she had made to come to him. Immediately after 
 this woman touched his garment, he turned himself 
 about in the press and, as if surprised that any one 
 should touch him, said, who touched my clothes ? 
 The disciples, being ignorant of the particular case, 
 and surprised that their master should ask who 
 touched him, when he had, for some time, been 
 pressed with the crowd of people all around him, 
 said to him, " thou seest the multitude thronging 
 thee, and sayest thou who touched me ?" Jesus 
 made them no reply, but cast his eyes round to see 
 her, who had done this thing, when the woman, fear- 
 ing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, 
 come and fell down before him, and told him all 
 the truth. And he said unto her, " daughter, thy 
 faith hath made the whole; go in peace, and be 
 whole of thy plague." 
 
 Our subject, as it now lies before us, seems to 
 suggest the following particulars for consideration. 
 
 I. What appertains to the subject of the power 
 of Jesus to heal the natural disorders of the human 
 body. 
 
 II. The consideration of this power as indicating 
 the moral excellency of the doctrine of Jesus, and 
 its efficacy in removing the moral and spiritual 
 maladies of mankind. 
 
 III. The similarity between the disorders of the 
 body and those of the mind. 
 
 IV. As there were no natural complaints that 
 were too malignant to be cured by the miracu- 
 lous power of Jesus, it seems to justify the infer- 
 ence that there are no cases of moral or spiritual 
 disorder, which are beyond the reach of the divine 
 efficacy of his grace. 
 
 V. The natural inducements which led the in- 
 firm to Jesus, may be used to represent those of
 
 403 
 
 a moral nature which lead the rational mind to the 
 doctrine of Christ. 
 
 YJ. A noticeable difference in the motives of 
 people who crowd the places of public worship 
 where the healing doctrine of Jesus is preached, is 
 signified by the crowding multitude who pressed 
 continually on Jesus, and the special cause of the 
 woman's approach. And 
 
 VII. The resolution and perseverance of this 
 woman may be used in a way to encourage sinners 
 to come to Christ. 
 
 But that the hearer may not be troubled to re- 
 tain these particulars, the whole subject, we say, 
 is to be seen by examining it in a natural and mor- 
 al sense. 
 
 The miraculous power of Jesus was so manifest- 
 ed, that even his bitterest enemies did not pretend 
 to deny that miracles were wrought by him ; they 
 however, attributed that power to an evil demon, 
 or Beelzebub. 
 
 The miracles of Jesus were done in such a pub- 
 lic manner, and in such vast numbers, that not only 
 his keenest eyed enemies, who surely would have 
 been able to have detected any imposition on the 
 public, were fully convinced, but the thousands 
 who were healed of all manner of diseases, remain- 
 ing among the people of different parts of the 
 country, were living testimonies by which these 
 miracles were established, and the fame of the di- 
 vine physician sent abroad through every region. 
 
 Respecting these miraculous cures, it is of im- 
 portance to notice, that no partiality was ever 
 known to have any influence in the bestowment of 
 such favours; nor have we any account, that any 
 worthiness in the subject was ever inquired for, or 
 that any known unworthiness excluded any from 
 these mercies. In these particulars the miraculous 
 cures wrought by Jesus, bear the indubitable tnarks 
 of the true divinity. Had Jesus made any distinc-
 
 404 v 
 
 tions, and had he healed some and refused to heal 
 others in the same condition, the use of his mira- 
 culous power would have exhibited infallible 
 marks ol the wisdom of this world, which has for 
 ages subverted the gospel of Christ, by teaching for 
 doctrine the vain tradition, that some only of the 
 human race were elected from all eternity unto 
 everlasting life, while the residue were by as early 
 a decree, reprobated from the divine favour for- 
 ever. But the blessed Jesus neither preached not- 
 practiced such a sentiment. Again, had the Sa- 
 viour been careful to confer his miraculous favours 
 according to character, had he minutely inves- 
 tigated the conduct of the infirm and sick and con- 
 fined his favours to the virtuous, he Would then 
 have given, by way of example, some support to 
 the doctrine of men, in which they have confined 
 the favor and mercy of God to the virtuous. But 
 Jesus said, " 1 am not come to call the righteous, 
 but sinners to repentance." 
 
