the most categorical terms, that the mediatory empire embraces every existence in the created universe. We will even add, that all created intelligences are necessarily bound to submit with cordiality to his righteous sceptre. But does it follow, that, because all are bound by the strongest moral obligation to yield obedience to MESSIAH, they either have done, or will do so? Alas! such an inference is wholly incompatible with fact and experience. But we are told that sin also will be subjected; and that this can be in no other way than by annihilation. To this

we reply: Sin in the abstract is a mere nonentity. It has no existence. It is with sinning beings, therefore, that we have to do in this inquiry. Now, the question is, does the subjection of sinning beings necessarily suppose, either their cordial reconciliation to the subjector, or their annihilation? Very different, indeed, from this, is the idea of subjection exhibited in the 110th Psalm. "Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool." Is this to be understood as involving either a voluntary submission to his authority, or their utter extinction? Nay, the very expression, "put under his feet," or "made his footstool," is utterly incompatible with either reconciliation or destruction. As friends, they will sit with him on his throne, and will not be treated with such marks of degradation and contempt, as these expressions plainly import. As enemies, men may be under his feet; but this phrase, so far from implying in it, annihilation, necessarily involves the contrary. An enemy may be under the feet of the conqueror, previously to annihilation; but after it, he is neither under his feet, nor any where else. How visionary the fabrics which are erected on such foundations! The truth is, this passage furnishes not the slightest countenance, either obvious or implied, to the doctrine of Universalism. The seizure of such a post as this is, must have been a forlorn hope. Yet we shall try patiently to examine a little

farther, the use our opponents make of this portion of scripture.

It is asserted that the mediatory "scheme will not be finished at the second coming of Christ; but a great deal will then remain to be done, before the plan of God, for the accomplishment of which, the mediatory kingdom is entrusted to the Son, shall be completed." In proof of this, it is alleged,

1. That this passage of scripture teaches that an universal subjection to Christ is to be effected before the finishing of the mediatory scheme; but this universal subjection is not effected at the second coming of Christ.

2. The reward of the good and faithful subjects of Christ is to be bestowed on them in the kingdom of Christ, and therefore Christ's kingdom will not be at an end, till after they shall have enjoyed that reward, for some time at least. Let us proceed to examine each of these proofs, and with regard to the

1. Viz. that a universal subjection to Christ is to be effected before the finishing of the mediatory kingdom, which subjection is not effected at the second coming of Christ. We most heartily concede the first part. Nothing, indeed, can be more evident from scripture, than the universality of the mediatory empire. Every thing from the roofless heaven to the bottomless deep, is subject to the control of Messiah. But we repeat it, on the willingness or the unwillingness of this subjection, the whole argument unquestionably turns. If the subjection to the Mediator be voluntary, then it is moral and virtuous: and a universal subjection upon moral grounds, would of necessity exclude sin from the universe: but the exclusion of sin from the universe, would, of course, exclude all misery; because misery, unaccompanied by sin as its procuring cause, would be repugnant to justice, and incompatible with God's moral administration. But while the universality of the subjection is cheerfully admitted, the voluntariness of it, and consequently

its virtuous and moral character, are categorically denied. Now, in order to show that all intelligent creatures will be cordially subjected to Christ, and so will be saved, we are told that both sin and the second death will be destroyed. This position we shall immediately proceed to examine: and

1. That sin will be destroyed. This is founded on these expressions-"He must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet. All things shall be subdued unto him." But sin is an enemy. It must of consequence be put under his feet, that is, it shall be destroyed; i. e. it shall be abolished, completely eradicated, and give place to universal rectitude. Let us examine, for a moment, the logic of this curious process of ratiocination. When thrown into the form of a syl. logism, it will stand thus:

Maj. Every enemy of the Mediator shall be subdued during the actual existence of his dispensatory kingdom:

Min. But sin is an enemy of the Mediator:

Con. Ergo-Sin shall be annihilated!

Strange logic! Such reasoners are not to be envied of their acquaintance with the lore of the Stagyrite. Let us try the principle of this logic on topics with which we are familiar. For the sake of brevity, we shall present it in the enthymematic form.

General Washington conquered, subdued, or subjected Cornwallis and his army:

Therefore he annihilated them!
Buonaparte subdued Italy, Spain,

&c.:

Therefore he annihilated them! But the truth is, the apostle no where says, that all enemies shall be destroyed: and if subduing, destroying, and annihilating, all mean one and the same thing, then when a father subdues a rebellious son, he annihilates him! When God subdues his enemies, he annihilates them! But if subduing mean cordial re

conciliation to Christ, which it must do, if by means of this subduing, those formerly enemies, are now introduced into the beatific vision; and if at the same time subduing mean destruction, and annihilation; then destruction, &c., and reconciliation, identify! Therefore when Paul was converted, he was destroyed. And when the wicked are said to be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord; this punishment consists in everlasting reconciliation to God, and the exquisite enjoyment of a blessed immortality!!!

