They allow the eternal

this important article of our faith. separation of the wicked from God and heaven, or the punishment of loss; but deny the reality of positive pains, or torments, to be endured for ever. But is not eternal exclusion, eternal shame, disgrace, remorse, an infinite punishment? And why, if as they insist, sins are to be punished in proportion to their size, are they thus infinitely punished, unless their sins are infinite? Their own principle, we see, condemns their concession; but, tenacious as they are of that principle, the Scriptures extort the concession, to the confusion of those who make it, and who by the same rule ought to allow also the positive punishments of the damned, since they are as expressly affirmed in Scripture, as the negative. Besides, this scheme actually makes all sins equal, if estimated by the punishment, which is one and the same for all delinquents; namely, separation from God, and exclusion from the joys of heaven; at least, if there is any inequality, or degrees, in this purely exclusive punishment, the more inveterately wicked any soul thus excluded is, the less grievous will this punishment be to such a soul, because the less fitted to relish the joys of that place out of which it is shut, and consequently the less inclined to regret its loss. Thus, on this wise hypothesis, the greater the sinner is, the more mildly shall he be punished, directly contrary to the rules of justice.

Others take upon them to say, the wicked, after enduring the torments of hell for a certain time, will be thereby reformed, and restored to the favour of God. Who hath told them this? What is there either in reason or Scripture, to make us believe the pains of hell have this purgative quality; that hell is a nursery for heaven; or that the devil, who tempts us in this life, will become a preacher of righteousness, and the pastor of a flock for Christ, in the next? No, no; as the mercy and long-suffering patience of God encourages the perversely foolish to the sins of impenitence and presumption here, so it is most rationally to be apprehended, his vengeance will drive them to the sins of blasphemy and despair hereafter. Can hell purge those, who could not be cleansed by the blood of Christ? Or will the damned permit the devil to work that in them by fire and brimstone, which they would not suffer God to work by

grace, and the tenders of his mercy, when they were free? But even supposing they should, what figure will these forced reformades, converted by the devil, make in heaven on the strength of a renovation, wherein the [providence of the Father, the gospel of Christ, and the grace of the Holy Ghost had no hand; wherein choice, liberty, or the love of God and goodness, had no share; whereof anguish or terror was the only cause; whereto relief from the horrible effects of sin, not hatred of sin itself, was the only motive?

In opposition to this amazing supposition, we are told, that those who were unjust, must be unjust still; and those who were filthy, must be filthy still.' We are told,' that without shedding of blood there is no remission;' that the blood of Christ is that alone which taketh away sin;' and that there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin,' for the sins of such as 'transgress wilfully after they have received the knowledge of the truth,' of such as 'have trodden underfoot the Son of God, and have counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith they were sanctified, an unholy thing; and have done despite unto the Spirit of grace; but a certain fearful looking for of judgment, and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.' We are also assured, that it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, andh ave tasted the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come; if they shall fall away to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to open shame.' If this is true of the wicked, even in this life, why shall it not be true of the damned after the final sentence shall be passed upon them?

There are others again, who maintain that God, after punishing the wicked in proportion to their sins, will annihilate them all. For an opinion so bold, and attended with consequences of such importance to the moral world, they give us two reasons, neither of them at all convincing. First, They say, our sins are temporary and finite, and therefore cannot justly be punished with endless torments. And, secondly, They judge, the wicked cannot be reformed in hell, nor ever rendered fit for an admission into heaven; and therefore must be reduced to nothing. This piece of practical

Atheism prevails strangely at present, even among men who would take it very ill to be told, they are no Christians.

Whether this opinion is founded in truth, or not, the best way is, according to our Saviour's rule, to judge of it by its fruits. Do these men, who have such a fellow-feeling with the devil and the damned, stand in no need of the in dulgence, afforded by their principle, to vice and wickedness of all kinds? Have they no reason to apprehend themselves concerned in the question about eternal torments? Nothing in their consciences to whisper a wish to their judgments, that they themselves should hereafter be nothing? Is it all pure, abstracted, disinterested, pity for others, without the least mixture of compassion? How godlike is their goodness, who being free from sin themselves, and assured of their own happiness, find such tenderness for the sinner, for the reprobate, even for the author of all evil! This is indeed a very soothing opinion, and wonderfully serves to set forth both his good nature who holds it, and to mollify the. severity of guilt in those who feel it. Were there no other reason but this, I should be apt to suspect its truth; for it seems to be a maxim, that nothing can be true, which, of its own nature, encourages sin; as it does, that nothing can be false, which is necessary to the prevention or cure of sin because, otherwise, sin would have a foundation in the nature of things, and one truth, at least, to countenance it; from whence it would follow, that an evil principle must have had a hand in the creation, and therefore probably in the government, of the world. If a good being supremely and uncontrollably governs the world, he must do every thing consistent with the freedom of his moral creatures, to prevent their falling into sin and misery. Should he so contrive things, as that temptations to sin should be great and present, and his rewards and punishments little and future, he could not expect to be well obeyed. That our temptations to sin are present, and also very strong, the nihilators themselves will readily grant; because they make it a reason for that indulgence their principle promises. Now is it not evident, that he, who believes the punishment of sin will be temporary, hath less, infinitely less, reason to resist temptation, than he who believes it will be eternal? And is there not, therefore, infinitely less reason to hope, he will