 We have every reason necessary for believing, 
 that the gracious design of our heavenly Father, in 
 giving such power to Jesus, extended beyond the 
 temporal benefits received by those who were 
 healed of their infirmities. It is generally argued 
 by Christians, that the miracles of Jesus were de- 
 signed as evidences of his Messiahship or divine 
 mission ; and this we may safely believe, and yet 
 believe that the design extends still further. What 
 benefit, we may ask, is there in believing that Je- 
 sus was the Messiah? The answer is, that we may 
 receive him as a divine teacher, and believe in his 
 doctrine. But the inquiry does not end here. 
 What benefit is there in believing his doctrine ? 
 The answer is, a belief in his doctrine is a remedy 
 for the moral evil of our nature ; or in other words, 
 the doctrine of Jesus is a cure for all the disorders 
 of sin, and our belief in this doctrine is a mean of 
 ks healing effects in the mind. If the doctrine of
 
 405 
 
 Jesus Christ were not possessed of this power, it 
 seems impossible to understand the great necessity 
 of its being propagated in our world. 
 
 The notion that this doctrine consists of a long 
 string of abstract articles of faith, which have been 
 written into human creeds, the belief of which is 
 proposed in the gospel as a condition of our being 
 made eternally happy in a future sfate, is so per- 
 fectly destitute of reason, and so foreign from the 
 nature of events which take place in the system of 
 causes and effects, that it is by no means entitled 
 to any share of our confidence. 
 
 The belief of the truth itself is of no other ad- 
 Yantage than its effects in delivering from sin; and 
 changing the mind into the divine image. The 
 miraculous cures wrought by the Saviour consist- 
 ed in removing the natural disorders of the human 
 body, so that the leper was cleansed, the deaf made 
 to hear, the blind to see, the lame to walk, and the 
 dead to live. And in all these cases the divine 
 efficacy of his doctrine was most plainly indicated. 
 For it is the knowledge of the divine and glorious 
 truths which compose his doctrine that cleanses from 
 -sin and moral defilement. God does not forgive 
 the wicked as a compensation for believing in cer- 
 tain tenets, but forgiveness of sin means no more 
 nor less than is expressed in the following words of 
 scripture ; " In that day there shall be a fountain 
 opened to the house of David, and to the inhabi- 
 tants of Jerusalem, for sin and uncleanness. Be- 
 hold the lamb of God which taketh away the sin of 
 the world. Who hath loved us, and washed us 
 from our sins in his own blood. That he might 
 sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by 
 the word. Though your sins be as scarlet they 
 shall be as white as snow ; though they be red like 
 crimson, they shall be as wool." 
 
 Between the disorders of the human body, and 
 those of the mind, there seems to be no small re-
 
 406 
 
 semblance. Both are the natural productions of 
 the constitution of the creature, who was made 
 subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of 
 him who subjected the same in hope. Both are 
 promoted by the indulgence of appetites and pas- 
 sions, both become inveterate by habit. Natural 
 blindness and ignorance of divine things are so very 
 similar that the scriptures use the same word to 
 signify both, and the Saviour represents sinners by 
 those who are sick. 
 
 If the mind of the hearer has consented to the 
 idea that the miraculous cures performed by Jesus 
 on the bodies of people, were designed to indicate 
 the power of his grace to cleanse from sin and mor- 
 al defilement, we may proceed to consider one of 
 the most glorious truths, which the gospel was de- 
 signed to reveal. This great truth is seen in the 
 following argument. As there were no natural 
 disorders which were too stubborn for the miracu- 
 lous power of Jesus to remove, no demoniac so 
 raving that Jesus could not clothe him in his right 
 mind, none so strongly locked in the dark house of 
 death that he could not call them from thence, we 
 infer, that no degree or description of sin, however 
 chronical, however inveterate is beyond the power 
 of divine mercy to wash away. 
 