2. It is also maintained that the second death shall be destroyed. It is contended that as the first death is expressly declared to be destroyed, and as the second death is as great an enemy as the first could be, it must be destroyed also. The fallaciousness of this reasoning may be easily exposed. There was an indispensable necessity for the abolition of the first death. All the attributes of the Divinity were pledged for its accomplishment; but particularly his faithfulness and his justice. This shall take place at the general resurrection, and shall introduce the sheep and the goats to their respective destinations: the former to the mansions of unspeakable beatitude: the latter to the lake of fire and brimstone, which is the second death. The assertion that this shall be abolished, is entirely gratuitous. It is the most barefaced begging of the question. It is alleged to be an enemy to the mediatory kingdom. Let us examine this allegation for a moment. In what does the second death consist? Is it any thing else than the operation of the wrath of God, or the execution of justice on the guilty offender? Is not this the worm that shall never die? Is not this the fire that shall never be quenched? Now we should be glad to know wherein the execution of justice can be hostile to the kingdom of Messiah? No doubt it may be inimical to the suffering culprit:

but surely it can involve no hostility to the Mediator. Who would

ever have dreamed, that the public execution of the sentence of the law, on a person guilty of treason against the state, was an act of hostility against that same state? Nay, would it not rather be considered as the most salutary means that could be employed for promoting the public safety?

The advocates of this doctrine would seem not to be aware, that, in their zeal for supporting their cause; they cling to positions, and maintain assumptions, which necessarily lead to ludicrous consequences. Death and hell are to be annihilated. How? By being cast into the lake of fire. But the being cast into the lake of fire, is the second death— "which," says John, "is the second death;" that is, annihilation and the second death identify-they are the same thing. Again, the second death, being as much an enemy to the mediatory kingdom as the first death, must be destroyed, i. e. annihilated. Thus we have annihilation itself, annihilated! Should the grammatical law or algebraical canon be applied here, viz. that two negatives make an affirmative, this last annihilation must issue in a reproduction of all the subjects that were annihilated; and thus, death and hell, in all their tremendous and horrific forms, would be resuscitated, and every similar annihilation of them would be succeeded by an equally unsightly resurrection! We shall now proceed to the

2. Argument deduced from the passage, viz. that the reward of the good and faithful subjects of Christ is to be bestowed on them in the kingdom of Christ, and that therefore Christ's kingdom will not end till after they shall have enjoyed that reward, at least for some time. The kingdom of grace, therefore, will not terminate at the general judgment; and during its continuance, after that period, the inhabitants of Tophet will be reclaimed VOL. I.

and prepared for the joys of heaven. Nothing can be more gratuitous. than the premises in this argument. The conclusion, of course, is legitimate. But even granting the premises, might not the sentence of eternal beatitude in favour of the faithful subjects of Christ, be instantaneously succeeded by the resignation of the dispensatory kingdom? Or, might they not be perfectly simultaneous? But, the fact is, this pretended argument is so completely destitute of any thing like rational tangibility, that it becomes, upon approaching it, totally

evanescent.

the

This passage, therefore, so far from furnishing any argument for universal salvation, simply treats of Christ's surrendering up the mediatory empire, after the resurrection and final judgment; when all purposes for which it had been given unto him, shall have been fully accomplished. The extent of this kingdom is commensurate with the created universe. His divinity qualifies him for its administration. The government of all created things rests upon his shoulders. He is King of kings, and Lord of lords. The discharge of his mediatory functions required that the resources of the universe should be at his disposal; not simply as God, coequal, coessential, and coeternal with the Father; but in his mediatorial character. It is consequently an adventitious kingdom. He holds it by delegation from God the Father, as representing and sustaining in this representative character, the sovereign majesty of the triune Godhead. Thus he informs us, after his resurrection, Matt. xxviii. 18: "All power in heaven and in earth is given unto me." As God, he was naturally and necessarily possessed of all possible power. In this character, nothing could be given to him. It is only as Mediator, in the character of the Father's honorary servant, that he could receive a donation. He holds this

3 E

kingdom partly as a reward for having finished the work which the Father had assigned him in the stipulations of the everlasting covenant; and partly, as the necessary machinery for the execution of the great purpose of redemption. Thus the apostle, Phil. ii. 9, 10: "He humbled himself, and became obedient to the death; and for this cause, God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name above every name; that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, and every tongue confess him Lord." And Eph. i. 21: "God hath given him to be head over all things to the church which is his body," Were his mediatory empire and authority limited to the church, it would be usurpation in him as Mediator, to make any inroad by his gospel, upon the heathen world, as not forming any part of his empire, and consequently not subject to his delegated jurisdiction. But were his government limited to the church, then, even although his gospel should find its way among the heathen, it would be wholly useless, because it would be unaccompanied by mediatory efficiency. For there is nothing more plain, than that where Jesus is not mediator, he could not act as such. And the efficiency of the gospel does not arise from the agency of an absolute God.

