///-* ^ THE ' • -jj) DOCTRINE » OF Univerfal Salvation Examined and Refuted. CONTAINING, ..-»-' A concife and diftinft Anfwer to the Writing* of Mr. Relly, and Mr. Winchester, upon' thac Subjfeft. r ' ' . ..■'.- . . • \ By ISAAC BACKUS, Preacher of the Gofpcl. v ' ('JJ -'. . '— ' i i? Ear/leftly contend for the Faith 'which ivaf once dJi-vai&itnto th% v Building up your/elves tin your moji holy Faith. rH.' < ' ^i~\ ————— ' ' -j /» R O V I D E N C E: Printed and fold by John Carter. Alfo fold by faill?.. Frssman, in Union-Strut, Eoftw, .
•„• With this Difcourfe may be had, the Au thor's History of New-England; and a Piece •entituled, Truth is Great, and will Prevail- * \ v . i • - i . • . - v. - '
THfi Do&rine of Univerfal Salvation Examined and Refuted. SOLOMON, after a vaft and extenfive fearch into the nature of things, fays, Jo, this only have I found, that God made man upright ; but they have fought out many inven tions. How many he could not tell, nor any other man. Had the inhabitants of New-England been told, ten years ago, that faid doctrine would foon be preached up, and have an extenfive fpread among them, who could have believed it ? Yet this is now become a notorious fad, by the following means : Mr. John Murray, from England, having preachepl for fome time in places fouth of New- York, came from thence into New-England in the fall of the year -1772 ; and has preached in thefe parts to the prefent time. For a while he concealed his defign under many good words and fair fpeeches ; and when he began plain ly to preach general falvation, his greateft admirers rather wifhed than believed the doctrine to be true. At length they procured the re-printing of a pamphlet from London, in 1779, which was privately difperfed in the country, and has in tangled many fouls. Since which Mr. Elhanan Winchefter, who was l>orn near.Bofton, and, by his itinerations from thence to South- Carolina", had obtained an extenfive fame for being a power ful and fuccefsful preacher of the gofpel, has fallen in with faid dodlrine, under another form, which has caufed its in fluence to extend much farther than it had before. And its advocates now glory in it as unanfwerable, becaufe a diftindt anfwer thereto has not appeared among us. A fight of this, arid not hearing that any others were engaged therein, has con strained me to offer my mite in the afftur ; hoping that it may encourage and excite others to Sep forward in the caufe of truth to better purpofe. The pamphlet referred to, which was re-printed at Bofton, is entituled, " Union: Or, a Treatife of the Confanguinity *' and Affinity between Chrift and his Church. By James " Relly."
4 'the Doftrine of Univerfal Salvation refuted. " Relly." Ukion is the life of the univerfe, and to ae\ againft it.is an infinite evil; but though his title is fo impor tant, yet if the treatife mould be found to contain a fcene of difunion and confufion, all lovers of truth and peace will fee caufe to rejeft it. Whether it be fo or not, we are now to en* quire. The rule he prefcribes for us. to go by is. thus exprefTed : Says he, " if mankind have any true notion of j uftice and *' equity, though but in the fmalleft degree, then what is " contrary to this, is much mate fo to Godj whofej uftice and '' truth is infinite, pure and eternal." Preface, p. 9. " This. " fimple voice of nature differs from revelation only as the lef- '' fer light which rules the night, differs from the greater which. '' rules the day. If it is poffiole thofe our ideas of- the divine- *' perfeftions fhould be wrong, then have we no rule, whereby ," to difcern between good and evil." Book, p. 45. If he meant that-, like the moon, we are always to receive light from the fun, and to let the fame mine before others, ;n word and pradice, Jefus has inculcated this duty upon us- in a clear manner. But to imagine that our ideas of the divine perfec tions may not be entirely wrong, or that, if they were fo, wes ihould have no rule left to correft and direft us, is a mod dan gerous delufion. Mat. Yi. 25. 1 John ii. 4—1 1, and iii. 20, 31. Jude io. All men of fenfe know, that written laws and contrails, which fhali be their own interpreters, are very neceffary in the adminiftration of j uftice ; and that a difcretionary power ought not to be allowed to the beft of judges, without great caution and cLcumfpeclion. And if a gift doth blind the eyes of the •wife, ana pervert the %vords of the righteous, how can •debtors and criminals be fukable judges in their* own caufesjj And thefe are the cafes before us. Proteftants, as this author obferves, generally hold, " that * ' man, being a debtor and tranfgreffor, and unable to fave *' himfelf, Jefus Chrift became his fure/y, under an engage- "' ment to pay his debts, and to bear his punifhment ; the equi- *' ty of which is generally refolvedinto t\\e foiiereignty of God, '"' or accounted for from the willingnefs of Chrift (as an inde- *" pendent divine Person) to fuffer in the finner's ftead."- Preface, p. 9. Thefe ideas Relly rtjetts, *' j. Becaufe (fays *' he) contrary to truth, which declareth that every man fhall '' die for his own fin. 2. It is contrary to juftice to atHift the ■' innocent : To punifh and deftroy him is cruelty and injufrice." Book, p. 3. 4. To confirm thefe ftrange affertions, he fays, *' I know not of any human laws, which admit of furetyfhip *' in capital offences ; and fin is not only a debt, for which '' fuietyfhrp.
The Doftrine of Univtrfal Salvation refuted^ £ " furetyfhip is fometimes admitted, but a tranfgreflion, a *' crime, capital in the higheft fenfe, only atoned for by the "' fhedding of blood ; by the death, yea, by tht'eternal death " of the fmner ; which juftice muft inflitt, before it can be " properly fatisfied ; nor can it poffibly admit of a furety here." P. 5. Truth is here held in unrighteoufnefs to a moft furr pri2ing degree ! The nature of fin, and its juft defert, are well exprefled ; but how daring is it for a guilty criminal to afierr, that Jehovah cannot poffibly admit of a furety here ! Did he rt ever read, that Jejus ivas made a Surety? Wherefore hi it able alfo to fa've them to the uttermofi, that come unto God by him, feeing he ever li'ueth to make intercejjion far them. Heb. vii. 22, 25. If men mould admit of fureties in capital cafes, a double injury would enfue; namely, the lofs of an innocent perfon out of the community, and the continuance of a guilty one therein, who would be likely to do more mifchief himfelf, and alfo to encourage the like in others ; which are fufficient reafbns why they do not admit of fureties in fuch cafes. But infinite wifdom has caufed mercy and truth, righteoufnefs and peace, fo to meet in Jefus, who had power to lay down his life, and power to take it again (Johnx. 1J5.) that no lofs is Curtain ed to the community ; while the evil of fin appears greater in his fuiferings, than it could have done in the eternal damnation . of all the human race. O ! how glorioufly does a true fight of him relieve the guilty polluted criminal, railing his foul up to union and grateful obedience, while it demonftrates that fin cannot go unpunifhed, fince it could not efcape the vengeance of the Father, wWWi' found upon his darling Son ! But how far was bur ORpcment ffSm fuch views, union, or obedience? Becaufe Adam was created" with the whole of human nature in him, and after Eve was formed fhe became one flefh with him, called by one name, and tinder one law, Relly fays, " fimilar with this, the church exifted in Chrift; according at' "he hath chofen us in him, before the foundation of the ivorld, " having this purpofe and grace given us in him, before the f world began. The man and woman, under this confidera- " tion, had but one name : He cabled their name Adam. Sa *' Chrift and his church in this union bear one name ; both " are called the Lord our righteoufnefs. He, Jer. xxiii. 6; " (he, Jer. xxxiii. j6 : We the righteoufnefs of God in him. "2 Cor. v. 21. The Lord God covenanting with Adam, "as the head of the earthly creation, as having the woman in " himfeif, drew a figure of his covenant with Chrift, as having f the church exifting in him, h« as the head engaging for hi, " members . jMgji
$ Tfo-Doflrine of Univerfal Salvation refuted. 'i members ; as the hufband for his wife, as the king for his " fubjedb, as the root for its branches," &c. P. n, 12. , How furpri2ing i» this ! Union in nature, prior to choice, and union by choice and free contrafts, are as diftrnft things as any in the world ; yet here they are confounded together, and his whole fcheme is built upon this confufion. The original of all union is the sacred Thueb, who are eternally one in nature, prior to any idea of choice, and ever freely aft accord ing to that nature. In fix days he created the heavens and the earth, and all things therein, by the word of his power. Of the earth it is well faid, that, " ever fince the week of *' creative wonders, God hath ordered all thefe creatures to fill *' the world with inhabitants of their own kind ; and they have " obeyed him in a long fucceflion of almoft fix thoufand years. " And it is evident, that he has. kept a referve of fo-vereignty. " to hjmfelf, and has difplayed the. enfigns of it in fome im- " portant hours. Nature is the art of God, and it muft for- " ever be unrivalled by the fons of men. Tet man can produce "a- man. Admirable effeft, but artlefs caufe ! A poor, li- " mited, inferior agent ! The plant and the brute in this mat. *' ter are his rivals, and his equals too. The human parent " and the parent-bi^d form their own images with equal (kill, '< and are confined each to his work.—Let thcatheiit then exert " his utmoft ftretch of underftanding, let him try the force of all 'f his mechanical powers, to compofe the wing of a butterfly, 'f or the meaneft feather of a fparrow ; let him labour and- ,f fweat, and faint, and acknowledge his own weaknefs ; thea '*. let him turn his eye, look at thofe wondrpu* compofures, hi* " fon or his little daughter ; and whflijr their ,^n^nt tongftes '' fiiall enquire of him, and fay, father, <who made us ? let him 'f not dare to affume the honor of that work to hirhfelf, but " teach the young creatures that there is a God, and fall down *' on his face, and repent and worfhip*." The man I am anfwering was very far from fuch diflincl views or difpofitions ; for having quoted I Cor. xi. n, and 1 Tim. ii. 14, he fays of Adam and Eve, " his union unto " her made it equitable for the curfe and condemnation of '' her folly to fall upon him ; and that 'without the confideratioa "of his confent and compliance with her. In like manner, '' Chrift the hulband ivas not deceived ; but his wife, the church, " being deceived, was in the tranfgreffion. Yet as the union ' f was fuch, that Chrift was not without the church, nor the " churcht * Wgtts's Philofopbical Efajs.
