eth in the glory of his Father, with the holy angels." 99* He that is ashamed to own attachment to Christ on account of his lowly appearance, his poverty, his contempt, and his sufferings, and is ashamed of his doctrines and institutions in this life, shall be excluded from heaven hereafter. They who will not acknowledge Christ here, but cast him out and despise him, must be cast out by him and consigned to eternal and hopeless sorrows. Those who honor Christ, he will honor; but those who despise him shall be lightly esteemed.

-Sell

"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt.- -Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.that ye have and give alms: provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not.-Laying up in store a good foundation against the time to come.- -Be ye also ready; for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of man cometh." Do not these passages also obviously imply that a preparation for heaven must be sought and obtained in the present life, and that if this preparation be not had here, we can never be admitted into heaven?

"Agree with thine adversary quickly, whilst thou art in the way with him, lest at any time the adversary deliver thee unto the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. Verily, I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing." These verses naturally introduce the case of such persons as are exposed to lawsuits for injuring their neighbors. Now, to go to law, to be litigious, is a violation always of the law requiring us to love our neighbors as ourselves. In this case, we should if possible come to an agreement before the trial, lest being found guilty, we should be cast into prison, and continue there, till the last farthing should be paid. But under this counsel a more important instruction is

* Matt. x. 82. Mark viii. 38. Tim. vi. 19. Matt. xxiv, 44.

Matt. vi. 19, 20. Luke xii. 32. 1 Matt. y. 25, 26.

couched. Whatever injuries that are done to men, are sins committed ultimately against God, who is our adversary at law. If we have violated one of the great commandments, by not loving our neighbor as ourselves, God has an action against us. We must soon appear before the judgment seat of Christ. A way of peace and reconciliation is revealed in the gospel. If we are not reconciled to our brother, nor our God, before death, our case will be tried at the supreme court of heaven, from which there can be no appeal; and we shall be found guilty, and condemned, and cast into the prison of hell. From this infernal prison there will be no release.

VIII. THERE IS ANOTHER CLASS OF TEXTS WHICH EXPRESSLY ASSERT THAT THE PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED WILL BE ENDLESS

IN DURATION, in language not less expressive than that which we have already noticed. "And if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands to be cast into everlasting fire.And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands, to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched; where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched.”* The immediate means

of sufferings to the impenitent are styled by our Saviour, "the fire that shall not be quenched and the worm that dieth not." Our Lord in this passage and connection, repeats five times in succession, that the fire into which the wicked are cast, will never be quenched; and three times he speaks of hell as a place where their worm dieth not. And still further to show the perpetuity of the sufferings of the wicked, he adds, “For every one shall be salted with fire. As it is the property of salt to preserve from decay substances to which it is suitably applied, so the wicked will be salted with fire, as to become inconsumable. Thus their torments, instead of putting an end to their sufferings, will continue them in being.

It has been asked whether the wicked will be burned in a literal fire, and the common impression has been that they will. To us, * Matt. xviii. 8. Luke ix. 43, 44.

however, this is a subject of comparatively little consequence. The fact that the wicked will be eternally punished, cursed of God, should awe every heart and lead every sinner to seek repentance, and forgiveness of God. As however the body will be raised, it is not improbable that a mode of punishment will be adopted, suited to the raised bodies of the wicked. It may perhaps bear some analogy to suffering here in its various forms of flames, and every other earthly woe that tortures the mortal body in this life. But I would not now dwell upon this point. We shall in a future lecture inquire in what the future PUNISHMENT of the wicked consists. It is sufficient for us now to know and feel that this punishment is eternal.

"But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath, and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to every man according to his deeds: to them who by patient continuance in well doing, seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life: but unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile."* Can the doctrine of eternal rewards and punishments have a more unequivocal-assertion? Here an impenitent life is represented as treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath, and it is asserted that in that day of wrath, God will render to all his rational creatures according to their deeds. Then eternal life will be awarded to those who by well-doing have sought for glory and honor and immortality; and indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, the opposite of eternal life, shall be awarded to those who obey not the truth, but obey unrighteousness.

"I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heavens fled away. And I saw the dead, books were opened;

small and great, stand before God; and the

and another book was opened which was the book of life; and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the

Rom. ii. 5-9,

books according to their works. And the sea gave np the dead which were in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them, and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life, was cast into the lake of fire."* A more impressive description of the resurrection of the dead and of eternal judgment is scarcely in the power of human language. Lo, the dead, “both small and great stand before God!--Death and hell, or the grave were cast into the lake of fire." Prior to the day of judgment death and hell were the receptacles of the ungodly. Here they were confined as in a prison. But having received their doom, they shall go away into everlasting punishment. This is the second death. In this dreadful abyss all will be cast, as the just punishment of their sins, excepting those whose names are "written in the book of life." I conceive that the doctrine of endless punishment is not taught in any plainer manner in any confession of faith on the globe. And if these passages can be explained away, all those confessions may. Nothing can stand before such criticisms.

Thus I have given you a very summary view of the testimony of God, respecting the endless punishment of the wicked. The greater part of this testimony is taken from our Lord's discourse, who knew the truth, and was himself to be the judge of the world. This renders the evidence peculiarly interesting. We have the declaration of him who knew the character, desert, and destiny of all

men.

I would now request you, my dear hearers, to pause, and consider prayerfully the preceding arguments, and decide as on a dying pillow. Can these most unequivocal declarations of God's word be honestly and safely set aside? Is that system worthy of your confidence, which fearlessly proposes to make a covenant with death, and with hell, to be at an agreement? Is it safe to hope for heaven while going on still in your trespasses? Is it wise to trust the destiny of your soul upon that system which has a tendency to take * Rev. xx. 11-15.

away every powerful incentive to holiness, to remove all permanent restraints, to leave men in bondage to their evil propensities, and to lead them to hope that they shall be as well off in the end by disobeying God, as by obeying him? Is it prudent to risk your salvation on a doctrine which is rejected by the pious and praying part of the community, and embraced chiefly by those whom the Bible denominates wicked, and which speaks peace to the wicked to whom God has said, 'There is no peace;' which confounds all distinctions between sin and holiness, and makes the hearts of the righteous sad by its lies, and strengthens the hands of the wicked that he should not turn from his evil way by falsely promising him life?

O be entreated, fellow-sinner, attentively to consider the endless duration of future punishment! It is this which will constitute the most terrible ingredient in that cup which will be the portion of the wicked. Dreadful as will be their sufferings, they would not be so intolerable, were there any hope of their termination. But of this there can be no hope. Every thing will conspire to force upon the sinner's mind a conviction that his existence and his sufferings will be commensurate with eternity. The misery of being lost, how inexpressible! It is misery without relief, without hope, without limits, ever increasing, with capacities perpetually strengthened and enlarged to bear accumulating woe. O, might hope enter this dark mansion, might its guilty inmates be struck into nonexistence at any period ever so remote, might one drop of water be applied to their parched tongue, what a luxury! But all this will be denied. Will you then say, "If I must be damned, there is no alternative. Rather than live as the Bible requires, I will run the hazard?" Before you rest in this fatal resolve, stop for a moment, and think what it is to sink down in the faintness of despair forever, under the wrath and curse of God! And will you wade down to ruin since the Son of God died to save you, died on the cross, died in agonies, and is now waiting to be gracious? Shall it be said as it respects you, that Christ died in vain? Shall your souls, which might be raised to a glorious immortality, and celebrate the high praises of