our seed-time; in the other world will be the great harvest. And as the husbandman reaps in the harvest according to the nature and measure of seed that he sows, so our joys and sorrows in a future world will bear a relation to that which is wrought in this. "If we sow to the flesh, we shall of the flesh reap corruption." Those who live a carnal, sensual life, who, instead of devoting themselves and their all to the glory of God, and the good of others, spend their time in the works of the flesh, must expect no other fruit from such a course than destruction. Between unrepentant guilt here, and misery hereafter, there is an unalterable connection. The fruit which arises from sowing to the flesh is termed corruption. This word does not signify the destruction of being, but of well-being; and the enduring of tribulation, and anguish, and everlasting despair. This destruction must be the opposite of everlasting life, for it is contrasted with it; and what can this be short of eternal death? I trust, my hearers, that I shall not weary your patience by dwelling upon this subject, for if the doctrine which we are discussing be true, it is a truth of the greatest moment. Permit me then to remark, V. THAT THE ENDLESS PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED IS TAUGHT IN THOSE TEXTS WHICH EXPRESSLY ASSERT THAT SOME WILL BE FOREVER EXCLUDED FROM HEAVEN. "Verily I say unto you, all sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: but he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation."* In this place, as in Matt. xii. 31, 32, Jesus proceeds to state the awful nature and tremendous consequences of the sin against the Holy Ghost. This sin consists in an obstinate and wilful ascription of the miraculous powers of Jesus Christ to demoniacal agency. Those who, when they saw the miracles of Jesus, and his apostles, and could not resist the conviction that they were real, refused to yield to his authority, and ascribed his works to the agency of the Prince of the devils, rejected the strongest possible evidence of the truth of the Christian religion, and insult*Mark iii, 28, 29. ed and abused the Holy Ghost, that very spirit by which Jesus wrought his miracles. That this was what was intended by this sin is clear from Mark iii. 30. "Because they said he hath an unclean spirit." This sin was manifestly against the Holy One; it was reproaching the divine character, charging it to be in league with Satan, and blaspheming the power of God displayed in the miracles he wrought. This sin could never be forgiven. St. Matthew tells us that, "it shall not be forgiven in this world nor in the world to come." It is well known "the world to come," according to the notion of the Jews, was a world without end, extending from the commencement of the reign of the Messiah on through eternity. That this is the meaning of the phrase, and that it implies the impossibility of forgiveness to the sinner to all eternity, is confirmed by the testimony of Mark, who says that "he hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation." It means then, not the future age or dispensation known among the Jews as the world to come, but it means that the guilt will be unpardoned forever; that such is the purpose of God that he will not forgive a sin so direct, awful and presumptuous—a sin committed under such aggravated circumstances. Those, who committed this sin, refusing to profit by the best means which infinite wisdom and boundless compassion had devised to make them wise and happy; blaspheming the miraculous powers of Christ; persecuting and otherwise injuriously treating his Church; apostatizing from the truth, and turning to sensual gratifications after having enjoyed great religious advantages, obtained much light, felt strong convictions and made some progress in reforming their conduct; and adding to all their other crimes that o final impenitence, must leave this world wholly unprepared for the next, and suffer the full penalty of unrepentant guilt. Let there be whatever uncertainty there may as to the precise meaning of the word eternal, in this instance, still the true meaning of the passage is settled by the other branch of the sentence; "hath never forgiveness." It is equivalent to John x. 28: “I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish." Were there any uncertainty as to the precise meaning of the word eternal here, still the other member of the sentence would render its meaning perfectly clear, for that must be endless life which is equivalent to their never perishing; and by the same rule, that must be endless damnation which is directly the opposite of their ever being forgiven. If this passage does not express the idea of endless punishment, what language can express it? To guard the mind against the idea that a limited punishment only is intended, the never having forgiveness, is prefixed, which ought to set the subject at rest. "Marvel 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."