Here eternal

good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life." life is represented as taken by the good fight of faith; and yet it cannot be contended that all fight this good fight, for "all men have not faith." This class of texts, which limits salvation to certain characters, is so numerous as to require a volume in order to give room to comment on them all; what has been said, therefore, must suffice. We will now examine some of the threatenings of God's word, which imply the doctrine in question. Matt. xxvi. 24. "Wo unto the man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed; it had been good for that man if he had not been born." We shall not bewilder the plain reader with an appeal to the original Greek on this very plain text. The expression, "it had been good for that man if he had not been born," can mean nothing more nor less, than that it would have been better to have had no existence, than to exist under the circumstances of him by whom the Son of man was betrayed; which cannot be true of any one who shall be finally and eternally saved. Here then is an individual of whom it is said, "it had been good for that man if he had not been born;" but this could not be said of any who shall be finally and eternally saved; therefore, here is an individual who cannot be finally and eternally saved; hence, the doctrine of universal salvation is false, and the doctrine of endless punishment is true. It will be no fair reply to this to say, as universalists often have said, that the argument if admitted, would prove the endless punishment of only one individual out of all the human family; for if the endless punishment of one individual be proved, the principles which endless punishment involve are established, and as the ways of God are equal, or the moral principles of his goverment the same in every case, the endless punishment of one involves the endless punishment of all of similar moral character.

James ii. 13. "He shall have judgment without mercy, that hath showed no mercy." If judgment without mercy implies the doctrine of endless punishment, then it is implied in this text. If men cannot be saved without mercy, then this text proves that some will never be saved. If men can be saved without mercy; be made forever happy and not have one drop of mercy mingled in the full cup of their blessing,

then we admit that the unmerciful can be saved; but until this strange hypothesis be proved, the gates of heaven must appear barred against them, so long as it is written" he that hath showed no mercy shall have judgment without mercy." Prov. xxix. 1. "He that being often repoved, hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy." If irremediable destruction implies endless punishment, then it is implied in this text. If men can be destroyed, with a destruction for which there can be no remedy, and be saved too, then all may be saved; but not without. Universalism

says, in effect, there is no evil, no destruction to the wicked which shall not find a remedy in the final and eternal salvation of God; but the Bible says certain characters shall be destroyed without remedy, and the reader is left to judge which he is to believe, universalism or the Bible.

Matt. xiii. 47, 48, 49. " Again the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind, which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away; so shall it be at the end of the world.” This certainly implies the doctrine in question. Note, some are good and others are bad, the good are saved and the bad cast away; and all this is to take place at the end of the world. Now, unless being cast away, and being saved, mean the same thing, all cannot be saved. Mark, universalism says all shall be saved, bad as well as good, or that the bad shall all become good; but Christ says, the good shall be saved and the bad be cast away.

But universalists attempt to evade the force of this, by criticising upon the phrase, "end of the world," rendering it end of the age or dispensation; but it will not bear this construction here, unless it be the end of the gospel dispensation. The end of the world in this case, is shown to be the end of time, by its being the time when the gospel net is to be drawn to land, by which must be meant the close of the gospel dispensation. While the commission, "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, is in force, and while ministers are, in accordance with this commission, extending the field of their operations, and pushing the triumphs of the cross wider and wider through the world, the gospel net can

not be said to be drawn to land; but when time shall end, the gospel be preached no more, and all be called to give an account for the improvement they have made on the gospel and its privileges, then will the kingdom of heaven, or the gospel dispensation be like a net drawn to land full of fish, both good and bad, and then will the good be saved, and the bad be cast away. Rev. xxii. 19. " And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the Book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book." It must have been a possible case to "take away from the words of the book of this prophecy," or the individual who should do it would not have been threatened. It would be absurd to suppose that God would threaten men with the heaviest penalty, if they shall do what it is not possible for them to do. It is clear then that there must have been a possibility of taking from the words of the book, whether it be now possible to do it in the sense of the text or not. Now, the person who should do this, is threatened with three evils, either of which implies endless punishment.

