Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

a thousand times better for them they had never been born; feeing this is now the condemnation, "That light is come into the world, and men love darkpefs rather than light, because their deeds are evil," John iii. 19. Shall not the will of God our Saviour prove effectual at length, in faving or reftoring the great mafs of men who are not faved in the prefent ftate? Hath he said it, and fhall he not do it?

If every high-prieft taken from among men, was to have compaffion on the ignorant, and on them that were out of the way, without exception, from the confideration that he himself alfo was compaffed with infirmity, Heb. v. 1, 2. will the great high-prieft of our profeffion, who became bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh, and submitted to our innocent infirmities, that he might have a fellow-feeling with us, never fhew compaffion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way, a very few comparatively of that description excepted? It is not his manner, in exercifing his office, to come fhort of thofe by whom he was prefigured; for the office of priesthood under the law, was but the fhadow of good things to come; but the body or reality is of Chrift. Let him have the glory of his perfect work.

Is our Lord the first begotten, or born of, or from the dead, the fame as the high prieft of the dead, the priesthood of old belonging to the first-born in every family, as types of him; and are there unknown millions of dead for whom he never did, and never fhall perform one fingle act of the prieftly office? What the Aaronical priefhood was to the Jewish nation, that and much more is the Lord Jefus, the frieft for ever, or for the age, after the order of Melchizedeck, to the human race. He is declared to be the Lord, the ruler and fovereign of the dead as well as of the living, and that as Mediator, and in reward of his mediation, and will he never act a part correfponding to thefe titles, which in him are not nominal, for that the far greater part of the dead, and for none at all of those whofe cafe is most defperate, and confequently moft worthy of his atten tion, and chiefly fitted to difplay his faving power? He is of one mind, and not to be turned.

Is our Lord declared, in general terms, to be the refurrection and the life, and is there a grave in which his quickening voice fhall never be heard, and from which his mighty power shall never raile, even a single individual, however much that refurrection might redound to his glory? The analogy of nature, and the voice of truth agree in fhewing, that out of the deftruction, or corruption of vegetative, and animal fubftances, and moral power correfponding, fresh life is raised, and confequently this may be yet realized in the grave of the fecond death. We fhould not prefume to limit the thrice Holy One of Ifrael, but where we are very certain he has limited himself.

If God has included, under the expreffive term death, the aggregate of human mifery-if he has fent his Son to deltroy it, and if he must reign till he has put all enemice under his feet, of which the fecond death is certainly the principal, and if death fhall actually be deftroyed as the very laft of all thefe enemies, 1 Cor. xv. 25, 26. how fay fo many among us, that death fhall exift, reign, and torment for ever, or without end? When God fpeaks in general terms, who has a right to restrict his words, or to come after this King to correct and qua

lify his language? A tyrant cannot be destroyed, with all his forces, and yet re- .. tain all his captives in perpetual chains. We fhould create no inexplicable mysteries where none exift, and we cannot be innocent, if we make the word of truth, without any neceffity, except that of making it fpeak the language of a fyftem, the occafion of ftumbling to any. The Lord will require it, and much of the infidelity of every age will at length be laid at the door of those who take away the key of knowledge, and render the fcriptures of truth, the lively oracles of our heavenly Father, a cunningly devised fable. By fhunning to declare any known part of the counfel of God-by oppofing and condemning free inquiry into the facred text,-or by putting an unfair conftruction upon it, men may bring upon themselves the blood of their fellow-creatures.

If Chrift afcended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things, Ehp. iv. Ic. if the church is the fulness of him that filleth all things, and if, when he shall have fubdued all things to himself, God the Father fhall be all in all in them, and the great Jehovah inherit all things, can we fuppofe, that when he fhall thus poffefs them as his temple, and inherit them as his heritage, they fhall remain polluted, the intelligent part of them, twice dead, ftrewed like the fragments of a putrified body upon the furface of the burning lake, or the dry bones in the valley, and lie under the power and dominion of fin, Satan and death, as the common doctrine afferts? What the Lord inherits, he revives and beautifies; for the tread of his foot, the touch of his hand, or the breath of his lips, imparts life to the dead.

