2. Romans viii. 20, 21.-" For the creature was made subject to vanity, (not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same) in hope that the creature also itself shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption, into the glorious liberty of the Sons of God."

3. I. Cor. xv. 25.-"Then cometh the end, when he (Christ) shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father, when he shall have put down all rule, and all authority and power. For he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet. enemy that shall be destroyed is death."

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4. Eph. i. 10.—“" Having made known unto us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he hath purposed in himself concerning the dispensation of the fullness of times, that he might gather together in one, all things in Christ, which are in heaven, and which are on earth."

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5. Philipp. ii. 9, 10, 11.—“ Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and hath given him a name that is above every name; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

6. Coll. i. 20.—" For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell, and, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself, by him, I say, whether they be things on earth, or things in heaven."

Now these texts are certainly not to be overlooked. They do appear to me to indicate that at some future day the creature shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption-that all the enemies of Christ shall submit to him-that all God's moral creatures shall be collected into one great and harmonious family and brotherhood-that all shall believe in Christ and acknowledge him as Lord—and be reconciled through him to God the Father. This appears to be the plain and simple meaning of these passages, and we may regard them as given us to keep up our faith in the triumph of truth, and the power of goodness and love. Yet we must admit on the other hand, that in number and prominence, they fall far below those which teach of a terrible retribution, and fiery trial which is to precede this restoration. Moreover, we should remember that we can never be restored except by becoming holy and obedient, that the question is, will we be drawn now to God by his offers of love and mercy, while the way is open, and escape all punishment; or will we wait and harden ourselves, so as to need the retributions of spiritual anguish and fire to move us to repentance. Even if we believe that scripture encourages a hope that there will be a final restoration, we should not give an undue prominence to this idea. A physician may think that his patient will at last recover, but if, instead of telling him that he is sick

now and must take medicine, he should satisfy himself with telling him that he will get over his attack in a few weeks, he would not be doing his duty. And if the patient should think only of the probability of his getting well, instead of his danger of remaining sick or growing worse, he would not be likely to use the means which would relieve him.

The different errors on this subject seem to me to have arisen as they do on most other subjects-from a too exclusive and narrow consideration of one particular view. The human mind is so limited that it can rarely see more than one truth at a time; but it is so presumptuous that it thinks it sees the whole and denies every view beyond its own.

Thus we shall find that all the views we have been considering contain a portion of truth, and that all contain a portion of error. There is truth in Calvinism-there is truth in Universalism-there is truth in Restorationism-but there is error also in all of them. Let us endeavor to separate the truth from the error in each system--let us reject the error-let us retain the truth.

1. The scriptures teach plainly and repeatedly, that now is the accepted time-that now is the day of salvation. They consider that this life is a period of great importance in our probation that after this life will be a judgment—and that it requires great watchfulness and earnestness to obtain the joys and avoid the woes which will grow out of that judgment. The Bible is full of exhortations and teachings of this kind. To give only one instance take that in Mark ix. 43-50. "If thy right hand offend thee," &c.

Now this is the truth which Calvinism has taken possession of. And by preaching this truth it does a great deal of goodfor every truth has a great moral power with it and needs only be proclaimed to impress very deeply the mind and heart. Accordingly, Calvinism has a tendency to rouse men and make them thoughtful and earnest; it breaks up the lethargy which we are so apt to fall into, and produces a serious and solemn sense of the necessity of seeking the Lord while he may be found.

But the difficulty is, that men when they become interested in any one truth, and perceive its wholesome influence, exaggerate it, and neglect all others, and carry it out to an extreme. So here. The doctrine of a judgment and retribution is solemn and excites awe and terror. But to make it more solemn, more awful, and more terrible, the Calvinist teaches that this judgment is a final one, that this retribution is an everlasting one, that there is no more hope after death of any return.

But this is going beyond scripture. Scripture is satisfied with announcing a judgment and a retribution. But as every extreme produces a reaction, so in this case. Endeavor to make a solemn doctrine more solemn and more terrible, and you make it less so, because you diminish men's faith in it. The doctrine is so terrible that no one will believe it. Even he who utters it hardly believes, and does not assert it in the confident and earnest tones of assured conviction.

And besides this, every excessive and extreme doctrine excites hostility. Antagonists rise up against it on all sides. If you draw the human mind too far one way it will swing back to the other side. Thus in attempting to force the mind to believe in the terriffic doctrines of Calvin, it ran out into the other extreme and denied all punishment.

2. The doctrines of Universalism, however, have a grain of truth in them. If they had not they never would have succeeded as they do. For men do not adopt pure error. They adopt an error for the sake of some truth which it envelopes.