The DoSirint of Univerfal Salvation rtfuttd. 7 " church without him ||, at any time, it was equitable- for her " curfe and condemnation to fall upon him." P. 13; To which I anfwer, that to pretend that after Eve was formed file became one flefh with Adam, without mutual choice, is unfcriptural and irrational ; and it is more fo, to imagine that her fin could have become his without his confent ; and to'declare, that our fin and its curfe could have fallen upon Chrift, without his free choice, is fuch an abfurdity and fuch blafphe- "my as will forever want a name ! A man cannot be made on* fiefi with a harlot without his confent ; but he that is joined to the Lord is one fpirit. 1 Cor. vi. 16, 17. And though men commit adultery, yet Chrift never will. No foul can ever be married to him, till it is delivered from pre-engagements. Naturally we are all viedded to do and live, as much as ever a wife was to an hufband ; but we muft become dead to that, and that to us, in order to be married to Chrift. The conceit of fome life in us, at leaft to make an honeft cry for mercy in diftrefs, is never given up, till the holy Spirit demonftrates to the foul, that the lavi is boly, and the commandment holy, and juft, and good ; and that in us there is no good thing. In thii way Jin revives, and vie die. By the body of Chrift, that alft becomes dead viherein vie viere held. Viewing how he beaj: our • fins in his own body on the tree, our imaginary life expires ; and the procefs againft us is alfo at an end ; liuce Chrift is toe end of the lavi for righteoufnefs , to every one that believeth. Thus we become dead to the taw by the body of Chrift, that we Ihould be married to him who was raifed from the dead, that we fhould bring forth fruit unto God ; we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held, that we fhould ferye in nevinefs offpirit, and not in the oldnefs of the letter. Rom. ▼ii.-l— 12, and x. 4. The oldnefs of the letter gives no en couragement to come to God, without holinefs and obedience in ourfelves ; the newnefs of the fpirit teacheth fouls to come through Jefus, for pardon, cleanfing and ftrength to live to him. According to the oldnefs of the letter, every defeft ia us lays a bar in the way of coming ; but by the newnefs of the fpirit, every fin and every enemy are fo many reafons to move us to come boldly to the throne of grace, that vie may obtain tnerty, and find grace to help in time of need. Heb. iv. 16. The powers of thinking and choofing are eflfential to the na ture of all immortal fpirits ; without which no idea can be form ed of their exiftence ; therefore two fpirits cannot poflibly be come one without choice ; and 'tis but a filthy dream for any to entertain tl Had tk (nature a real (feifiaict frets 'Unity!
8 The Dcilrine of Vmverfal Salvation refuted^ entertain fuch a notion. Vet Relly fays, " man being the vef«. " fel marred between the potter's hands, was not reje&ed, but " here was made another and better veffel ; where the nature, " once fpoiled by fin, was born into the world pure and fpotlefs, '' and called the Son of God." P. 27. " As the head was " never without the body, nor the body without the head, in " the Lord, the body hath always been, by union with the head, " entitled unto all the blelfingi, honors, and glories thereof.— " If it is not true until our believing, and by means thereof, . " then doth believing make that a truth which was not a truth, " and faith creates its ownobjeft, and then embraces it. This " looks like the heathen idolatry, firft making their gods, and " then trufting in them." P. 35. This is a darling topic with him ; but I am quite willing to meet him, and to try the mauer out fairly upon his own ground; in order whereto we muft remember the difference there is betwixt faith and hope. Hope is fixed upon promifed bleffings ; but faith regards all revealed truth, be the fame deferable or terrible to us. The creation, fupport, government, and final diffolution of this world, by the word of God, are all obj efts of faith j as alfo are everlafting punifhments to the wicked, and eternal life to the righteous. But of this the fcojfirs of thefe laft days are •.willingly ignorant. Heb. i. 3, and xi. 1 —6. 2 Pet. ii. 3—7. Becauie the word gofpel fignifies good news, they imagine that none preach it, but fuch as prophecy //.tooth things, and cry, peace, peace, to car nal men. Ifai. xxx. 8— 11. Jer. viii. 1 1 . The latter part of the pamphlet before us turns entirely upon this point ; the de ceit whereof is eafily difcovered. • For to hear of the bra2en ferpent was very good news to the poifoned Ifraelites, and fo was the city of refuge to the ma'nflay- . <?r ; £s pardon alfo was to criminals jujlly condemned.* and free forgivenefs to debtors who had nothing td*pay. But, according to the above reafoning, they muft have been told, that he;Jth » was as really theirs before they looked as afterwards, .> or elfe looking made the objeft they looked to ! Iphn iii. 14, ij. Safety is as truly yours before you fly as. afterwards, ' or elfe fleeing to the city, makes the city yoii fly to, which h::d no.exifU ence before! Heb. vi. 18. Pardon and forgivenefs were .asreally yours before you received them as fince, or elfe giving in . to the equity of the indiftment and the accounts* and receiving a difcharge therefrom, created the whole affair, which had no exiftence before! Pfalm li. 3 —8. Luke vii. 41, 42. Yet, fpeaking of Adam and his pofterity, Relly fays, ." his fm, us *.' CWrfc and fruit, was theirs, before they felt it, k»SW it, or ever • , .. ' were
tht Dofirine if Vmvtrfai Salvation refuted. g> ' f* we're confcious of exiftence. Thus, by one Alan's difobedi- " ence, many were made finncrs. In like manner, Chrii1r8 .*' righteoufnefs is upon all his feed, by his Jingle ail, before they " had any capacity of-obeying, after the fimimude of his obedi- *' ence, orof aflenting to what he did, or fufiered : Tl\is mani» .'' fefts fuch an union to him, fuchaninclufiono'f the whole feed ." in him, as renders his condition theirs, in every ftate which *' he pailes through—For as in Adam all die, even fo in Cbrifi " pall all be made alive" P. 14. . The words of the text contradict the position he would prove by it. . For it fpeaks of our concern in Adam's fin as a paft event, but of life by Chrift as what jhall le hereafter. And in Rom. v. iz—20, While the facred writer declares a likenefs be tween our two public heads in fome things, he repeatedly aliens an unlikenefs in others. What they each did as public heads, belongs to all their feed ; but as to what they did, i.nd the way how it comes to their feed, there is an infinite difparity betwixt them. By one offence Adam brought ns 'all, into a date of revolt from God, fo that as we come into the world we all love the creature more than the Creator, love felf above him, till we are horn again, and death comes upon us by law as a juil debt $ but righteoufnefs and abundance of grace are received as a free -gift' As foon as Adam fell, he ceafed to be our covenant head. To that we are not anfwerable for any Of his after fins, any UiOre than for the fins of other men that we allow of; but .Chritt is the unchangeable furety of all his chofen, and is able to lave them to the uttermolt. From a ftate of union. and communion. with God, and lordflup over the earth, Adam by one ail rufhed into rebellion and mifery ; but by freely afluming .our nature, and taking our law-place, -Jefus faves from the dreadful guilt and power of many offences. By one adt a fire might be kindled^ 'enough to lay a city in ruins, and a little infection might fprqad .the plague through a kingdom ; but how great molt the work: be to ftop the conflagration or contagion, and to reftore health and prolperity again? Therefore it is ftri&ly true, that-where fin abounded, grace did much moJIk abound. The word as, in 1 Cor. xv. zt, plainly points to the two heads, and the influ ence that froceeds therefrom.. As by Adam's fin a corrupt na ture is communicated to his pofterity, w.nich caufes thediilbrution of our bodies; even fo is the gift of righteoufnefs, a new nature, and the refurre&ion of the body, communicated by Chrift to his feed. For fluct-rbymantamedeaih, by man came alfo the refurreSHon vf.tbfJe'a&fr -<Arkd let.^V neve/ be forgotten, that death comes upon all as wijuji \vages ; but eteinJ lift: a - La» B a frit
ft* fbt DoRrine of Vnivtrfal Salvation ttfuUi. a free gift. Rom. vi. 23. No two ideas are more diftindl, nor more eafily understood by common people. All the bleifings of falvation were provided by covenant in Chrift, before ttic world' began; but the only way for any to enjoy them, is by ieotiving them freely by faith. '. Uporrthir Relly fays, " believe and thou {halt be faved, is. *' certainly fimilar unto, do this and live ; man, in himfelf, " being as capable of doing the one as- the other." P. 42. I am feniible that many would have it fo ; but they can never aecOmplifh their'defire, till they can make wages and a free gift to be the fame thing ; nor till partaking freely of a rich ieaft, can be the fame as working hard J.0 earn it. Neither can the plea of inability excufe thofe who make light of the gofpel call, tHl their natural faculties of hearing, feeing and Tailing, are gone, inftead of being fixed upon objefts oppofite to what they fhoald be. Mat. xiii, ijr and xxii. 1— 12. Luke xiv. 16—24. Natural inability often excufes from blame ; but moral inability is the very foul of iniquity. The caufe why we catvnot love God fupremely, is becaufe we love the creature above him, which is the effence of idolatry ; and the Tcafon why we cannot believe his truth, is becaufe it reproves our evil deeds, the works of darknefs, which we love rather than light. Hence moral impotency to love God, and to believe the record he has given of his Son, is the condemnation which all unbelievers are under; and his wrath abideth on them; from Which nothing bmt a receiving hit tejiimbny, and fetting to their feal that he is true, can deliver any foul. John iii. 18—21, 34—36. Our perfonal intereft is not the direct objeft of faith, out the confequence and privilege which is received by believ ing, as looking is the way of enjoying the light, and looking to the objeft that Mofes fet up by divine direftion, was the way whereby the poifon of the fiery ferpents was expelled. If any who were bitten refufed to look to that object, the poifon killed them, while the nature and efficacy of the remedy was as good to thofe who looked, as if none had refufed it. Material bodies are dark things, and are often made ufe of to fhut out the light, by fuch as hate it, and love darknefs rather than light. And is not this the labour of the writer I am aafwering ? The head, fays he, was never without the body in the Lord ; as if the creatHre was co-exiflent with the Son of God ! David fays', Thine eyes did fet my fubfiance, yet being imp erfECT, and in thy boek till myjnembers- ivere turitten, otvuhrcb. in continuance we're fdfbioned, when: as yet there. aeas k out qt .thsm, Pfalm exxxix, 16.-. vTh€*whole:plan of jail ii&>v»atks . .i "4 . a*j