 We are informed that there was one instance of 
 a posssessed of a devil whose case was beyond the 
 power of the disciples of Jesus ; but Jesus cast him 
 out, and told the disciples that their unbelief was 
 the reason that they failed of this miracle. The 
 same may be the case with many even now, they 
 can find sins which they think cannot, be washed 
 away, but all this is owing to their unbelief. 
 
 The case of Lazarus was attended with peculiar 
 circumstances which may be profitably noticed in 
 the present argument. When Jesus advanced to- 
 ward the sepulchre, the weeping sister Martha ex- 
 claimed, " Lord, by this time he stinketh ; for he
 
 407 
 
 hath been dead four days." Probably her thoughts 
 were the following. Hadst thou but come in sea- 
 son, such is thy power, thou rnightest have prevent- 
 ed my brother's death, or even after his breath bad 
 left his body, possibly hadst thou been here to ex- 
 ert thy power before corruption had begun its 
 work, the event might have been to the praise of 
 thy glorious power and to our consolation. But 
 the precious time is gone, the opportunity is lost, 
 four days have surely carried my brother beyond 
 the reach of thy restoring power. But notwith- 
 standing all this reasoning, at the words of Jesus, 
 " Lazarus, come forth," the dead was raised. 
 
 Like faithless Martha, many who profess to be 
 the disciples of Jesus, have made their calculations, 
 by which they have bounded Ihe grace of God, and 
 carried sinners of a certain character beyond those 
 limits. It is frequently the topic of our preachers, 
 to set forth, in the most lamentable language, the 
 awful situation of thousands and millions of their 
 fellow creatures, who, they say, will come short of 
 the divine mercy, through delay. Had they ex- 
 erted their powers in season, had they improved 
 their precious moments of probation, all would 
 have been well and the prize secure. But it is now 
 too late. The door of mercy is shut. And though 
 the poor wretched sinner would now give a thou- 
 sand worlds, if he had them, for one hour in which 
 he might repent, he is denied the privilege of re- 
 penting forever. 
 
 With such appalling language as this, and more 
 to the utmost stretch of imagination assisted by the 
 blindest enthusiasm, the feeble nerves and delicate 
 minds of women and children are terrified into a 
 kind of religious delirium. But surely one plain 
 testimony of divine truth removes all those gloomy 
 fears. " Where sin abounded, grace did much more 
 abound."
 
 408 
 
 But it is not enough that we prove the proposi- 
 tion that, the grace of God revealed in the gospel 
 is sufficient to take away the sin of the world ; it is of 
 still greater consequence that the mind should un- 
 derstand the nature of this great truth. For this 
 kind of knowledge is that which changes the mind 
 from darkness to light, and delivers it from the 
 reigning power of sin to the Jove of holiness and to 
 the obedience of the just. 
 
 The doctrine of Jesus Christ reveals the divine 
 character to the understanding whereby the sinner 
 is brought to know God, whom to know is life eter- 
 nal; God is love, and love has the power to trans- 
 form the mind into its own image; God is justice, 
 and justice forms its own character in the heart of 
 its moral subject ; God is truth, and truth drives 
 out error and takes up its residence in the soul ; 
 God is holiness, and holiness washes out every stain 
 of sin, and implants in the mind a love to its divin- 
 ity. The sinner thus saved, thus delivered from 
 sin is made rationally happy in the enjoyment of 
 those moral perfections which are the natural ele- 
 ments of a moral being. All that can be termed 
 sinfulness is just as contrary to the health of the 
 soul, as disorders of the body are to the health of 
 the body. And all the salvation which a sick man 
 needs is to be delivered from his sickness, and all 
 the salvation a sinner needs is to be saved from his 
 sins. 
 
 The opinion that a time will ever come when it 
 will not be just in the nature of things for a sinner 
 to repent, embraces and necessarily implies the ab- 
 surdity that it will be just for the sinner to continue 
 in sin! 
 