;

never fall, or, if fallen, that he should rise again? If there is but one supreme, eternal Being; if that Being is infinitely good, just, and powerful; there must be an infinite reason against moral evil, that is, against the only possible evil; and this reason may lie as well in the infinity of punishment, as in that of reward. It can indeed be nothing else, but one or both. But creatures can neither enjoy nor suffer infinitely, any otherwise than in point of duration; which proves the eternity, either of the reward or punishment. Now, there is not so much reason for the eternity of a reward, which we can never deserve, as for the eternity of a punishment, which we may, if our sins are infinite. Since I have been here again obliged to mention the infinity of sin, I beg leave to be understood in this sense, not that such things are infinite as are committed under the ignorance of God's law, or without any tincture of contempt, or an intentional insult on his majesty; but such only as give a character to our whole lives; such as we persevere in to the last, although we know God abhors them, and us for committing them; such in a word, as on the whole, shew we are by choice the servants of Satan, and not of God.

A man of this stamp is infinitely guilty in the sight of God; because, as far as in him lies, he disappoints the whole intention of the creation. God made all things here for man, and man for himself. But if man turns every thing here to an occasion of sin, and himself to rebellion, how are the wise and gracious intentions of God to be answered? Will a temporary punishment, followed by annihilation, make amends? No; God did not make him in vain; yet in vain he must have been made, if, after a life of sin, and a short punishment, he is to be unmade again. Surely, the infinitely wise Being who created and disposes all things, can turn this his creature, who would not be his servant, to a better account. He can even make him serve the purposes of righteousness by exhibiting in him to all eternity a wholesome example of his indignation at sin, that angels and men may see, and fear to offend. This way, and this only, God may bring universal good out of moral evil, and make either happy, or at least useful, servants of all his moral creatures; insomuch that what St. Paul said, Rom. xi. to the Gentile converts, concerning the unbelieving Jews, may for ever be

truly said to the just, concerning the benefits they will derive from the example made of the wicked; If the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world-behold therefore the goodness and severity of God; on them which fell, severity; but towards you goodness, if you continue in his goodness; otherwise you also shall be cut off.'

But, over and above all this, God may apply the wicked to other particular uses, of which, at present, we can form no determinate idea. Throughout his universal empire he may have offices and stations of inconceivable use to the whole, which none can so well fill as the wicked; because confinement, disgrace, and pain, may be as essential to those offices, as they are to the business of a miner, or a galleyslave. As, for instance, they are threatened in Scripture with a punishment of fire; how do we know but the inscrutable phenomena of that element may arise from the agency of evilspirit s who, although chained themselves in the blackness of darkness toward the centre of a luminous body, may, in order to some small mitigation of their pain, so elaborate the combustible matter as to be the cause of that motion whereby the rays of light and heat are propelled towards, and from, the surface? This supposition will always have a possibility to countenance it, till the nature of fire, and the activity of light, are discovered to be the effects of some other cause. But be this as it will, there is all the reason in the world for supposing, God obliges them to answer some other ends of their creation, besides that of exemplifying his justice; and, in order to it, assigns them such a situation as may render them physically, as well as morally, useful. The devil, who, from a prince in heaven, is become a tyrant in hell, is continued in being, not for the evil he is permitted, but for the good he is forced, to do. While he is himself the highest example of God's justice, he is also the punisher of those he tempts to sin; and will, as the executioner of vengeance, be compelled to do more good, on the whole, to the moral world, than God will suffer him, as a tempter, to do evil. What other services he renders to God against his will, in his station as 'prince of the air,' we know net; but we are sure he does not hold that principality merely on the merit of doing mischief. To shut up this argument; we are not to conclude for the