When all the purposes for which this delegated kingdom was conferred upon the Mediator, shall have been accomplished-when all the displays of his grace in saving sinners shall have been made-when the whole economy of salvation, in converting, feeding, defending, invigorating and sanctifying the elect shall have been developed-when all establishments on earth, hostile to Messiah's kingdom, shall have been put down-when all the purposes of his delegated governmental authority shall have been fulfilled; and, in a word, when the whole tem of grace and redemption shall have been wound up, and no enemy

sys

shall remain, whom God in the appointment of a Mediator ever intended to reconcile; then, we say, as all the purposes of this mediatory empire shall have been completely realized, the delegated empire conferred on the Son shall be delivered up to the Father. Then, all these subjugatory and reconciling functions shall be discontinued, shall cease for ever. All the machinery of Divine Providence, constituting the vehicle of the energetic influence, by which these phenomena were produced, will terminate. The grand drama has closed. The theatre, scenery, curious mechanism, and vital energy are no longer necessary. There is no more reduction of rebels, or subjugation of enemies. All the elect stipulated for, in the eternal covenant, have been gathered home. The whole design of the dispensatory kingdom having been thus accomplished, Jesus shall resign the providential empire to God the Father, The government of the universe, will then revert to its primordial channel, and God, essentially considered, that is, God the Father, Son, and Spirit, will be the fountain of dominion, and of all divine emanations and communications of glory and blessedness, to all the saints, and to the man Christ Jesus at their head, to all eternity.

But we are not to suppose, that Christ's delivering up the kingdom to God the Father, implies that he shall in all respects cease to be king. This would prove too much. He can resign only the donative empire. The government of the universe, he cannot abdicate. It necessarily belongs to him, as God, coequal with the Father. His brow must, moreover, be eternally decorated with the laurels he won and the triumphs he gained in achieving the salvation of his church. His Zion will be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem of beauty in the hand of our God. All this must result from his

mediatory interposition, be the fruit of the hypostatical mystery,-the incarnation of the Son of God.

But there is a kingdom which he shall never resign-his church, his purchased possession. "He shall reign over the house of David for ever and ever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end." This is the travail of his soul, which he shall see, and with which he shall be satisfied. This is his peculiar reward, inalienable through eternity. It was for the sake of this that the general kingdom of Providence was given unto him. In the execution of the system of grace, he was authorized by virtue of this donation, to levy contributions on the resources of the universe. In the administration of his providential kingdom, he renders all the movements of creation subservient to the interests of Zion. He has engraven her on the palms of his hands, her walls are ever before him. We might illustrate this scheme by the following similitude: A great and puissant monarch finds a distant province of his empire to be in a state of rebellion. His son, the heir apparent to the throne, is commissioned by his royal father, to reduce to obedience the revolted district. For this purpose he is invested with plenipotentiary powers; and authorized to draw at pleasure on every department of this vast empire.

The right in, and government of, the rebel province, when brought back to its allegiance, is the reward of his own loyalty, toils and dangers in the expedition. The object is accomplished. The subjects from being rebellious, become the most affectionate and loyal. He resigns his plenipotentiary powers, and rejoices in the homage of a virtuous and loving people. In like manner, when the administration of the temporary providential kingdom shall have attained all its objects, it ceases; because its continuance is altogether unnecessary. But the

church shall for ever remain, a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a diadem of beauty on the brow of Messiah. The man Christ Jesus shall sit upon the throne of the universe, in mysterious union with the second person of the Godhead, through eternity. "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed." Such appears to me to be the doctrine taught in this passage so grossly abused by the Universalists.

6. Another text has been adduced by a modern writer in his Treatise on the Atonement. With great selfcomplacency, in page 182, he proceeds to tell us," If my opponent can tell me, how Jesus will finish transgression and make an end of sin, and yet sin and transgression continue as long as God exists, he will puzzle me more than all his objections have been able to do." We shall try to puzzle this brave knight errant, by telling him, not how Jesus could finish, but how he has finished transgression, and made an end of sin, and yet sin and trangression shall continue as long as God exists.

The passage to which our author attaches so much consequence, as supporting the system of the total abolition of sin and misery from the universe, is from Dan. ix. 24. "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people, and upon thy holy city, to finish transgression, and make an end of sins," &c. If the passage, from which this is an extract, has any meaning at all, it must be to designate and particularize the time of the advent of Messiah, and the consummation of the vicarious atonement devolving upon him, in such a manner, that nothing short of judicial blindness or wilful obstinacy could mistake or dispute the divine authenticity of the mission of Jesus of Nazareth. Now, this was to be at the end of four