 But the common doctrine of the church contends 
 that if men do not repent of their sins in this life, 
 they will not be allowed the privilege of repenting 
 in a future state, and therefore must remain sinful 
 forever. Now all these notions are the offpring of 
 52
 
 imagination, and have no foundation in reason nor 
 in the scripture of truth. The gospel was sent into 
 this world for the purpose of reforming mankind, 
 and reconciling the nations to God. It was need- 
 ed here, because it is here that men are sinners. If 
 it could be proved that the next state of existence 
 is one subject to these moral infirmities, what rea- 
 son can there be offered that their remedy will not 
 be found in that state as well as in this. We have 
 physicians and medicine in this mortal state, and it 
 is thought by some that there are medicines in ev- 
 ery climate sufficient for the disorders of that cli- 
 mate. Now if the next state be incident to sick- 
 ness and disorders, what reason can there be offer- 
 ed that there will not be physicians and suitable 
 medicines in that state to cure those disorders? 
 When the great physician of souls was here on 
 earth, he was never known to shun a place because 
 sickness or wickedness was there. He, no doubt, 
 knew that legions possessed the man in the country 
 of the Gadarines, yet he went there, and there he 
 cast out the devils ; and if on the other side of 
 death legions of demons possess men no doubt Je- 
 sus will in due time cast them out. 
 
 The hearer is cautioned against supposing that 
 we allow that the next state will be subject to sick- 
 .ness or to sin ; we distinctly say that the evidence 
 of this is wanting both in scripture and reason. 
 
 As the inconveniences of sickness and disorder 
 are sufficient to induce the patient to apply to a 
 physician, so the painful infelicities of sin are the 
 proper inducements to apply to the spiritual phy- 
 sician, whose doctrine is amply efficacious in re- 
 moving our sins from us. The supposition that has 
 taken the lead of the minds of religious people, 
 that it would be desirable to live in sin in this world, 
 if it were not that it is so offensive to God, that he 
 will punish them forever hereafter to show his re- 
 sentment, is one of the most pernicious deceptions
 
 410 . 
 
 that ever darkened the understanding; of mankind. 
 This deception is the means of continuing people 
 in the love of sin. They long to live in it, and 
 would without restraint, were it not for this system 
 of fear. But it has been fully proved that this ter- 
 ror is no real security to a virtuous life. Those who 
 are the strongest advocates for this doctrine of tor- 
 menting men in another world, because they hav 7 e 
 been sinners here, are, in general, as wicked men as 
 any other class. It is true they endeavour to be 
 more secret in the practice of vice, but this only 
 adds the wickedness of hypocrisy to the rest of 
 their sins. These remarks are by no means di- 
 rected against any particular denomination, they 
 are designed for general application. The fact is, 
 if men are really virtuous, they are so from the love 
 they have for the moral principles of our common 
 nature ; and we are happy to find some of this des- 
 scription among all denominations and in every 
 cJass of citizens. 
 
 It would be most glaringly absurd for one to tell 
 a sick man languishing with distressing pain, that as 
 there is no penal law by which any punishment can 
 be inflicted on him for being sick, he had better not 
 send for a physician, nor give himself any trouble 
 about recovering his health. A patient who should 
 be treated with such communication would surely 
 think himself trifled with. If one who knew the sit- 
 uation of the woman, who pressed through the 
 crowd to reach the garment of Jesus, had told her, 
 that no punishment would be inflicted on her if she 
 did not go to him, and therefore she might indulge 
 in the pleasures of her disorder, would she have 
 supposed the person serious ? But this would have 
 been no more absurd than it is to tell sinners, that 
 if there be no everlasting damnation in the eternal 
 world for their sins in this, they may indulge in all 
 the pleasures of sin. As sin is a disorder it cer- 
 tainly deprives of happiness, and plunges the sinner
 
 41J 
 
 into misery ; and if there be any propriety in urg- 
 ing those who are sick to apply to a physician, 
 there certainly is the same propriety in urging sin- 
 ners to come to Christ, that is, to come to his doc- 
 trine, to his truth, to his spirit. And the language 
 of the Redeemer's invitation is most reasonable ; 
 " Come unto me all ye who labour and are heavy 
 laden, and I will give you rest." 
 