tie Dotlrine of Univerfal Salvation refitted,. #*» and difpenfations, and their^Htimate end, is abfcdutely perfeft. Nothing can be put to it, nor any thing takenfrom it ; and God dotb it, that men jbauld fear before bint. Eccl.Ui.i4. Should fer've him acceptably, ixsith reverence and godly fear. Heb. xii. 28. But Relly s fcheme is fo contrary hereto, that he fays, " the obedL- " ^nce of fear is diametrically oppofite to the obedience of faith, " —for where the fear of puniuiment is judged peceffary ta " obedience, unbeliefis eftabliftied.—But the obedience of faith; *' is genuine, free from artifice, 'twitboutfear, Jude 12, depend- '" ent on the perfeft amity of God.—The true obedience of -" faith, is fo far from being urged. by fear, Heb. xi. 7, that it *-' would annihilate it." P. 3$, 39. He knew this to be contrary %o the plain language of revelation ; but fays he, '' unto the " right underftanding of the fcriptures, it is neceflary to know, *' that they confift of two parts, letter and fpirit, or lavi and " i°fpel-" P. 39- " The gofpel gives us all, without requiring *' aught of us *; but the law, giving us nothing, requires all of " us. And thus diftinguiftung them in the fcriptures, we '•' appeal from the law into the gofpel ; our authority for for ••" doing is founded on what follows ; whatfoever the law faith, '"it faith unto them that are under it : But Jefus was made of .*' a woman, made under the law., therefore the law fpeaks to ''*' him, and commands him to perfett obedience. But, the law '' can only curfe-the finner : God fent his Son in the Ijkenef* *' of finful flefli, he was nfade fin for us, Chrift hath delivered ' ' .us from the curfe of the law, being made a curfe for us : The .*' equity of which proceeding, appears from the union fubfift- '*' ing between Chrift and the church, of which I have fuUi- "xiently fpoken. Nor dare we read any one threatening ia " the fcriptures, againft the finner and ungodly, unto ourfebvet, " out of him, becaufe we f cannot endure it." P. 40. And. (peaking of the fword of the fpirit, he fays, '' Jefus, fheathing " it in his own heart's blood, the divine glutinating power " thereof hath rendered it impoffible to draw it again to.anor '' ther execution : God is juft and true, and wjll not ; men or " devils cannot." P. 48. '" In this light we can read the fcrip- " tures with pleafure—we alforead them profitably, forafmuch. -" as fpeaking thus of Chrift, they bujh and banijh thefears ari- *' ling from nature or temptation." P. 49. " Did men but *' know what fafety and peace we have here, they wo.uld defpair "of * The truth is, that the gofpel requires all, and givtt ally it/tySt J will,—and they ftiall. Heb. viii. 8—12. " J Heb. xii. £0,
$2 ^he Ttofirine of Univerfa? Salvation refuted. " of terrifying us, as they hope to do, by their writings and *' pre chmrnts; loading us with opprobrious names, and igno- *' randy levelling the threateningt and tur/et in the fcripture *' againft us ; beholding b.m to be the death of death, and *' vidory of hell." I'. 48. " J''" ' This is the objeft of his worfliip, the faith he has eagerly Embraced ; but the difference between his god and the God of Ilr.ie],"is very great. '" For the God of Ifrael connected his pre cepts and promifes together, and called it prefumption, and tempting of him, to expect the latter without regarding the for mer. ' And when the rod of this world came to tsmpt our Saviour, he made juft fuch a diftinclion in the fcriptures' as this writer does ; but he had nothing in Jefus that could reconcile him to Jiich an objeft of worfhip. ' No, ' Jefus ftill kept to what was' written, comparing one part with the other, and faid, the fcrip ture cannot be broken. JJeut. i. 43, and vi. 16, 17. Pfalm xci. 11, 12. Mat. iv. 6,'7. John x. 35. 2 Cor. iv. 4. Therefore, their rock is not our rock, even our enemies ihtm/ehves being judges. Deut. xxxii. 31 —33. This more plainly appears in what follows. l '.' '• .'."' - '- - - ' .*.i' '•' •'. ' Truth fays, I. Jefus was made afurety~— wherefore he ii' able alfo to fave them to the httermoft, that' come unto God by him, feeing he ever liveth to make interceffion for theni. ffeb. vii. 22, 25. 'r' '[ '" ,"' '"" '." ' 2. I faw thee polluted in thine oWn blood, ' and : I faid unto thee wheijt thou waft in thy blood, live-fbehold, thy time was a time of love. E2ck. xiv.6, 8. v" ;" •.• ". J.'Th? grace of God that ^ringeth falvation—teacheth iis', that denying ungodlinefsj and worldly! huts,' we fhpuld Jive foberly, righteoufly, and odljTin/ this prefent World.' "e lhall reward every man ac cording to his worjes. Titus ii. & i, 12. Mat, xvi. 27* ' a • '•" l i . i *; ....... .- - - ... Relly feys, r. Truth declareth that eve ry man lhall die for his own fin,' •i—nor can j uftice poflibly admit ofz/urety here ; becaufe it can only punifh him whorn V-ftrjl finds guilty. " P. 3, ' J'.!~ ! ' ^ 2. If God loved them, he certainly faw them in a fi'nleis ftate-; for it is contrary to the holinefs of his natiire tp love the unclean.." P. 34. " ' ''" *. The gofpel gives us all, without requiring aught of us. If the promife only rewards the man whom the law approves of, as holy, juft and true, it is eafy to perceive that' Jefus only h the man—-whilft every member, by union with the . head, partakes of his honors, '*,¥>» 4». „, ' Truth
fbt Boftrin* */ Umverfat Salvation refuted. i 3 Truth fays, 4. If any man be in Chflft he is a new creature-. Accord ing to his mercy he faved us, fyy the warning of regenera tion, and renewing of the Holy Ghoft. ' Hereby we know that heabideth in us, by the fpkit which he hath given us. 2 Cor. T. 1.7. Titusiii. 5. 1 John lii. £. If we fey- that we have Do /in, we deceive ourfelves. M we confefs out fins, he is faithful and juft to forgive u: our fins, and to cleanfe us from all unrighteoufnefs. 1 John i, 8,9. ..•---:':. ' " 6. Thou ftatideft by faith ; £e not high-minded, but fear. If any man draw back, myfbuT fhall have no pleafure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition ; but of them that believe, to the faving of the foul. Rom. xi. to. Heb.x. 38, 39. . - 7- Out of his mouth goeth a (harp fword, tha with it he fhould finite the nations ; and he lhalf rule them with a rod' Of iron ; and he treadeth the wineupreft of th .. fiercenefs and wrath of Almighty Goc£ Rev.' Jtix. 15. l ' "&. The carnal mind is en* mity againft God. Without faith, it is impoffible to pleafe jim. Rom. viii. 7. HeT>. xi. $, '-'. * Tkeft 'wtrt Balaam't v/trifh Relly fays, ' 4. A»tiehrift, or a falfe fpirit, feek9 not the glory ofJefns ; but fpeaks of himfelf, of its own operations, of joys, forrows, hatred to the evil, and langu-ifhment after goodnefs, by him wrought in the heart ; and teaches his anhointed ones' to conclude thence that they are' favourites of heaven—by what they zdMixherent holincfs. P. 57, 5. By Jefirs we inherit, bjr him we have atoned ; we claim no good out of him, nor iuill we acknowledge the evil, for as much as in him we have been purged. P. 53. 6. Your unbelief cannot make his grace of none effeft ; and though you have denied him, yet he cannot deny him felf.-—In him we arc always as he is, according to which fimilitude God always beholds us, and accepts us. He beholds tt» iniquity in Jacob, nor pervtrfc* nefsin Ifrael*. P. 52. 7. The fword of the fpiritv— Jefus fheathing it in his own heart's blood, the divine glatinating power thereof hath rendered it impoffible to draw it again to another execution : God will not, men or devil* cannot.: P. 48. 8. I am not, cannot poffibly be, an enemy to good works ; but then I muft have fome inconteftible proof of goodnefs. Preface, p. 14. Truth Nmb, xxiii. zu