May we not apply the words of Afaph to the cafe in hand?" Will the Lord caft off for ever, and will he be favourable no more? Is his mercy clean gone for ever; doth his promise fail for evermore? Hath God forgotten to be gracious; hath he in anger fhut up his tender mercies ? Pfal. Ixxvii. The queftions are put in general terms, and the pfalmift acknowledges that the very fuppofition that the cafe might be fo, or his mournful queries to that effect, were the refult of his culpable infirmity. The word of God plainly teaches us elícwhere, that his tender mercies will never be fhut up in anger against any of his creatures; for his tender mercies are and shall be over all his works, Pfal. cxlv. 9. over his creatures, without exception, and over any punishment that may be inflicted on them, as a hen fpreads her wings over her tender blood, to cherish and defend them, the image to which the text plainly alludes. It is impoffible that the common doctrine and that text can ftand together, for the one neceffa ily overturns the other, a ferious thought to thofe who are determined to defend it at all hazards, and, like their brother Jonah, think they do well to be angry, even to the death, fhould God not make an eternal facrifice to his jus tice of all his intelligent creatures, the elect part of them excepted. In the Greek verlion of that Pfalm, the 13th 'verfe, of which this is the literal ren. dering, is followed by a distich which is not now extant in any of the Hebrew. copies, "Thy kingdom is the kingdom of all the ages, and thy dominion is in every generation and generation. The Lord is faithful in all his words, and holy or merciful in all his works ;" the fame that is repeated in the laft claufe of the 17th verfe, and rendered on the margin merciful or bountiful.

Do thofe then make void the law or word of God, who make future punish

ment to be a work of mercy, and place the punished under the wings of mercy, and will in the iffue rejoice against judgment; or, as it may be rendered, and is by fome, boast, glory, or exalt itself over or above judgment? They tread on fure ground, folid as a rock, who tread on God's ground, and may confidently affirm what he has afferted before them in plain unequivocal terms. The Lord will be juftified when he speaketh, and clear when he judgeth; and also those whose lips retain his words of knowledge, and mouth utters the great things of his law, Pfal. li. 4. Mal. ii. 6, 7.

How a finite being can bear a load of mifery increafing or accumulating to all eternity, as the wages of increafing fin, and confequently a load of mifery infinite in its burden or preffure, is one of the greatest mysteries, or a palpable abfurdity; for this would require almighty ftrength to fupport it even for a moment. Will men maintain a fyftem that converts all the wicked in the other world, angels and men, into a kind of omnipotent beings, rather than liften to the voice of truth, of common fenfe, and of humanity and mercy? "The ways of the Lord are equal."

How every fin is an infinite evil, because committed against an infinite Being, and must therefore entail infinite punishment, as is generally afferted, by the advocates of endless mifery-how this can be, without deftroying the feveral aggravations of fin, and introducing as many infinities as there have been, are, or may be of fins committed in the univerfe, is to me quite incomprehenfible, and appears fubverfive of the plaineft dictates of fcripture and common sense. What nonfenfical jargon has been often advanced with an air of triumph, in fupport of a favourite hypothefis! Infinity, like eternity, is one, and cannot admit of degrees. If every fin is an infinite evil, in the fenfe pleaded for, then the mediation or death of Chrift could procure the pardon of one fin only; for unbounded as the merits of his death are, they cannot exceed infinity. The fcriptures however tell us, that his blood cleanfeth from all fin, which clearly refutes fuch fophiftical arguments. If God's infinite dignity give fin, as committed against him, infinite demerit; then, by parity of reason, a gracious action, having him for its object, and his glory for its end, muft acquire infinite merit, which is quite inadmiffible. Thus the argument, like the legs of the lame, is not equal, and overturns itself.

What are we then to think of that common, plausible mode of reasoning, which, like a torrent, carries many before it? By attempting to magnify the demerit of fin, and afcertain the eternity of future punishment, it annihilates the merits, and circumfcribes the efficacy of the Saviour's death. But, admit that fin is of infinite demerit, this does not prevent the pardon of it in the elect, for the fake of Jefus ; and God may forgive others, if it feem good in his fight, upon the fame principle.