1. "God shall take away his part out of the book of life." An allusion is had here to the custom of keeping publick records; books in which the names of all the citizens were written, and from which the names of public offenders were blotted. So God is represented as having a book of life, in which the names of all his children are written, by which circumstance of having the name written or not written in this book, the future destinies of all will be determined. In chap. xx. 15, it is said, "whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." Now we ask, on what the hope of heaven can be based, of those whose names God blots from the Lamb's book of life?

2. "God shall take his part out of the holy city." The holy city here is the same as that mentioned, chap. xxi. 1, 2. "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth. And I, John saw the holy city New Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven." We will not here agitate the question whether or not, this subject relates to the present or future world; for, to make the least of it possible, it describes the christian church, either in this world or in its triumphant state;

and he whose part God shall take away out of the church, involving as it does, all the interests of our holy religion, must be effectually lost.

3. "God shall take away his part out of the things which are written in this book." As this is a threatening, it relates to all the promissory portions of the book. Now, if salvation, heaven and eternal life, are written in this book, from all these the individual has his part taken, and must be forever lost. If there were not another text in the Bible implying the endless punishment of sinners, this would seal their endless and hopeless ruin.

VIII. The scriptures absolutely deny salvation to certain persons and characters. Matt. v. 20. "For I say unto you, that except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven." It is clear that some may not exceed the Scribes and Pharisees in righteousness, or this text never would have been uttered, and to such the text absolutely denies salvation. They shall "in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven ;" and if they cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven, they cannot be saved. Universalism says, that all shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but Christ says of certain characters, that they shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. John iii. 3. "Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." This text absolutely denies salvation to all such as are not born again. The text clearly implies that men may, or may not be born again; and that if they are not, they cannot see the kingdom of God, in which case they cannot be saved. To suppose that men can be saved, without ever seeing the kingdom of God, is in the highest degree absurd. Universalism says all shall see the kingdom of God and enjoy it forever; but Jesus Christ says, such as are not born again "cannot see the kingdom of God." Gal. v. 21. "Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like, of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." It is worthy of remark, that, in this text, the verb which expresses the forbidden conduct, is in the present tense, they which do such things," while the verb which express

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es the punishment, is in the future tense, "shall not inherit; not, do not inherit. This clearly marks the sense thus: those who do such things here shall not inherit the kingdom of God hereafter. Eph. v. 5. " For this ye know that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolator, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of God." Universalism says that every man has an inheritance in the kingdom of God, and in this it is opposed to the word of God.

But universalists attempt to evade the force of these passages, by denying that they have any reference to a future state, and by maintaining that the phrases, "kingdom of God," and " kingdom of heaven," mean no more than the gospel dispensation. To this we reply,

1. That these phrases do not always and exclusively signify the gospel dispensation, here on earth, but sometimes signify a future state of happiness. That the terms kingdom of God, and kingdom of heaven, sometimes mean the gospel dispensation, is admitted; but that they never mean a place of happiness in the future world is denied. Matt. viii. 11. "Many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven." This text was spoken hundreds of years after Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were dead, after they had dwelt for ages in the future world, while the collection from the east and west to sit down with the Patriarchs in the kingdom of heaven, is described as an event yet to take place; therefore, the kingdom of heaven in this text must refer to the future world. 1 Cor. xv. 50. “Now, this I say brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption." The Apostle is here speaking of the resurrection of the body, in which he declares "it is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption, it is sown a natural body it is raised a spiritual body ;" and in view of this change he says, "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God." From this it is clear, beyond all doubt, that by the kingdom of God, in this text, is meant an inheritance which cannot be possessed in this world, while we tabernacle in flesh and blood, but which awaits us in the future world to be possessed after the resurrection of the body.

2. If it were admitted that by the kingdom of God, in