1 4 the T)o8rine of Vnivtrfal Salvation refuted. Truth fays, _g. We worfliip God in the Jpirit. This is good and ac ceptable in the light of God. With fuch facrifiees God is well pleafed. Phil. iii. 3. 1 Tim. ii. 3. Heb. xiii. 16. 10. Examineyourfelveswhethet ye be in the faith, prove your own felves. Let every "in approve his own work, and then (hall he have rejoicing in hirrifelf alone, and not in ano ther- . Hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep iis commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep iis commandments, and his commandment^ are not griev ous. 2 Cor. xiii. 5. Gal." vi. 4. 1 Johnii. 3, and v. 3. -~ U. Giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, &c. Beware left ye alfo, being led away with the error of the "wicked, fall from your own ftedfaftnefs ; butgrowin grace. tJnto them that look for him, fcall he appear the fecond time., without fin, unto falvation. I prefs towards the' mark. 2 Pet. i. 5— 11, and iii. 17, 18. Heh. ix. a8. Phil. iii. 13, 14. r 2. ' While they promife them liberty, they themfelves are the fervants -of corrup tion.. If any man have not fhe Jpirit of Chrift, he is none of his. 2Tet.ii.. 19. Rom. viii. *i.:T Relly fays, 9. Spiritually good works, which merit the divine com placency, mankind are inca pable of performing at any time. Preface, p. 14. 10. Where mankind are ig norant of the fcriptures—they look into themfelves j thus enquiring, have I Chrift ? do I love God, and hate iniquity f am I changed ? am I humble, heavenly-minded, thirfting to be more holy, and lamenting my faults i do I increafe ia light, knowledge and under- Handing ? If I do, then I have Chrift. The difciples of the falfe Chrift cry—/ have the marks ofgrace in me. P. 56. 11. Affuming the charafter of righteous, meek, faithful, holy, &c. according to the works of our own hands, or habits of the heart, is fly ing in the face of God, and giving the lie to the divine perfeftions. The Jew main.-. tains the neceflity of inward and outward holinefs in every man, and looks for a Chrift to come; the Chriftian,.efpecial-^ \y the reformed, with fuperior ardour, declares for the fame way of holinefs, and looks alfo for a Chrift to come. P. 54. 12. O, what grace is thisl that jye in whom, according to theftrongeft teftimony ofour fenfes and reafon, there is yet found the motions, life and love of fin, mould have a right to reckon ourfelves dead unto fin. P. 40..- ..- .• .. Thefe
ifbe Doftrine of Univerfal Salvation refuiict. i£ Thefe are not remote and uncertain confequences, bat the exprefs language of each party : And can Relly 's fyfteni be any other than a. filthy dream ! He tries hard to perfuade the world, that the doftrine of the inward fanftification of the fpirit, and of looking to the fruits thereof as evidences of our good eiiate, *' hath introduced groft enthufiafm, fdf-righteoufnefs, bigotry " and fuperftition, among the more 2ealourfly religious part of "mankind; and among fuch who are lefs goncerned, deifm, " with all the pride of moral virtues. This (fays he) is that "fpirit which I fet my face againft." P. 58. Upon which I would obferve, that when John fent two of his difciples to Jefus, to enquire whether* he was the Meffiah or not"? though ,Jefus had the beft right to be believed of any man in the world, yet he referred them to evidence, inftead of ftrong aflertions. Mat. xi. 4—6. Which is a precious example for 'us all to fol low; and 4f we do fo, will not the charafters Relly has caft upon others turn back upon himfelf ! What is enthufiafm, but " a conceit of knowing the will of God better than he hai declar ed it in his written word, and an obftinate and irnreafonable attachment to inward imaginations and fuggeftions of a contrary nature? And what is deifm, but the fetting up of our reafoa above divine revelation, fo as to receive nothing for truth but what fuits this inward rule ? ,And is not Mr. Relly guilty of thefe evils ? ffe glories in the fyftem he has publilhed, as beiirg - a nevi difcoiiery, the like whereto he had never before feen ; and he denies the poflibility of his being an enemy to -morally good works, while in the fame place he aflerts that mankind are in. < capable of performing works fpiritually good at any time. Pre- ~f*ce, p. 4, 5, 14. And he has difcovered fuch meeknefs, • humility, and freedom from bigotry, towards fome of his op ponents, that he fays, " they did not underftand the matter *.'-. they wrote againft, and therefore treated that with contempt f* which was above them, being not afraid to /peak evil of dig- ." nities. I would always (unprovoked by their petul; ncy) an- '' fwerthofe with filence, as being beneath MViattention. I " would harden my ear againft the roarings' 6f ignorance, . " and be utterly infenfible of their inve&ives ; it being ricH- '' c'ulous to fret at the barkings of a cur, when it is the nature " of the animal, to be noify.—For my part, after having ab- . " jured the Pope of Rome, I can riever fubmit to any infallible > "chair of an inferior fort.-—Refpe&ing the matter and feope tf '' the fallowing treatife^I am above v-kcerxainty there- -r'*>iiK." Preface!. p. 5, 6, ' 20. 'iBut'if thofeiwho think them- - it\y<$> a; jattchi aba-YC-Uisitn^igJibours, as^hampioRs for wifdom • ijiij and
i6 TbeBcSritu of Univer/at Salvation nfutei, and virtue are above noify curs, fttould fleep on till they are ar» refted by him who fays, behold, lcome as a thief! how will they then look upon their dumb dogs, that were jieeping, .tying flown, loving to Jtua&er I llai. Ivi. 10. Rev. xvi. 15. . . Their fcheine is fo Far from Uniok, that tbeje it they wbt fetaratt themfdves, .fenfual, having *e/ the jfirit. Fney rejeA Jiii operations, and turn off into lenfuaiity ; being 10 oppuirte to union with Jefus, that they turn all the precepts and penal ties of the fcriptures upon him, while they claim all the promiiei as their own ; dhd. fo would make him to Jervejwith their Jsns\ and *weary him with their iniquities. Ii<*i. jdiii. 14. . They defpife government. For authority to command, and fubjects to obey, or to fuffer for their difobedience, is the eilence of all government. No government can be maintained in civil dates, without appeals to God to avenge injuftice, perjury. and uniaithfuhlels ; therefore the teaching that his Iwcra cannot be drawn to another execution, is an attempt to tear up all govern ment by the root. Wo unto them ; for they have gone in the 'way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam Jor reward, and ftrijhed in the gainjaying of Core. Theie, and other parts of their character, are to be . feen in the fecond epiii.lt of Peter, and in that of Jude. Wherein are alio plain direftions to be lievers, how to guard againft thein, to build up themfetve* on their moft holy faith, and to labour earneftly to puiljleepy fault cut of tbe fre. The unlearned and unfiabk wreji the jiripturts ante their own deflruQion. 2 Pet. iii. 16. And who they are may be clearly gathered from other paflages. For to love God fupremely, and to love our neighbours as ourfelves, are the tw» points whereon hang all the law and theprophets . And to cover JilfMve with a form of'godlinefs, is the praftice^of thofe who are tver learning, and never able to corr.eto the knowledge of tie truth. Mat. xxii. 37—40. a Tim. iii. 1, 5,7. . Wheji Felix the go vernor fent for a prifoner, and heard him concerning lit faith in . Chrift, the fcene wasfuddenly changed in fuch a manner, that the governor was arretted as a prifoner of divine juftice, by a warrant tvhich was fer-ved (fo to fpeak) by his prifoner. FeKx . felt himfelf unable tp yield thereto, ivhici tkwbtiefs proved his . ruin. Afts-tfxiv, 24-—27. Such inability is fo far from afford- . ing any juft excufe, that itis a foul-damning crime. John iii. £8, |g, and v. 44—47. Chrift fays, if thine eye be evil, thy • nyhole body /hall befull of darkneft,- ; if.tktrtfwt the light that' is in thee be darknefs, how great is: that dqrknejii Mat. Vi. Zf. In . «very dark night glow-worms and box«fir* will fhine tb Aictm- Jiuci ublc diiuiice .; wl.iili in the day -light axe fsund to be nri i. thing
Tie Doftrine of Vniverfal Salvation refuted; ijr v- ..... . -. . tjring but 'dark infers and rotten wood.. And is Relly's fcheme aiiy better ? . ' - \. Truth fays, there is one God, and one mediator between God and. man, the man Chriji Jejus'. I Tim. ii. 5. Man is the offend ing party, land the only way for reconciliation is through this mediator, whom God made Jinfor us, 'who knew no Jin ; that we. might bemdde the righteoufnej's of God in him. 2 Cor. v. 18—21. ,And by bim all that belie-ve are jujiifiedfrom all things, from which* they could not be jujiified by the law of Mofes.. Afts xiii. 39. Hint that believeth on him that jufiifieth the UNGODLY,. HIS faith is counted for ri<rhteoufnefs . Rom. iv. 5. But the faith taught by Relly is oppofite jthereto, in. the effential points following. l». The faith of the gofpel is built upon the. free. mercy of the Father, through the merits of the Son, by the influences of the Holy Spirit ; which is .the only way of accefs jo God. John. xiv. 6. Eph. ii. 18. But Relly fays, " the nature and pro- '' perty of juftice is always its own rule of afting ; and ic f cannot ad'mit of the innocent's being punifhed, nor of the " tranfgreflbr's being acquitted." P.. 4. If fo, then Chrift: could not have Juffered for fins', the juj} for the ur.jujl, that he ' might bring us to God. I Pet. iii. 18. Therefore, 2, the faith. of the gofpel moves the believer totalce all the ftiame to himfelf, and ever to give all the glory of his falvation to God, in praftice as well as pretence. But while Relly pretends to do> lb, he in reality'would have people crucify 'to them/elves the So/t of God afrefh, and put him to an open Jhame. for if juftice can not punifh the innoeent, he would have people treat Jefus as 2 guilty perfon from day to day, fince'he teaches them, as 1 have proved, to turn all the precepts, threatenings and curfes of. fcripture upon him. And, under pretence of afcribing great honor to jefus, Relly mentions Noah, Lo^, Abraham, Sarah,.. Mofes, David, Solomon, apd Job, who are honorably fpokeo. of in fcripture, while ftill their imperfeftions are expofed ; and. fays thereon, " thofe men w. re all types of Jefus, .their cha-^ " rafters figurative of his." P. 53. But left h.e flipuld be ac-' cufed from hence of making their virtues no more than figures^; he fays, " thofe perfons were really what the fcriptures fay. 'f they were, that is, righteous, faithful, meek, liQly, wife,.' '' patient, &c. without any exception; they were fo.in ChriiK" P. 54. That is, as they were imperfeft, they were types of Chrlfti but at tKe fame time they were really perfeft in him ! ' I challenge all Relly's admirers to make any better. fenfe! of hist! words than this if they can ; which is fp oppofite X% the. trutbij that noprieft io-Ifrael, w&6 had any' blemiittiin his birth or per-/ G (on,.