 The motives which influenced the multitude, 
 who thronged Jesus as he went to the house of Jai- 
 rus, were no doubt various. Some probably, saw 
 Jesus now for the first time, and were highly incit- 
 ed with the hope of seeing a miracle wrought. Per- 
 haps others were his bitter enemies, and were on 
 the look out to discover some fraud or deception 
 in the man. Some went in the crowd because oth- 
 ers were going, and they went for the sake of the 
 company. Some no doubt went froin the laudable 
 motive of giving their countenance and support to 
 the divine teacher in whom they most sincerely be- 
 lieved. Some very likely were there who had ex- 
 perienced the healing power of the Redeemer, and 
 were rejoiced to have an opportunity of seeing a 
 miracle of mercy again performed. But among 
 the whole there was one distressed woman whose 
 mind was far from speculative contemplations. 
 She was impelled to press through the crowd that 
 she might be healed of her own infirmity. 
 
 As it was with the multitude, who, on various oc- 
 casions thronged our Saviour in the days of his 
 ministry on earth, when some for one motive and 
 some for another joined those vast assemblies, so, 
 no doubt, it is with those who now assemble where 
 the healing doctrine of Jesus is preached. Some 
 from curiosity, some from habit, some from fash- 
 ion, some to keep the company of others, some we 
 hope go because they love the words of everlasting 
 life, and now and then one, perhaps, who feeling 
 the infirmity of their own sinful heart, go with a
 
 412 
 
 determination to press through every obstacle and 
 come to Jesus, who is the way, the truth, and the 
 life; who is the fountain opened for sin and un- 
 cleanness. 
 
 While delivering this course of lectures your 
 servant has often thought of the possible motives 
 which occasioned such uncommon assemblies to 
 crowd every part of this house, and a hope has been 
 entertained that among the many, a few, at least, 
 were striving to find him of whom Moses in the 
 law, and the prophets did write. A fervent desire 
 has been exercised that the doctrine of our blessed 
 Redeemer might be held up to the view of the 
 hearers, that they might reach forth the hand of 
 faith and lay hold on the hope which is set before 
 them. 
 
 Being taught by the Saviour, we did not indulge 
 in an expectation that the word of truth would be 
 received and kept by all who heard it. Jesus re- 
 presented the success of his own preaching by the 
 instructive parable of the sower, who went forth to 
 sow ; t6 and as he sowed some seeds fell by the way- 
 side, and the fowls came and devoured them up. 
 Some fell upon stony places, where they had not 
 much earth ; and forthwith they sprang up, because 
 they had no deepness of earth, and when the sun 
 was up they were scorched ; and because they 
 had no root they withered away. And some fell 
 among thorns ; and the thorns sprang up and choked 
 them. But others fell into good ground, and brought 
 forth fruit, some an hundred fold, some sixty fold, 
 some thirty fold." If such has been the success of 
 those feeble efforts made to propagate the gospel 
 of the kingdom in this place, surely we have reason 
 to be thankful to the Lord of the vineyard. If 
 while the enemies of the word have, like the birds 
 in the parable, taken away that which was sown in 
 the heart, if while the spirit of persecution agitating 
 the tongue of censure has caused many to shrink
 
 413 
 
 from a steady perseverance in what they gladly 
 received, if while the cares of the world, the deceit- 
 fulness of riches, and the lust of other things have, 
 like thorns, sprang up and choked the word in 
 some, others have received it in good and honest 
 hearts, have retained the precious grain, and 
 brought forth fruit to the honour of God, our la- 
 bours have not been in vain, our exertions are 
 amply rewarded. 
 
 This last, of the course of lectures proposed for 
 publication, in its conclusion, will call on all who 
 hear, to form the resolution which enabled the wo- 
 man to press through the crowd and come to Jesus, 
 and come to him likewise. That is, that you strive 
 to the utmost of your well directed abilities and 
 means to come to the knowledge of the Saviour's 
 doctrine. 
 