* The word damnation means the sentence passed on one by a judge,-judgment, or condemnation. Here it applies only to the judgment pronounced by God upon the wicked. Those who have in this life done evil shall be raised up to be condemned or damned. That this passage refers to a future judgment and to the general resurrection, and not to any thing that takes place in this life, is clear from the following considerations. Jesus had just spoken of a moral resurrection, which would be effected in this life by the power of the gospel. He adds here, that something still more wonderful should take place. "All that are in the graves shall hear his voice." But if a moral resurrection be meant in both cases, then we have the speaker saying, There is to be a moral resurrection, but marvel not at this, there is to be something more wonderful, a moral resurrection. By those who are in their graves, Christ evidently means the dead. Sinners are sometimes said to be dead in sin, but not to be in a grave. This is applied in the Scriptures only, to those who are deceased. The language here used in relation to the righteous, cannot be applied to any thing in this life, nor is the language employed of the evil, applicable to any thing in this life. In what condition among men can it be said with any appearance of truth and soberness, that they are brought forth from their graves to the resurrection of damnation? This passage controverts the idea that * John v. 28, 29. vation is impossible-since it is impossible to renew such to repentance, it is impossible that they should be saved. "If we sin wilfully, after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins; but a certain fearful looking for of judgment, and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries."*. Now if there be no more, or no longer, a sacrifice for the sin of those who with a full and fixed resolution despise and reject Christ, the only Saviour; despise and reject the Holy Spirit, the only sanctifier; and despise and renounce the only way of salvation; and who do this with an obstinate and malicious intent, after they have known and professed the Christian religion; this must be the same thing as the sacrifice offered by Christ which is the only medium of a sinner's salvation being of no saving effect, because the death of Christ was not appointed to expiate such a sin, and because it is never repented of, and there being no sacrifice, and no repentance, there can be no satisfaction, and consequently no pardon; else a fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation would not be the inevitable doom cf these wilful adversaries of God. And if the judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries, remain for them, they must suffer without a probability of escape. "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy nate done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: Depart from me ye that work iniquity." The day here referred to must mean the last day, the day of judgment, the time when the pretenders to prophecy and piety will be judged and rewarde It appears, from this whole passage, that many after having made great attainments, and great professions in religious life, will not enter heaven but will be addressed by a-Depart from me. But suppose the Matt. vii. 21, 22, 23. * Ileb. x. 26, 27. phrase, Kingdom of God, here used, denotes what the objectors to endless punishment tell us, viz., a spiritual life. Then we have hypocrites earnestly desiring to be christians, but forbidden to come to the desired privilege. And when in this life did the Lord ever refuse any, who sought admittance into his favor, on the ground that they had been workers of iniquity? Is he not willing that all should come to repentance and the knowledge of the truth? Has he excluded any who do not exclude themselves? * When we read such passages as these, "Looking diligently, lest any man fail of the grace of God;' "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation ;" "What is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul;" is it not implied that those who are not diligent to secure an interest in the favor of God, but neglect the salvation which the gospel reveals, and seek the world to the neglect of the future well-being of their souls, shall not be saved, shall fail of the grace of God, and shall lose their souls? "What is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose himself, or be cast away." If some men be lost, or cast away, they cannot all be saved. A man may lose his health, his property, his reputation, and even his natural life, and yet in fact be saved from everlasting perdition. But if he be lost so as to be cast away, he cannot be finally saved. "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not, shall be damned."** Here salvation is offered only on condition of believing; and that not a salvation from the destruction of Jerusalem, for it was a condition to be proclaimed to all the world, till time should be longer. Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth (in all the world) shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned,shall be condemned by God, and cast off from his presence. This obviously implies that the unbeliever will be adjudged to be guilty, by God, in the day of judgment; that he will deserve eternal death, and that Matt. xvi. 26. Heb. xii. 15. + Heb. ii. 3. ** Mark xvi. 16. |