When the fame word or phrafe occurs twice in the fame verse, relative to the fame fubject, without any hint leading to take it, in either claufe, in a different fenfe, by what law do we make free to extend it in the one claufe, and to restrict it in the other? Thus the all that die in Adam, are underflood to intend all mankind, but the all that fhall be made alive in Chrift, only the elect, 1 Cor. zv. 22. the many that were made finners by the difobedience of one man, and

the many that fhall be made righteous by the obedience of one, are alfo fo qualified, Rom. v. 19. that the many who are dead by the offence of one, are not the fame many unto whom the gift by grace, which is by Jefus Chrift, has abound. ed, v. 15.; the former denoting the whole human race, the latter only the elect, the first fruits. Alfo, that the fame all men, twice mentioned in the 18th verfe, are not the fame all men, but to be taken as above. Therefore, as by the offence of one, or by one offence, judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even fo by the righteousness of one, or by one righteoufnefs, the free gift came upon all men to juftification of life." By the liberty here taken with the facred text, it is poffible to make any thing of it. The apoftle adds, "But where fin abounded, grace did much more abound," ver. 20. Here the common doctrine comes in, with its ufual modelty, to correct, or rather contradict the text. Ac cording to it, fin has abounded in millions to their deftruction, in whom grace, fo far from fuperabounding, they shall never receive the leaft benefit from it.*

* The candid reader will excufe my giving an extract from a fermon, which gives a clear concife view of the gospel scheme of falvation, and establishes its extent, in purchase and application, upon a feripture basis.

"In the epiftle to the Romans, Paul infifts upon the general redemption and salvation of mankind, and of the final restoration of all things. In chapter v. he takes up the fubj. &, as tho' he meant for ever to prevent all disputes about it, and speaks of Adam and Christ as univerfal heads of the human race; that fin, mifery, and death, came by the one; and righteoufnefs, happiness, and eternal life, in the fame manner to all, by the other. The offence of one, and the obedience of the other; the ruin brought upon all mankind by the firft, and the grace, life, and gifts of righteousness, bestowed and brought to all by the last, are fet in oppofition and contraft one to the other; with these two differences, Ift, That the grace of God, and the gift by grace, by Jefus, hath much more abounded to the multitude, to give life to those who were dead, than the offence and fin of Adam did to deftroy them. 2d, That whereas man was ruined and condemned by one offence, our Saviour's obedience and facrifice juftifies us from many, or the multitude of our offences; being fet forth as a gift of righteousness for that purpose. These two great differences Paul makes between the offence and free gift; but never gives the leaft hint of the ruin being more extenfive than the recovery, but quite the reverfe; for he fays, "Therefore as by the offence of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even fo, by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men to juftification of life." Here is general provifion plainly spoken of; but the apostle does not ftop here, but goes on to fhew that the application fhall be as extenfive, and as certainly efficacious for the recovery of man, as ever it was really provided: For, as by the offence of one, many were made finners`; so, by the obedience of one, fhall many be made righteous.

[ocr errors]

"The fame term of many, is used in both members of the fentence; and if it doth not intend the fame perfons in both, the comparifon doth not exactly hold. They were pofitively made finners, and fhall juft as certainly and pofitively be made righteous: And as fin and corruption came upon all men, through the difobedience of Adanı, who was the fountain head of the human race; fo, thro' the obedience of Chrift, who is the head of every man, fhall all be made righteous, and fhall finally derive both righteousness, strength, a new nature, and holiness from him.

"The Apoftle goes on to confirm this meaning, by faying, "Moreover, the law entered "that the offence might abound; but where fin abounded grace did much more abound: That as fin has reigned unto death, even fo might grace reign through righteousness, unto eternal "life, by Jesus Christ our Lord," Rom. v. 20 21.