 Is it not the case with many, as it was with the 
 woman, have you not spent much and suffered ma- 
 ny things of those " physicians of no value," who 
 have endeavoured to heal you with the doctrines 
 and commandments of men ? arid do you not find 
 that after all you are none the better? Have you 
 found peace in believing that our heavenly Father 
 has elected some to everlasting life, and reprobated 
 the rest to endless woe? Have you found that all 
 your plague is healed by fancying that you are 
 elected unto life eternal, while your companions 
 and children may be devoted to everlasting sor- 
 row ? Can such medicine as this make you perfect- 
 ly whole. No, but in the bitterness of your souls, 
 when you look on your little ones, and believe that 
 they are exposed to endless ruin, you cry out as 
 Abraham did, " O that Ishmael might live before 
 the Lord." Come then, my friends, to the peace- 
 ful doctrine of Jesus, who took little children in his 
 arms and blessed them, and said, " of such is the 
 kingdom of heaven." O the peace there is in be- 

 
 414 
 
 lieving this testimony ? It overcomes the plague of 
 unbelief, and fills the heart with joy. 
 
 Can you find any real relief from the power of a 
 carnal heart, by believing that your immortal state 
 depends on your own good works in this imperfect 
 state ? Do you feel whole from all your plagues 
 by believing in this prevailing doctrine which rests 
 the weight of eternity on the imperfect works of 
 mortality and time ? This doctrine of human con- 
 trivance, always associates the " heart-chilling" 
 doctrine of endless misery for those who come 
 short of their duty, with every pleasing prospect 
 of a world of joy for those who by their good 
 works win the immortal prize. This doctrine as 
 well as that of election and reprobation makes an 
 eternal separation between those of the most en- 
 dearing connexions on earth. Why is there so 
 much mourning, so much gloominess on the coun- 
 tenances of those who hope to gain immortal glory 
 by their works I Is it because they have pressed 
 through the superstitions of the church and caught 
 hold of the garment of the Saviour 1 No, this 
 is not the case. They have endeavoured to mend 
 their own garments, and they find the rent is 
 continually growing worse. Let such come to 
 to the Saviour's doctrine, and believe that the gift 
 of God is eternal life, and they shall find peace in 
 believing and joy in the Holy Ghost. 
 
 Nothing short of that which God has implanted 
 in the soul can satisfy the mind. The apostle says ; 
 the word is nigh thee, even in thy heart and in thy 
 mouth, the word of faith which we preach. This 
 word of faith is the gift of God, which is eternal 
 life in Jesus ; and nothing short of this can satisfy 
 the mind. While we oppose this principle we op- 
 pose our own happiness;, and while we shut one 
 individual of the human family away from this 
 word of life, we bring death to our own souls in so 
 doing.
 
 415 
 
 Some are embarrassed with one doctrine and 
 some with another, that they are prevented from 
 coming to the doctrine of Jesus. Many, very many, 
 are striving to feed on the husks that the unclean 
 eat, and neglect to come to Christ. The vanities 
 of youth, the pride and fashions of the age keep 
 thousands back from coming to the purifying reli- 
 gion of Jesus ; and yet his willing, his gracious arms 
 are extended, as in the last day, that great day of 
 the feast, when he stood and cried, " If any man 
 thirst let him come to me and drink." 
 
 To conclude My Christian friends, I feel it my 
 duty as well as a pleasure, when I reflect on the 
 more than ordinary attention which you have paid 
 to these lectures, and the liberal patronage with 
 which you have favoured their publication, to ten- 
 der you my most grateful acknowledgments. And 
 while I am constrained deeply to regret that my 
 labours should come so short of the great subjects 
 ^\n which I have treated, I humbly prostrate my 
 soul before God, and implore his forgiveness in 
 every particular wherein I have erred through ig- 
 norance or infirmity ; and earnestly entreat that 
 these feeble efforts may be attended with the bles- 
 sing of him who fed thousands of men, women and 
 children with so small a portion. And to his name 
 alone be all the glory. AMEN.

 
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