kind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.-Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanliness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, strife, wrath, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.He that showed no mercy shall have judgment without mercy.-Without holiness no man'

shall see the Lord.--And shall utterly perish in their own corruption. -That which beareth thorns and briers is rejected. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of the world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom, all things that offend, and them which do iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire. There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.-Blessed are they that have right unto the tree of life. For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.

-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.”*

A multitude of other passages might be adduced which expressly assert, that the wicked shall uffer a final and everlasting privation. But those which I have now cited are sufficient for our present purpose. When the divine authority of the Scriptures is recognized, a single assertion is sufficient to determine the truth of any fact, or the reality or any doctrine.

This negative form of expression is often used in the Bible to denote the eternity of the Divine existence-Thy years shall have no end; the eternity of the Redeemer's kingdom: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away; and the endless

Hcb. vi. 81

*Matt. xii. 31, 82. Luke xvi. 26. John iii. 36.—viii. 21. 1 Cor. vi. 9, 10. Gal. v. 19-21. James ii. 13. Heb. xii. 14, 2 Pet. ii. 12. Matt. xiii. 40. Rev. xxii. 14. Rev. xxii. 19.

D*

duration of the happiness of the saints: a crown of glory that fadeth not away; a kingdom that cannot be moved; an inheritance that fadeth not away. May it not then prove with equal clearness, that the future punishment of the wicked will be endless? If all future good is denied to the wicked; if those who blaspheme against the Holy Ghost, shall not have forgiveness to all eternity, but shall be subjected to endless damnation; if some shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on them; if those who die in their sins, are never to come where Christ is; if those who are guilty of committing such acts, as are enumerated by the apostle among the works of the flesh, shall not inherit the kingdom of God; if their end is destruction; and their portion, judgment without mercy; then unquestionably a portion of mankind will fail of salvation, and be finally lost. To be excluded from all future good, comprises a reprobation that is final. Do not, my impenitent hearers, think lightly of such an exclusion! How should this awaken in you the deepest anxiety, to think of an eternal separation from God and heaven! How could you bear to hear the voice of your Sovereign Judge pronounce the sentence upon you, Depart ye cursed! Think not that you may resign the hope of heaven, and yet reckon upon some lower felicity that will meet your expectations and satisfy your desires. In this case, there is no wide range of objects amid which you may make your choice. The objects of choice are only two. If you consent to forego the bliss of heaven, you must endure the pains of hell forever. If you seek a substitute for heaven-hell is the only alternative.

IV. THAT THE ENDLESS PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED IS ASSERTED BY IMPLICATION; OR BY FORMS OF SPEECH WHICH IMPLY THIS

DOCTRINE. All the doctrines and precepts, invitations and commands, promises and threatenings of the Bible, imply rewards to the righteous, and punishment to the wicked. All the expressions of love and favor to the righteous, imply hatred and wrath to the wicked. The argument from this source deserves, and I hope it will receive your candid and serious attention. When it is said:

that "The men of this world have their portion in this life," is it not implied that there is no portion for them in the future life: that their portion and enjoyment are confined to this life?

"Be not thou afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased; for when he dieth he shall carry nothing away; his glory shall not descend after him-though while he lived he blessed his soul. He shall go to the generation of his fathers; they shall never see light."

"I was envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.-Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end. Surely thou didst set them in slippery places. Thou castedst them down into destruction." This destruction was not the death of the body, nor any temporal calamity. For the mystery of Divine Providence, of which the Psalinist had been speaking, was, that the wicked were in prosperity all their days, that they had more than heart could wish, and that there were no bands in their death. Their being cast down to destruction, and being utterly cosumed with terrors, must refer to something which takes place after death.

When it is said that "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotton Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have everlasting life,"|| is it not implied that those who do not believe shall perish, and that thus to perish, being.the opposite of everlasting life, must be equivalent to endless misery?

"I pray for them, I pray not for the world."** There is then a world of people for whom Jesus did not pray. We are not to suppose that the term world, refers simply to all wicked men, for Christ prayed "that the world may believe that thou hast sent me," and on the cross he prayed for his crucifiers, and murderers; nor does the term refer to the Gentiles in distinction from the Jews, but to the non-elect as opposed to the elect. For them, Christ in his everprevalent intercession, does not pray. He intercedes only for those who should believe on him, and were given to him in the covenant Psalm 1xxiii. 3, 17, 18..

Psalm xvii. 14.

† Psalm xlix. 16-19. Il John ii. 16.

** John xvii. 9.

of redemption. If there are some then for whom Christ does not pray, there are of course some who will not share in the benefits of his mediation, without a participation in which they cannot be saved. Harmonizing with this idea is 1 John v. 16. "If a man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for a sin which is not unto death. There is a sin unto death. I do say that he shall not pray for it." By the sin unto death, we are to understand a sin obstinately continued in and never repented of, the punishment of which is to end in his eternal death. But why not pray for those who commit this sin it their salvation be possible, nay certain? Does God forbid his people to pray for those whom he is willing to admit to his heavenly kingdom? If their salvation be possible, I presume no sufficient reason can be given why we should not pray for it.

And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: and he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool! this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich towards God."* From this instructive parable, we learn the folly of providing a large superfluity for a future continuance on earth, to the neglect of making provision for the world to come, into which we may be immediately hurried, and where we must exist forever. But if all are to be finally saved, wherein was that man a fool for placing his affections and dependence for happiness on his abundant earthly portion, to the neglect of being rich towards God? On that supposition, he would be just as sure of being rich towards God forever as he would, if he had not loved, and idolized his earthly treasures. On the supposition of the salvatio:

*Luke xii. 16-21. .

of all men, the rich do by no means receive their consolation in this life, but they are to receive infinitely the greatest consolation in the future life.

Be pa

Here is

"Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts as in the day of slaughter; ye have condemned and killed the just, and he doth not resist you. tient, therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord."* a tremendous implication of punishment, coming upon the rich men who oppress the poor. They were bid to weep and cry bitterly, on account of the miseries that were coming upon them, when the Lord should come and give them the due reward of their deeds.

"Woe unto you that are rich, for you have received your consolation." Does not this imply that there is no more consolation for them hereafter? If not, how could they have received the consolation which they had sought, and which they had had reason to expect? And why was a wo pronounced upon them?

"For yourselves know perfectly, that the day of the Lord cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace, and safety,—then, sudden destruction cometh upon them; and they shall not escape." The apostle is referring his brethren to the par-ticular season at which Christ will come to judgment. He told them that they knew that his second coming would be sudden and unexpected, and would occasion great consternation to the wicked. He also assured his brethren, that the destruction which would then come upon the ungodly, would admit of no escape, or remedy. They shall not escape the terrible judgment and punishment of that dread day of the Lord. Does not this imply an infliction of God's anger, which will last as long as their existence?

If repentance be absolutely necessary in order to salvation, and if it be imposible to convert to the saving faith of the gospel, those who after being made acquainted with all the proofs by which God had thought fit to establish Christ's mission, should think him an impostor and renounce his gospel ;|| then there are some whose sal* James v. 5, 6, † Luko vi. 24. 1 Thess. v. 2, 3.

Heb. vi. 4-6