[ocr errors]

"We all know that fin hath abounded, to the ruin and deftruction of all mankind; but how grace can be faid, with any propriety, to abound much more, and yet eternally to leave most of the human race under the power of fin and mifery, is a mystery to me! If grace abounds more than fin, it must be equally extenfive, and more powerful; and if the universal recovery of man is a truth, then fhall grace abound much more than fin, and reign through righteousness unto eternal life, by Jefus Christ our Lord; even as fin hath reigned unto death. Then may we fing,

M

But it remains for the friends of that doctrine to prove, that the fame all who died in Adam, shall never be made alive in Chrift-that the fame many who were made finners by the difobedience of one, the firft Adam, shall never be made righteous by the obedience of one, even of Chrift ;----that where fin abounded grace fhall never much more abound, however exprefs the affertions of the apoftle to the contrary. They must also prove, to make good their point, that the prey fhall never be wholly taken from the mighty, nor the lawful captives, or the captives of the law delivered, Ifa. xlix. 25. Likewife that the last vifion in the book of Revelation is not to be placed, in order of time, after the one that precedes, as might be naturally expected, but in fome other period or ftate antecedent or pofterior to the laft judgment, Heaven knows when or where That millions of enemies fhall exift, and that for ever, after the very laft enemy is deftroyed ;-.--that after all rule, all power and authority are put down, that of God himself excepted, the rule, power, and authority of fin, Sa.. tan, and the second death fhall exift and reign over fubjects countless as the fand to all eternity;---that tho' Jefus Chrift came into the world to fave finners, even the chief, yet he fhall fave only fome, and none at all of the chief of finners, that depart this life; and that Jefus' coming into the world to fave finners, and the chief of them, is a faithful faying, and worthy of all acceptation, only when To limited, 1 Tim. i. 15. That the glorious year of jubilee under the law, to

"Sin reign'd to death; but over fin
"And death, with more imperial sway,
"Grace fpreads her more extenfive reign,
"And doth eternal life convey."

:

"But if general restoration be not a truth, the words should be reversed, and it should be faid, that fin bath abounded more than grace in that cafe there could be no comparison between them, far lefs could grace claim the fuperior fway. But enough has been faid to prove, that Paul held and taught general as well as particular redemption; and universal restoration, as well as the doctrine of election. And if you can find, in the 9th and 11th of the Romans, fome, even a remnant of Ifrael chofen, and the rest rejected, forfaken, and caft off; I can find in the latter chapter, that they fhall be received again. and grafted in again (for God is able to graft them in again) that all Ifrael fhall be faved; that ungodlinefs fhall be turned from Jacob; that God fhall make a new covenant with them, and take their fins away; that they are ftill beloved for their fathers fake, and fhall obtain mercy: For God hath concluded them all in unbelief—for what? Why hath he fhut them up in unbelief together fo long, or fo many hundreds of years? Common fyftems will tell us, That they might be damned to all eternity; but Paul fays, That be might have mercy upon all." Rom. xi. 32-Winchester's fermon, entitled, The Gofpel preached by the Apofties, &c.

The worthy author of the above fermon fuffered much perfecution, as appears from his life, published by Mr Vidler, London, from the zealots in his time, on account of his principles; yet was much refpected by many, both at home and abroad. Few, if any, of those who are fo ready to condemn him unheard, as their manner is, are fit to compare with him for learning, as a fcholar; for piety, as a Chriftian; or fuccefs, as a minifter of the gefpel: for he left many feals of his miniftry, both in America and in England, and his works will praife him in the gate, when that divinity which favours too much of the wifdom of man fhall be obfcured by the increafing beams of feripture light. It is a light matter to be judged of nan. Many have been condemned by profeffors on earth, even Mofes and the prophets, Chrift and his apoftles not excepted, whom their final Judge fhall acquit; and he will at length condemn many whom the judgment of men has canonized. " Jofhua and Caleb fpoke unto all the company of the children of Ifrael, ; but all the congregation bade ftone them with flones. Surely they fhall not fee the land, &c.; but my fervant Caleb, because he hath another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went, and his feed fhall poffefs it." Num. xiv.

&c

« AnteriorContinuar »