a select number, a small proportion, be made alive. But this is not the apostle's doctrine. His expressions are equally universal in each clause: ALL die in Adam. The same ALL, without any exception, without any restriction, shall by Christ be restored to life, and ultimately to holiness and everlasting happiness, And to guard against the abuse of this doctrine, he proceeds to declare, that all will not be admitted at the same time to the participation of final happiness; for though all men will be restored to life and raised to happiness, all will not be made happy at once, but each will be advanced as he becomes qualified for his reward; till in the end the enemies of Christ shall all be subdued, and his authority shall be universally acknowledged and obeyed. But every one in his proper class, not all at once; there will be a gradation in the introduction to final blessedness, depending upon the characters of those who are to partake of it,

Christ, the first-fruits.' He is already raised to life; and his virtues, his labors, and his sufferings have received their reward. He is the glorious first-fruits, the specimen and the pledge of the final and universal harvest. Afterwards, they who are Christ's at his coming. The true disciples and community of Jesus, all the upright and virtuous in every age and country, will next be raised to life and happiness; and this joyful event will take place at that long-expected pe

riod, when Jesus shall appear again in his own and in his Father's glory, invested with the high commission to raise the dead and to judge the world when the dead in Christ shall rise first, and, being acknowledged by him as his friends and followers, shall be transformed into the likeness of his glorious person, and shall enter with him into the joy of their Lord."

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From the remaining part of this passage, though it may not be possible to ascertain with certainty and precision what is meant by the kingdom with which Christ is entrusted, and which he shall ultimately deliver up to the Father, nor in what sense he shall become subject to Him who subjected all things to him; yet, we may safely deduce the following conclusions: That after the resurrection of the just, Christ will be invested by the Father with authority and power to accomplish some great purpose with regard to mankind; that that purpose can be nothing but the completion of the wise and bene volent design of the Divine government, in the total abolition of the calamities introduced by the fall; that the accomplishment of this gracious purpose alone constitutes the end, the grand consummation of all things; and that, though this consummation will be opposed by numerous and potent enemies, yet that Christ will exert the power with which he is invested, until he has utterly subdued them; when, having completed

the end for which authority was delegated to him, he will willingly resign it into the hand of the gracious Parent, the universal Sovereign, from whom he received it, who shall then become for ever all things to all his creatures.

This appears to be the clear and express doctrine of the passage, and if it be so, it is decisive. The ultimate and universal prevalence of immortality, virtue, and happiness, is thus plainly disclosed, and asserted with all the energy and dignity worthy of the exalted theme. It is thus evident that the power with which Christ is invested is not given him in vain, but will be completely effectual: that his triumph will be perfect; that there is no rule, no authority, not power which is opposed to him, which he will not utterly abolish; no not put under his feet. which he is at war, the the labor of his life, the object of his death, and the end of his present exaltation to exterminate, are sin and misery, and death-the consequence of sin. And over these we are assured by this passage, that he will completely triumph the consequence is certain: the conclusion is inevitable. Immortality, holiness, and happiness, must in the end universally prevail. How else is it possible that these declarations can be accomplished? How can Christ put down all the rule, all the authority which is opposed to him;

enemy which he will But the enemies with enemies which it was

if a malignant and omnipotent spirit (called the Devil) succeed in making the great majority of mankind his victims; and through the ages of eternity exercise an uncontrolled dominion over them? How can Christ subdue all things unto himself, if this malevolent being and his agents eternally counteract and oppose him? How can God be all in all, if the greater number of his creatures incessantly execrate his name, and vent the most horrid blasphemies against him? How can death, the last enemy with which he conflicts, be destroyed, if it succeed in blotting out of existence for ever, millions of millions of human beings? The only idea it is possible to annex to the destruction of death, is the prevalence of life; but if (to repeat what has already been said) death effect the total and eternal extinction of the conscious existence of the great majority of mankind, it is not vanquished, it is the victor; it is not destroyed, it triumphs.

There appears to be no reason whatever for restricting the application of this passage solely to the righteous, as, with a view of avoiding the force of the preceding observations, some have contended; because the context does not require this limitation; because the expressions. which the apostle employs, are of too universal a signification to admit of it; and because it is difficult to conceive that any thing but the wish to

support a system, could have suggested the idea, or indicated the necessity of it.

Such is the scriptural evidence in favor of the ultimate and universal prevalence of holiness and happiness. All the passages which have been cited, appear necessarily to imply the truth of this opinion to some of them it seems impossible to affix any other meaning. There is not a single passage in the Old or New Testament which does not perfectly harmonize with this doctrine; but several of the most striking, impressive, and cheering assurances of Scripture, are totally incompatible with the opinions which oppose it. With the highest and noblest conceptions we can form of the nature and dispensations of the Deity; with the nature of man and the nature of punishment: in a word, with all that natural and revealed religion teach concerning God, concerning his human offspring, and concerning a future state, it perfectly accords. With this body of evidence in its favor, and with no real counter-evidence of any kind to oppose it, it may surely be considered as established.

If any one should fear that its inculcation may lessen the dread of future punishment, and thus operate to the disadvantage of piety and virtue, the apprehension must originate in a misconception of the doctrine, or an ignorance of human nature. To teach men that they will be visited