18 Ths Dotttine of Univerfal Salvation refuteii fon, might approach to God's altar. Levit. xxi. 9—23. Nehem. vli. 64, 65. And thofe who offered any creature upon it that was defective, were curfed deceivers. Mai. i. 13, 14. 3. The faith of the gofpel teaches minifteis rightly to divide thetH>ord of truth', and to give each of their hearers their portion of iheat in due feafon. 2 Tim. ii. 15. Luke xii. 42. But Relly, through his whole treatife, takes paffages of icripture which are peculiar to the faints, or the church of God- which he hath chofen out of the world, and applies them to all the human race without diftinftion ; and his main ftrength lies in this confujion, together with an appearance of oppoling many dangerous errors. And fays he, '' where people are taught to diitinguifh between " faints and fmners, and to think themfelves holier than their " neighbours, h is not ftrange that they ufe them ill. — And to " talk of practice, without keeping the whole laiu, is fuch a " deception, where fcripture authority is admitted, yea or " even what reafon fuggefts of the nature of the divine Being, " as cannot be accounted for, but by the pride, bewitchery- " and madnefs, which we are naturally involved in." Pre~ face, p. 13. But one Jhort queffion may turn thefe charafters back uponhim who caft them out ; which is this ; are fouls reconciled to God as his fubj.efts, or not ? While he remains the Sovereign of theUniverfe, no rational foul can eveiithink, fpeak, or aft con trary to his holy law, without contfafting guilt to itfelf; which can only be removed by the atonement of Chrift, applied by the Holy Spirit ; who calls us daily to pray, forgive us our debts,. as iue forgive- our debtors. But Relly fays, " we claim no good '' out of him, nor 'will we acknowledge the evil, forafmuch as- " in him we have been purged.'" P. $y. This may well remind Us of them who fpeak evil of the things which they knoiv not ; but ,what they know naturally as brute beajls ; in thofe things they cor rupt themfelves. Jude 10. Oxen know their owners, and not only come daily to their mailers for food, but alfo do them great fervice ; and fome will come many rods at a call or mo- ' lion, and put their necks under the yoke. A loud reproof to our difobedient fouls. Ifai. i. 3,4. Jer. xxxi. 18— 20. The laft of thefe pafTages plainly opens the way of repentancf, and how mercy is received and enjoyed. Again it is. faid, he that ielieveth not God, hath made him a liqr, becaufe he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. - And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life ; and this life is in his Son. I John v. 10, ir. "'From whence it is plain {fays Relly) that. he •'. who believe^ not, hath eternal life given him in the Son of * •* God,
Ifhe Doflrine of Unherfal Salvation refuted. ip i* God, as fully as him who believeth ; elfe it doth not appear " how he could make God a liar, by not believing ; nor how '" the unbeliever can be eenfured for not believing what was not " true." P. 67. His whole fcheme turns upon this point; therefore let the following things be carefully obferved. .1. That all our righteoufnefs and ftrength is in the Son ; and he that hath the Son, hath life ; and he that hath pat the Son of Godw hath not life. 2. He who hath it, receives it by faith as a. free gift. 3. There are three that bear ivitnefs in earth, the fpirit^ the 'water, and the blood 1— And he that belicveth on the Son of Gal, bath the witnefs in himself.. i John t. 8-*— 12. Where then is the proof that Relly would draw from hence ? Is not he a Kar, in afTerting that eternal life is as fully given to the unbe liever, as to the believer ! Sin is the worit of poifon, andean only be expelled by looking to the antetype of the bra2en fer- .pent ; and it is the fpirit only that enables any to look thereto ; and no other water could remove ftith, or Wood remove gujjt, like the change which is now wrought in the believer. 2 Coriii. 14—18. And the fpirit itfelfbeareth <witnefs 'witb our fpirit t,bat ive are the children of God. But how came any to be fo ? Anfwer, ye 'were the fer'vants offin ; but ye ha-ve obeyed from the ' heart that form of dohrine 'which <was delivered you. Rom. vi. it, and viii. 16. Such are the only perfons that Paul fpeaks to wnen he fays,' reckon ye yourfelves to be dead indeed unto Jin. Rom. vi. 11. Which words Relly applies to fuch as have a full confcioufnefs of the " life and love of fin" in themfelves, p. 49, while he declares thofe to be the difciples of the falfe Chrift, who fay, «.' I am converted, I believe, I bear the fruits of the "fpirit, I have the marks of ^race in me." P. -56. That many fpeak fo, who have not the truth in them, is readily granted; and alfo that great modefly and caution are called for in fuch affairs. Yet God himfelf warns men againft glory ing in their wifdom, might, or riches ; and requires his chil dren to glory in this, that they underftand and know him. Jer. ix, 2.3, 24. 1 Cor. i. 3,1. Relly would be thought to be exceeding evangelical, and for that end he expofes many dark legal things in others ; and yet he was fo oppofite to the gofpel way of falvation, as to declare that God could not love any, but fuch as " he faw in a finlefs " ftate—-as branches hidden in the flock—before their believ- " ing, to render and preferve them objefts worthy of the divine *' lov« and favour." P. 34. This may do for dreamers; but to 'fouls well awake, it is harder to be received than the belief •of txanfubilantiation : for abounded fpirit who can bear? Such
20 the "DoBrlne of Univerfal Salvation refuted. an one could more eafily believe, that what taftes like bread is really flefh and blood, than to believe that God fees him to bd in a finlefs ftate, .worthy of the divine favour. Thofe who thus leach, like the Jewifh lawyers, take away the key of knowledge.. let the ftore be ever fo full of bleffings, if the creature muft fee Something to render him worthy of the divine love before it is opened, thofe who fee fin as it is muft fink in defpair.: But when the foul is brought to know that God hath mercy on whom ire will have mercy ; and has proclaimed the fame to the chief of Jinxers, and that Chrift diedfor his enemies', and while they were Jueh, i Tim. i. 15, 16. Rom. v. 8— 10, this opens a glorious .door of hope.; ; Sin firft came into our world by calling in quef- .tion the verity of God's fayings ; and it has prevailed by the fame means ever fince. Gen. Hi. 1. Deut. xxix. 19. Rom. iii. 4, and xi. 20. More of which we are now to condder in ano ther pamphlet. /. .. .'' ...... . .)• ., ... t .-.... . . .. - '""•"' AnAnfwer toMr.Winchefter. In March, 17&1, we were furpriaed.with a report, that Mr. JUhanan Winchefter, who went from hence the autumn pre-. ceding, had fallen in with Murray's doctrine. ... This report he contradifted in letters to fome of his friends, .which held many 5n fufpenfe about the matter, till he publithed a pamphlet upon ft at Philadelphia in> September. i I foon had a glance of it, x*\t , 3io opportunity deliberately to peruferit till February, ai\l?r which was the firft fight I had of Relly's treatife. ;.By compar ing them together, an eflential difference appears betwixt them, though tending. to much the fame end ;.. for Relly builds upon an imaginary union with Jefus, but Winchefter upon the bene-i volent nature of the Deitytu Relly declares fin. to be an infinite evil, deferving of infinite punifhment ; but Winchefter treats it as a natural,.' and not a.moralevil ; as a calamity rather than a crime. . Relly holds that falvation is already compleat in Chrift, Jo as to exempt men from allfuture punifhment ; but Winchef ter denies the need of Chrift's blood to appeafe any wrath in the DDeity, and holds. it as a medicine to purge away diforders in> Mature, which are fo great as to. require the fufFerings of many Stges before alj will be removed. . Relly rather takes it for grant ed that all men are in. Chrift, . than attempting any fair proof of it ; but Winchefter ftates plain arguments upon it, and anfwers ^bjeclions. Relly's fcheme did not permit him to fpeak of fal vation for devils ; but Winchefter's points thereto. Relly glo ries in his performance as a new difcovery, of which he had not feen the like ;.but Winchefter makes no fuch pretence, it being. 9 collection out of myftic writers ; and indeed it is in nature the a .'.".'.'. fame
