It has been objected, that it militates against the goodness of God, to suppose that any of His creatures shall be visited with eternal or ceaseless misery. But I answer, we are not the best judges of what militates against the goodness of God; we can only judge from what He has revealed. We know but a little nook of

the universe; and it may be that for the greater exhibition of His goodness, God has allowed sin to remain in the world, and will suffer it to be visited with eternal punishment hereafter; it may be that, as the inhabitants of far distant orbs learn from our world lessons of God's transcendent goodness, never to be forgotten throughout the countless ages of eternity, and that from Calvary truths rise and reach new worlds every hour, that electrify their tenants, so, instead of this great demonstration of perpetual punishment being incompatible with God's goodness, it may perhaps more clearly exhibit its intensity, and purity, and love.

Again, it has been said, it militates against God's justice to suppose he would visit an eternal punishment upon a temporary disobedience. To this I reply, we are not competent judges of the evil of sin. It may be that what murder and theft are to us, and appear to us in a material world, malice, revenge, and covetous desires are seen to be just as frightful in a world of spirits. We have only one standard by which we can estimate its inherent evil:-it is this—if it is true that nothing less than the shed blood of Incarnate Deity could atone for sin-if it was necessary for the Creator of the Universe to leave his throne of glory and majesty, and, separating himself for a time from the adoring anthems and praises of holy angels, to take upon him our nature, and, after enduring a life of scorn and derision, to be shamefully crucified by the very men he came to save, that he might offer himself an acceptable sacrifice before a single sin that Adam brought into the world could be expunged-if we remember this, we can easily conceive that an eternal hell is not too terrible a punishment for that which necessitated such a sacrifice, or for those who "reject so great salvation."

Our Lord, whose tones were ever tones of unutterable love, except where rebuke was a strong necessity, once said these remarkable and awful words: "It were better for that man if he had never been born." I can conceive that to be no ordinary calamity which

makes the fact of one's birth to be a curse, and one's existence a regret.

Again, some have objected that the continuance of the existence of sin throughout eternity in any part of God's universe is very difficult to conceive of. I admit the difficulty, and that it seems strange that such a state should be perpetuated; but I must not reject it because I cannot fathom it—it is plainly revealed in the Bible. I confess that it would appear far more consistent with our ideas of what is beautiful and desirable, if sin and its attendant evils were to be finally expunged from the universe, and all God's creatures were to unite in one harmonious chorus of loyalty and allegiance to their Creator. But it is not for our limited minds to speculate on what would be desirable in the government of God's universe; we have simply to receive with faith what he has graciously revealed. Yet, if it exist at all, the duration of its existence is a subordinate difficulty.

But others have asked, Is there no sign in the Bible that the gospel will be preached in hell, and that its wretched inmates, after enduring for a time some of the punishment due to their sin, will have a final offer of full and free salvation? The Bible tells me of no rainbow of covenant mercy that shall span the concave of hell; it gives no intimation of an offered Saviour to mitigate the miseries of the damned. I read only of the worm that never dieth, and the fire that never shall be quenched. If the Saviour is preached to the lost in hell, and they embrace the gospel, then the manifestation of God's grace will be far greater there than in this world; for in this it failed, in that it succeeds. But we are taught in the Bible to look for the manifestation of God's grace in this world only. Our Lord says, "I must work the works of Him that sent me while it is day; the night cometh, when no man can work"-evidently referring to death. "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might, for there is no device nor labour in the grave." He that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, neither in this world, nor in that which is to come."

These texts appear to me a convincing proof that the atonement shall never be preached in the regions of the lost. All probation ceases with time: "My spirit will not strive any more."

If the Spirit strives with the lost in hell, then it was not true that he ceased to strive with the antediluvians. But the misery which the lost shall undergo, will exercise upon them, it is alleged, a purifying power, and after a lengthened period their souls shall be completely purged by suffering and purgatorial fire, and made fit for heaven. There is no evidence, I reply, that punishment can purify the heart. No man was ever made a Christian by suffering; that change can be effected by the Holy Spirit of God alone. Sufferings may show what sin is, not what the beauty of holiness is: if any amount of suffering on our part could save a soul, why did the Saviour bleed and die? Is it at all likely that so great a sacrifice as God Incarnate would have been offered if man could have been saved by suffering without it? Besides, the intense appeals of the gospel imply there is no hope hereafter. "Why will ye die?" "Ye will not come to me that ye might have life." "Come unto me, all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest." "Ho! every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters." "Today, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts." Language seems to exhaust all its force in entreating sinners to be saved; its very intensity indicates the awfulness of the state from which Christ would snatch us. The views that the lost in hell will finally be saved, seem to detract from the power of the gospel. If hell can be the birthplace of glorified spirits, why was Calvary ever heard of, or that innocent, spotless Lamb made a victim for sin? My dear friends, heaven endures for ever, and hell endures for ever; but here is the unspeakable comfort, that this night the Lord Jesus invites you in loving accents, Believe on me, trust in the sacrifice I have once offered for the sins of the world, and ye shall be saved from the unutterable wo of the one, and shall enjoy with angels the inconceivable bliss of the otherye shall reign with me eternally in glory.

This great idea, eternity, is the weightiest word in human speech; it changes mightily whatever it is attached to. Suffering which is eternal suffering, and joy which is eternal joy, are states of infinite moment. Sin that is not productive of eternal torment would seem not to necessitate an interposition of Infinite Worth. A love without retribution would be connivance at sin.

Given any one vital doctrine of Christianity, and the everlasting suffering of the wicked is a corollary plainly deducible from it. I can come to no other conclusion than that to which our Reformers came-which apostles taught which the Holy Spirit inspired-viz. that heaven and hell are eternal states-the one endless joy, and the other endless misery and wo and suffering.

128

LECTURE IX.

THE BRIDE.

"And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife."-Revelation xxi. 9.

"And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted, that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriagesupper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God."-Revelation xix. 6.

THIS relationship, viz. of bridegroom and bride, is so frequently employed by the sacred penmen to illustrate the great spiritual truth of the believer's union to Christ, that we cannot but conclude it is not only appropriate, but replete with instructive. meaning. It occurs in the following among other passages:

"For thy Maker is thy Husband, (the Lord of Hosts is his name;) and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel, the God of the whole earth shall he be called." Isa. liv. 5.

"He that hath the bride is the bridegroom." John iii. 29. "I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ." 2 Cor. xi. 2.

"Husbands, love your wives, as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish." Eph. v. 25-27.

"Blessed are they which are called to the marriage-supper of the Lamb." Rev. xix. 9.