The truths of Universalism are, that God is the Universal Father that he loves all his creatures with impartial love— that he regards none with displeasure--that he will neglect or pass over none. In the other world, if any one suffer, it will not be because God has doomed him to suffering-but because he has not chosen himself to make the exertion requisite. He will be as blessed as he is capable of being.

This doctrine is the truth of the Gospel-it is adapted to excite and encourage the fearful and desponding spirit. The love of God is one of the most powerful motives to influence the human heart. It leads the repentant prodigal back to his father. He says, "how many hired servants of his have bread enough and to spare.'

But when the Universalist goes farther and argues that there will be no future punishment, because God is love, he takes a long step in the dark. His premises and conclusions are far apart. He might as well argue that there is no present suffering, because God is love. His argument proves too much. He says, "If there is future misery it is either because God will not or cannot prevent it, Will he not? Is he not love? Cannot he? Is he not omnipotent?" But this argument proves too much. It is just as strong to show that there is no such thing as suffering here. But we know there is. Therefore there may be suffering hereafter.

This doctrine then, of no future punishment, being an extreme doctrine, we may expect its effects to be bad. It casts away all those great and solemn motives which spring from the

connection of this world with the next. Time is divorced from eternity in the mind of the Universalist. Our actions here

have no sort of influence on our condition there. The only motives then which remain to influence the conduct are drawn from the retributions of the present world. But we know that under the influence of passion, appetite and evil habit, men continually brave these with their eyes open. The intemperate man will not throw down the cup, though he sees ruin, misery, and death, lying coiled at the bottom. The sensualist knows that he is destroying his health and life, but his raging passion will not listen to the voice of reason. If eternity has no connection with time, how many of these would say in their hearts-let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die. 3. The doctrine of a restoration, again, is founded upon a very important truth. This is, that the object of all punishment is to restore and purify the sinner--that the punishments inflicted by God are not vindictive but fatherly. God is every where represented as a Father by Christ, and he argues from this paternal character of God, his conduct toward his children. "What man is there among you being a father, who, if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?" So we might say-What man is there, being a wise and kind father, who would punish a child from a vindictive feeling, or with any other motive than to reform and save it? The parable of the Prodigal Son also teaches the disposition of God toward the sinner.

But the Restorationists go to an extreme when they argue, that because this is the purpose it must certainly be attained. This does not follow. It is the object of God's discipline here, to purify us and save us. But are all purified by it? It is his object to bring all men who listen to the Gospel to believe and obey it. But do all who hear believe and obey? How then can we certainly say that those who resist the invitations and love of God here, and harden their hearts, will not also harden themselves against his corrective discipline in the future world? In the future world, as in this, if man continues a moral being, he will be a free being-God will respect this freedom-he will not ever save him against his will. So awful is the privilege of being a free moral creature.

Now then, when the Restorationist asserts in an unqualified way, and teaches as a prominent doctrine, that all mankind will be ultimately restored, he too, in my opinion goes into an extreme. The impression then produced on the mind is a false and a bad one. It is, that we may go on making light of sin

here and be saved hereafter, by an outward salvation, independent of our own struggles and our own repentance. We shrink from the effort and self-denial of repentance here, thinking that we shall be saved ultimately in some easier way. But we ought to remember, that if we put off this work of religion and obedience till eternity, that it will still have to be done, and that every delay makes it more difficult. If we have an opportunity of salvation given us in eternity, it is only an opportunity of doing what we are now refusing to do. God will never save us, in this world, or in the world to come, on any other conditions than the everlasting conditions of holiness, humility and faith.

In conclusion then, I will give a summary of my present opinions in regard to future punishment.

1. I believe with the Calvinist, that now is the accepted time, and now is the day of salvation—that there will be a judgment, and a distinction of the human race after death, and it becomes us to strive to enter into the straight gate and narrow way which leads to life.

But I do not believe that when this judgment is passed, all opportunity and power of return will be forever excluded. I do not believe in eternal punishment for the sins of the present life. If any being continues to be punished everlastingly, it will be because he perseveres forever in sin.

2. I believe with the Universalist, that God's love is impartial and universal-that he will not by any arbitrary election or determination close the gate of mercy against his creatures --but that in every nation, he that fears God and works righteousness shall be accepted of Him.

I believe also that the love and not the wrath of God is the great instrument of moving and saving the world—and that any who are religious merely in order to escape hell, can hardly have as yet any true religion in them.

But I do not believe with the Universalist, that love is the only motive. I think fear, though an inferior motive, is still necessary to us in our present weak, and sinful condition. "Perfect love," I believe," will cast out fear," but our love is far from being perfect now. For myself, at least, I feel the necessity of keeping up a sense of danger always, and never feeling quite secure of heaven. And I find that even the apostle Paul did the same-for he feared lest when he had preached to others, he himself should become a castaway.

I do not believe with the Universalist, that all punishment and retribution is confined to this life. I think reason, obser