fbt DoRrint of XJnlverfal Salvation rtfuiecL 21 fame with the philofophy and 'uain deceit of the fecond and third centuries, which brought on the antichriftian apoftacy. > . Origen, ill the third century, went a ftep further therein than any in our land have yet done, as I have heard of. " En- <' chanted by the charms of the Platonic philofophy, he fet it '' up as the teft of all religion." Said he, " the fource of ''.many evils lies in adhering to the carnal or external part of ?' fcripture. Thofe who do fo, ftiall notatuHjn to the kingdom i( of ood. Let us, therefore, feek. after the fpirit and fub- '.' ftantial fruit pf the word, which are bidden and myfterious. '' The kriptures are of Uttie ufe to thofe who underlland them " a's they are 'written.'" One of the errors that this carried him into was to fay, " that the torments of the damned will have i' an end 5 and that as Chrift has been crucified in this world '' to fave mankind, he is to be crucified in the next to fave '' tne devils*."' From this fource came the doftrine of monke ry, purgatory, prayers for the dead, and all the reft of the corruptions 'and tyrannies of Rome. Well therefore did the apoftle fay, to the ehafte fpoufe of ChriA, 1 fear left by any means, as the ferpent beguiled Eve through his fubttlty, fo your minds fhould be corrupted from the Jimplicity that it in Chrift. 2 Cor. jci. 3. • To admit of a duplicity of meanings in his word, which cannot be learned from what is written, by comparing one place with another, Jpjritual things itiitb fpiritual, raifes fuch ' ptifts and clouds in the minds of men, as intercept between them and the light of truth. And when any are refolved to proceed in that way j difputes with them are as vain as it would be to difpute with clouds carried ah/out of winds, or with raging luaves of the fea,' foaming out their o'wn Jhame. I Cor. ii. 13, 14.- Jude 12, 13. It is alfo forbidden, becaufe it genders ftrifes ; and the fervant of the Lord muft not ftriije, but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meeknefs inftruiling thofe that oppofe them/elves, Scc-i z Tim. ii. 23—26. No "won der then that an infpired apoftle cried, taho it fufficient for thefe things ! May all our eyes be to heaven for direction, while we attempt fomethihg of this nature. Ye Jhall not furely die, faid the ferpent to our mother Eve : Which the Baptift church in Philadelphia publifhed as an ob jection againft Mr. Winchester's fcheme, four months before his pamphlet came out. Yet he pa/Ted it over, till he came near to a clofe, and then faid, " I hardly think that thofe '•' who make this objection think it is any thing to the pur- " pofe." P. 53. And after fome reafoiaing upon it he lays, ' ' . . " now * Mojbeim's Ec'cl, Hift, vol, j ./. 3 1 9, 22J., 47$, Dublin edition,-
S2 Tte QoBrhe of Univerfal Salvation refuted. " now let the candid unbiaffed reader judge, who moft imi- •>' tate the ferpent, thofe who believe and teach that all the " promifes of God fhall be fulfilled as they are fpoken, or thofe " who explain away almoft all their apparent meaning." P. 54.^ This is a proper key, to open the nature of the myllic fcheme. All promifes that fuit them, muft be taken as they are fpoken ; their literal apparent meaning muft be carried beyond any reitri&ions.; and thofe who would explain and limit the fenfe, by the precepts they are connected with, or by the hiftorical-an'd prophetical parts of fcripture, will foon be cenfuredasnot having candid and unbiaffed minds the following fpecimen. Truth fays, 1. In the beginning God treated the heaven and the earth. And the earth was .without form, and void ; and darknefs was upon the face of the deep. Gen. i. j, 2. 2. Through faith we under stand that the worlds were fram ed by the word of God, fo that things which are feen were not made of things -which do appear. Jieb. xi. 3. 3. Let all the earth fear Je hovah; let all the inhabi tants of the world ftand in awe of him : For he fpake, and it was done ; he commanded, and jt flood faft. He ftretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon ' nothing. PfaJm xxxiii. &, 9. -Job xxvi. 7. 4. I am Jehovah, and there is none elfe. I form the light, and create darknefs ; I make peace, and create evil; I Je hovah do all ihefe; things. Ifai. xlv. 0, 7. Of this the reader may take Winchefter fay«, 1. When Elohim manifefted natnre at firft, it was pure., tranfparent, heavenly fubftantiality, defcribed as zfea ofglaft mingled with fire ; into which. all matter muft finally return, -through various proceffes of re finement. P. 4. 2. Out of this nature God created hofts of angels. —They were glorious images of the Dei ty—manifefted in nature, by the threefold properties of fire, light, andfpirit.. P. 4. 3. Lucifer, turning hisftrong will towards the firft properties of life, awakened wrath in na ture ; and found himfelf Ihut up in his own chains of dark nefs, together with his legions, who joined with him in his re-r hellion. P. 4. 4. Thus we can account for the earth being without form, and void ; and darknefs cover ing the deep ; a ftate which had nopojfi&ilityofexi&etice, till the fall of angels had introduced it into thsir kingdom. P. 4. Truth Y
fbe Definite of Univerfal Salvatiin refuted. z$ Truth fays, 5. And the Lord God form ed man of the duji of the ground, and breathed into hk noftrils the breath. of life. The firft man was of the earth, earthy. Gen. ii. 7. 1 Cor. xv. 47. 6. Male and female created he them ; and God blefled them, and faid unto them be fruitful, and multiply, and replenifh the earth. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not afhamed. Gen. i. 27, 28, and ii.^25. 7. Out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree—the tree of life alfo—and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Gen. ii. 9. 8 . Of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou malt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eateft thereof, thou fhalt furely die. Gen.i. 17. 9. Marriage is honorable in allj and the bed undefiled ; but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. Take heed to your fpirit, and let none deal treacheroufly againft the wife of his youth. Heb. xiLL 4.. Mai. ii. 15. 10. God worketh all things after the counfel of his cwn will. Why doft thou ftrive againft him ? for he giveth not account of any of hit matters. Winchefter fays, 5. As his foul was pure, fa was his body—luminous, agile, fpiritual, as therefurrection bo dies fhall be. Fire could not burn, no* water drown him. P. j. 6. The pure virgin of the wifdom of God, that was the wife of his youth, from whcm by his fall he was feparated. —"-He mould have fet his will- entirely towards the divine virgin, and not have lufted af ter the animal life. P. 5.6. 7.' Strong lufting, by virtue of the great power Adam had over the earth—brought forth the tree of death. P. 6. 8. No fooner had this tree fprung up, but the merciful God gave him warning of it, charging him not to touch it. P. 6. 9. To prevent (if poffible) his falling into the bealHal life, or in cafe of the completion of his fall, to provide a remedy, God feparated the female part from him, and formed a wo man. P. 6. 10. His trial was- not arii. frarSr'/pinlpofed by God.:—After fetting before them the ftate into which they had fallen, and the confequences, which were inevitable, and not arjitrarily denounced ; he proceed ed to this—/ will put enmity,. -. Ac. P. w Trutfc
2^ ?ht Dclirine of Univtrfal Salvation refuted. Truth fays, .. . - -. Winchefter fays,- 11. I to/// have mercy on ii. Here we fee there is no. whom I 'wiil have mercy, and thing arbitrary ; all is natural I will have compaffion on throughout the whole proceis •' whom 1 will. have compaffion. nothing can rife up but accord- My counfel fhall ftand, and I ing tothe pojjibilities of nature. -quill do all my pledfure. Rom. —Punifhment is never.an arbiixv i c". Ifai. xlvi. 10. trary infliction upon the fiuner. V'- ; l*-9, 16. :.•. ., : ... . ~iz. The wrath of Gbd is iz. Fury, wrath, or anger < revealed from heaven againft can never dwell in the fountain all ungodlinefs, and unrighte- of love, but are only to be found oufnefs of men, who h'qld the in fallen nature. feparated from truth in unrighteoufnefs. Rom.i. the life of God. P. 3. 18. _ . , , ;. v- - - ;. How could any man talk at tKis rate, who pretended to regard" the truth of fcripture, if he was not involved in a .great mift of darknefs ! And fince his defign led him to. fay fo much about the; original of things irt general, and of 'darknefs in particular, a few queftions that God once put to a betrer man than he is, call for his notice. Says God, Who is this that da'rkeneth counfel, by WORDS WITHOVT KNOWLEDGE"! Where waft 'tbou when I laid the foundations of the earth ? declare, if thou ~ha.fl uiiderfianding. Where is the --way where light dwelteth ? and as fir darknefs, where is the place thereof? Job xxxviii. 2— 19. Such queftions ! brought Job to cry, / abbormyjelf,. and repent in duft and ajhcs. And may the writer before us foon meet with fo happy a change ! To promote which, or if not, to hold up light to others, I fhall attempt briefly anC*plainly to explain the nature of this myftery of iniquity. Son* may think that what he has written is fo abfiird, that it defeiVes no notice ; and did all fee the fame as it is; I fhould be of their mind. But the cafe is far otherwifp * The turning points in both of thefe pamphlets have caufed the greateft controverfies that the world or the church hive ever * been perplexed with. / The word arbitrary fignifies " whatever depends upon one's ' - *' own will and pleafure, any thing that may be done without. " giving an account of to another*." And for men to affiime fuchv apoweroneoveranother,is veiyodious and pernicious; andwhy? becaufe darknefs and corruption prevail moft terribly -in fallen "■ nature. Fury, wrath and anger, make moft horrid work in the world ; and the' ruling powers of the earth have often a£ted more like beafts than men,- for thefe fifteen hundred years \ yea .* Pj/tki'i Diftiinarj, at the wrd arbitrary.
foe Boftrine of Umverjat Salv'Alioii refutidt m$ yea, like the worfl fort of beafts ; leopards, bears, and lions; Rev. xiii. S.~ And who cah think of attributing any thing of like nature liriro God ! Our feeble minds fhrink away, and would rather -believe almoft any thing elfe, than to entertain fucli thoughts within us. How can a Being of infinite goodnefs and love make any creature, who mail be miserable without end i How can any, who receive great favours from the mediation and merits of Chrift, be eternally loft? And how can it be j u It with God to damn men forever for not believing his gofpel^ when Adam in innocency could have no idea of atonement for the guilty, or clearifihg for the filthy r Rather than anfwer either of thefe questions in the affirmative, men will rack tHcuj invention, and ftrain their thinking powers to fuch a decree; that, like our (training our fight by looking upon the fun, we cannot fee the plained objefts. This is often the cafe with inyflic writers, and is very confpicuous in Mr. Wincheffer. And, while he has broken himfelf againft the rock moft terribly, many.ferions perfons feel a trembling about the matter, not knowing what will be the confequence. Having read his text, which is Geh. Hi. iij, he fays, " thefe " words cohtain the firft opening of the glorious gofpel day t6 " poor loft man.—In order to have proper ideas of the glorious " Deity, we muft confider him as a Beihg pofTefTed of infinite " wifdom, power, and goodnefs." But immediately goes o1i to deny that fiiry, Wrath, or anger, could ever dwell in him j for, fays he, " wherever fury is found, felfifhnefs, envy and '' pride, are joined therewith : Thefe are the four fclements of " hell, or fallen nature; and mutually generate each other.'* P. 3. All this is in ohe page, at his beginning. But as we muft look cautioufly towards the fun, if we would enjoy its light arid benefits, iriftead of being fo hafty iii determining .what is not iri God, let us look a little into ourfelves. Is it poffible for a man to love his wife; . children Or friends, with out hating the wretch that would murder them ? And is ic poffible for any foul to love truth and goodnefs, without hating deceit and cruelty? And are not love and hatred afts of will? And when we are enabled to accomplifh any work we engages in, are we not pleafed with it ? Yea, and if the work be right, is it not right to be pleafed with it ? And, if wicked wretches oppofe what is right, is it not right to hate fuch oppofition ? How then could a man read thofe words of God, / *&>ill put enfnity, and then go on and afifert four time3 over in his fermoni that there was nothing arbitrary, that is, nothing of tu'ill of fltafure in the whole affair ! Adam's trial was hot arbitrary, the threatening was not arbitraryj the remedy was hot arbitrary* D mi
3$ $ht Doflrint of Univerfal Salvation refuttL and punifhment upon finners is not arbitrary ! Immediately; after the laft of thefe aflertions., he fays, " Oh, would they ""confide? that the fcripture never reprefents the atonement *' of Chrift, as intended to quench or put out a wrath that was " rifen in the Deity ; but to break the power of death in us, *' and to overcome the wrath of fallen nature ; to raife a new *' life in our fouls, and to bring both fallen nature and creatures " back jnto their firft ftate of purity and perfeftion." To confirm which he {ays, " it was evident when out Saviour- 5' died, that his blood had a phyfical power over nature, by the \\ effefts it produced, in caufing the earth to fhake, the rocks '' to rend, and the graves to open." - P. 16. Before this he had mentioned our Saviour's warning againft deceivers, who cried., lo, here, or- lo, there. Luke xvii. 20, 21. Upon which Winchefter fays, "here Chrift himfelf called the Pha- '' rifees to behold, that the kingdom of God was within them ; *' and if within thofe, who are elfewhere called ferpents and ?' vipers, and threatened with the damnation of hell, then cer- *' tainly in all mankind. This divine feed is the only begin- '' ning and poffibility of a new life ; and unlefs the means of *' grace can reach that hidden fpark, they can do us no good. " And it is alfo certain, that unjefs there was a feed hidden in; '' our fouls, capable of bsing raifed up by the power and at- " traftion of Chrift, nothing from .without could take any '' effect upon us, or raife up the di'vint life in us, any more *' than the fun, air and water, of this world, could caufe a *' flint to vegetate like a corn of wheat, or any other feed." P. 8, 9. He is fo far frorn denying that God has a will, that he fays he "continually manifefts a will of infinite goodnefa- *' towards all his creatures, according to their various circum- *'• fiances ; feeking their recovery and compleat reiteration.'* t. 3. Without which he fays, " the good news which Chrift " commanded to be preached to every creature is mockery, . *' infult, and infincerity." P. 17. Here is a lively fpecimen of myftic philofcphy, and myftic di vinity. And it has two things in it, that are very charming to many. One is, that it is calculated to guard againft thinking that either God or man aft with bad defigns towards each other. The other is, that it raifes a hope that they will all be reconciled, and come into perfeft agreement and happinefs at laft ; notwithftanding very bad things have inevitably interrupted their peace, and made dreadful works between them, which are not likely to be all removed for many ages to come. If fo great a good can be obtained, who would not exert all his powers to promote U, and to guard againft things (hat, conttadift. it, and would obftr-uct
%be Dottrim of Univerfal Salvation refuted, rj •firuft it ? As I take it, thefe are the principal caufes for the :j>rev%lence of that fyftetn in the world, for folong a time, and ;to fo great a degree ; and alfo why thofe who appear againft it are called noify curs, and by .many other hard names. But when men have done their beft, and done their worft, one great difficulty has Hill lain in their way, which they never could re- .move, and it is not likely that they ever will. And that is, that God has faid, / <will put enmity between the t<wo feeds ; and there .it remains, Jn fji.ch a fixed manner, that the labours of near fix thoufand years have not removed it, nor brought the two parties a whit nearer together than they were when the war began. Neither is it within my power to believe, that the .«nmity will ever be removed to eternity. And I think that Paul was of the fame mind. Rom. ixj 13 —23. And it ap pears that the fame objeftions were then made againft his doc trine, as are often made in this day ; which all centre to this point, 'why doth he yet find fault ? for viho hath ever refifted his 'will?' If he doth his will and pleafure through the univerfe, and is not obliged to give us any better reafon therefor than becaufe fo it feemed good in his fight, Mat. xi. 26,' then why does .he find fault with any for ailing as they pleafe ? Since thefe things have perplexed the greater! minds, and pu22led the j*reateft capacities upon earth, it certainly becomes fo poor a creature as the writer is_^p proceed with great reverence and caution. In the firft place I take notice,- that the arguments upon this fublime fubjeft are generally from the lefs againji the greater ; but that there have been a few in tvery age, who have argued •from the lefs to thegreater ; and the latter appears the prefera ble way to me, efpecially when I fee what approbation my Saviour gave to it. When he was perfonally upon earth, a .Roman captain had a fervant that was dear to him, who was ..taken fick ; therefore the captain fent to Jefus for his help, which he was ready to grant ; upon information whereof the captain rent again, faying. Lord, trouble not thyfelf, for I ant not 'worthy that thou Jhouldefl enter under my roof, Wherefore nei ther thought I myfelf worthy to come unto thee ; But fay in a word* and my fervant Jball be healed. Ear I alfo am a man fet under authority, having under me foldiers, and I fay unto one% go, and begoeth; a?id to another, come, and he cometh ; and to my fervant, do this, and he doth it. Lukevii. 6—8. Now it appears to me that the captain, Hke other rational men, received the thinking reafoning faculty in a natural way ; but I am perfuaded that he Thad not fo much as the feed of this way of reafoning, till it was given him /run faye, Aad the foregoing treatife of Mr. Relly confirms ... ---«tBar
*8 7"be DoSrine cf Unherfal Salvation refuted. confirms this fentiment ; fince, as has been obferved, after all his high notions of union, he denies the poffibility of God's loving any but fuch as he faw worthy of it. If fo, the Roman captain could not have been highly commended by Jefus, for twice over denying that himfelf was worthy of God's free fa vours. And I remember that a perfon of good credit in old times faid, O Lord, I know that the way of mart is not m him self. Jer. x. 23. And that another, by good authority, called the finner to forfake his way and thoughts, and to turn to him, whofe thoughts and ways are as high abo'ue ours, as the heavens are above the earth. Ifai. lv. 7—9. And, if J miftake not, the very nature of faith carries us off from telf, to the truth of another ; from trufting in an arjn of flefh, to truft wholly in the Lord. And perfons of a contrary charafter fee not when good cometk. Jer. xvii. c, 6. . This was the cafe with the Pharifees. Though they were at the head of the only church of God then in the world,' yet thejr were ready to liflen to the lo, here, or lo, there, of deceivers', at the time when the promifed Meffiah was within them ; or in the midft of them, as others render the words. He was then >vithin that church, perfectly pbeying all the laws which God had given to it, and fulfilling the prophecies concerning him". By his kingly power he daily cau fed the blind to fee, the lame to walk, lepers to become clean, the deaf to hear, the dead to live, and ' the poor to have the gofpel preached to them. AH which gave offence to thdfe who imagined that they had an inhe rent power to walk to the temple, to cleanfe themfelves, to hear and live. Ma(. xi. 3— 19. . If the feed fpoken pf in the firft promife of falvation, meant any intelleftual power in every' plan, no reafon can be given for its being called the feed of the woman, the weaker veffel. But when we fee Jefus, who was born of a virgin, without the knowledge of man, the words appear full of important meaning. To prepare his way in ITrael, allftejh was cried down as fading grafs ; yea, as lefs than nothing, and 'vanity, before him. And Peter affures us, that fouls are born again of this feed. Ifai. xl. 6— 17. . 1 Pet. i. 33—25. The change is wrought by receiving with meeknefs the ingrafted word. James i. 21. Each metaphor befpeaks and yital union with the truth we were Hangers to before*. And \t- might as well be argued, that a woman may bear children without the knowledge of man, or that a rich foil can bear wheat without fowing any therein, as that any foul can be faved * Reify feemt to be fond of the Jimilitude cf the vine and lit tranches} tut his ideas rofe no higher than " nttivt tranches.'*
<tbt Bolfrine of Vniverfal Salvation refitted. t$ faved without fupernatural revelation. The angels of light faw much more of vjod, after he was manifeft in the fiejh, than they ever did before. I Tim. iii. 16. Eph. iii. 10, II. What madnefs muft it then be in fallen men, 'to fet up reafon againft the word of God ! But, I. How can it be, that a God of infinite love fliould giv« exiftence to any creatures who mall be miferablc without end ? ' If any afk this queftion without due fear and reverence, let them turn and conftder how they can anfwer God's queftion? to them. Ifai. xl. 12-—28. Rom. ix. 20—23. The command is, let all things be done decently and in order ; but this word has often been perverted, to promote the greateft diforders upon earth. Glafs is the Left medium we have to let light into our dwellings, and fire will penetrate into rocks, and break them to pieces. Therefore theie metaphors are made ufe of to reprefent the excellency of the word of God. 2 Cor. iii. 18, and iv. 2—4.. Jer. xxiii. 2g. Wnen the earth intercepts between 'fas and the' fun, it is dark in our windows, as well as elfewhere. And fnch is the effeft, when human inventions, or any earthly objeft, gets between our fouls and the Son of righteoufnefs. ' The number of the beail is the number ofa man ; and John faw as it were a fea of glafs mingled with fire ; and thofe who had gotten a compleat victory over that number (land ing thereon, bavin? the harps of God. And they fing the fong of Mofes, lawgiver to Ifrael, and the fong of the Lamb, who is our lawgiverj judge,- and king. Rev. xiii. 18, and xv. 2, 3. Ifai. xxxiii. 22. " As it were, plainly Ihews that the words are to be taken in a figurative fenffi ; but the myftics take them literally, for the matter that angels and men were made out of! This confounding of matter and mind together, is no little part pf myjlery Babylon. Though a ftill more horrid part is, their (enfounding of creatures with their Creator ! Fire, light, and animal fpirits, are all objefts of fenfe : Yet the myftics afiert, that they are ' images 6i the Triune God. P. 4. This is fo oppofite to truth, that he faid to Ifrael, ye faw no manner of Jimilitude on the day that the Lord fpake unto you in Horeb, tut of tht P. 22. Whertas 'uje can have no good hope through grace, without being ingrafted contrary to nature, fo as to ftand by faith. Rom. xi. 20, 24. No branch can grow and befruitful, but by union and communion with the vine ; emd Chrift affures us bow that is, for, fays he, if ye keep my commandments, ye mall abide ia jay love ; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. This is holding the head. Prefeffors of e contrary character will be cajl into the fames, Jfoi, XXYUt A~~HI, John XY,^, 19, Ctf, lit 10» 19*
30 The Bcftrinz of Univerfal Salvation refuted. the midji of the fire ; take heed therefore left ye corrupt yourfelvet. Seut. iv. 15, 16. Yet men, even to this day, are bewitched with fuch corruptions. The conceit that divine rwifidom was Adam's firft wife, and that meats and a woman were afterwards given him to'fatisfy his lufts, and to prevent worfe evils, car ried many gloomy heads, in eaftern .climes, away from human /bciety, and the duties thereof, into folitar.y places, in fearch after that wifdem. By degrees this was improved into nunueries, celibacy of the clergy, and thei.r arbitrary prohibition of meats— Canons which were often difpenfed with for mor ney ; and meats and women were allowedf of, to prevent worfe evils. Thus many departedfront thefaith, giving heed to feducing fpirits, and doclrines of devils ; fpeaking lies inhypocrify, having their confidence fieared with a hot iron : Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abftain from meats, 'which God hath created to bje received with thankfigiving of them who believe and know the truth. 1 Tim. iv. i —"3. A fpirit can think, fpealc and - aft ; and the aftions or .works of God are evidently intended by his backjarts, which ^re plainly feen by believers, though no man can fee his fact and live. Exod. xxxiii. 20—-23. When a creature's thoughts, -wcrds and aftions, exaftly agree together, he exhibits the brighteft image of God that we know of; but to talk one thing, while they think and aft the reverfe, is precifely the image of the devil. A notable inftance hereof appears in a company from Europe, with a woman at their head, who began openly two years ago £0 propagate the above doSrine of devils in the bounty of Albany, with great power, figns, atid lying wonders. 2 Then". ii. f— 12. They prevailed fo far thereby laft fummer., is to' make their head-quarters at Harvard, in Worcefter county, at a houfe where Shadrach Ireland had been at the head of- a like del ufion for many years before. The doftrine, both 'of Balaam and Je2ebel, was to draw people into fenfuality, and worlhip objefts of fenfe. To fieduce my fiervants, lays Jefus, to commit 'formication, and to eat things fiacrificed unto idol's.' Rev. ii. 14—-20. The reafon why God has fo exaftly clefcribed thefe, and all other events, in' his word, even from the beginning of time, is this, fays he, becaufie I knew thee that thou waft cbftinate,-and thy neck an iron fitnevi , and thy brow brafis. -Left thai.fibouldeftfiay , mine idol hath done them, &c. Ifai.xlviii. 4, 5. Jn general their' idols are their own inventions. Some have geciit for their god, others their belly ; and, to eafe their con- £cieaCeS, many have their idol fibepherds ; truft other men to fee ibrthem. Eph. v»'$. - Phil. iii. 19. Zech. xi. x(>., 17. And ihe farjhsit that human invention sould ever so in this refpeft..."; ....•'' W
Tbe "Doftrm of Univerfal Salvation refttftS. 31 Was to facrifice theirfins and their daughters unto devils I Pfalm cvi. 35—39. Mic. vi. 7. And it is a mean piece of difhonefty for any to fteal a finer drefs than this for human wifdom, from the divine oracles, and then to ufe the fame againft the infallible inspiration of the book they took it from. Thefe things being premifed, I come to offer a diredt anfwer to the above queftioni As the powers of thinking and choice are efiential to all im mortal fpirits, they maft neceflarily defire the knowledge and enjoyment of the beft good; and as all finite knowledge is boundr ed by certain limits, they would ever be liable to err, if they had not fome fufficient guard againft it. And the beft guard which we can conceive of, is to have the infinite excellency of all God's perfeftions difplayed before us in the cleareft light, fo as fully to demonftrate, that every defirable good is to be en joyed in the way of obedience ; and that difobedience to him is infinitely hateful and dreadful. The more deeply thefe ideasare fixed, and the ftronger the perfuafion is that he cannot err, and that all his requirements are holy, juft and good, the more earneft will be the defire to know and do his will continually. Mutual efteem and confidence conftitute the ftrength and happinefs of any community. Delufion has often done much this way ; but what difcord and refentment has enfued, when the deceit has been dete&ed ! Who then can tell how ftrong the bond of peace is, where a full aflurance is granted of eternal fecurity againft any fuch thing ! As I take it, all the facred volume, and every event that has ever happened in the univerfe. have been ordered fo by infinite wifdom, as forever to fix thefe ideas in every believing mind, and the endlefs torments of the wicked anfwer the feme end; and reafon moft furely teaches, that none could defire to break God's laws, or to negleft hisgrace, if they did not imagine to get fome good, or to avoid fome prefent evil, by fo doing. 2. Since Adam in innocency could have no idea of atonement Jbr the guilty, or cleanfing for the filthy, how can his fallen? children be juftly damned for not believing the gofpel f Anfwer, divine revelation: was the only means whereby Adam knaw that he ought not to eat of the forbidden tree ; and nothing is7 more contrary to the law of fupreme love to God, than a difbelief of his teftimony. And in every nation where his gofpel has come, he has given Sufficient witnefles of its verity ; and if we receive the witnefs of men, the witnefs of God is infinitely greater* His witnefles, it is true, have long prophefied in fsckcloth ; that is, men and devils have caft a dilagreeable covering over them ; but I truft the time is haftening, when it mail be taken entirely off. Permit me therefore to make a little attempt towards fo de&abl* ^
%t Ttt BoBrint of UHiverfat Salvation refuted: defirable an end. Though many pretend that the dottrine of the Trinity is iuch as we can have no intelligible ideas of; yet believers know the contrary. For, take away the fucceffion of time, and the mode wherein earthly relations commence, which have no place in the Deity, and we may eafily conceive of a Father and Son perfeftly equal in capacity and excellency, with fuch an onenefs in nature, and peculiarity of relation, as no Others have ; and alfo that they have their breath or fpirit bjr which they aft. And when the Jews pretended that Jefus had but one witnefsj which is not a futficient proof in law, he an- 'fwexed them, by appealing to the tuorks done by him and his Father, which demonftrated his divine million ; and which were done for this end, that all men Jhould honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. John v. 17—37.. Thofe works were all effe&ed by the Holy Spirit, which 1 take to be the reafon.why thofe who, againft light, with a defpitefiil mind, afcribed his good -ivorks to a had cau/e, could never have forgivenefs, neither in this world nor in the world to come. Mat. xii. 24—3-2. Heb. x. 29, which, by the way, is a moft explicit teitimony againft the conceit of univerial falvation. Witneffes are to prove points that axe difputed ; and ever Jirice the ferpent beguiled Eve, the greateft conteft has been upon thefe two points, viz. whether all that God fays is true? or if true, how it can be equal? Now the cleared light which has ever been held up in this dark world about thefe matters, has been in. and by the church of God, reprefented in the old teftament by one candleftick, and in the new teftament by two. The twelve patriarchs conftituted the firft, and the twelve apoftles the other ; and both incorporated together feem to be intended by the twenty-four elders ; as the four beafts or living creatures mean their minifters in the four quarters of the earth. This united candleftick ftands upon the holy writings ; and the apoftles appear to be put firft, becaufe they explain the pro phets ; which order appears both in the firft building of thd Chriftian church, and alfo in her triumph over myftery Baby lon. Ep. ii. 20. Rev. xviii. 20. The veil that Babylon has drawn over the nations, has been principally by darkening the truth with old teftament figures, inftead of explaining them by new teftament light. That none can fee Chrift's kingdom without regeneration, and that no ftriving about who fhail be greateft can be allowed of therein, are two of the moft eflential articles in his kingdom. Every thing therefore of a contrary nature, which any have called religion, has been a veil and covering over the nations, to fhut out the light of truth. The Father's love is as free as water, and as beneficial too ; and the obedience
tie Doffritu of thiverfttl Salvation refuted.. 33 obedience and blood of the Son demonftrate that it flows to men in a way of perfeft truth and equity ; and it is the Holy Ghoft that difcovers and communicates thefe infinite bleffings ; thefe I take to be intended by the three witnefles in ;i John v. 8. And the works of the Father and the Son, wrought by the Holy Ghoft, I ^believe are intended by the two witnefles, and the golden oil, which they empty into the church out of them/elves. For it is not by might, nor by power, but by my S.p I e I T , faith the Lord of hofts. Zech. iv. 3— 14. Rev. xi. 3— 19. And every unbelievers?™'-^* againft, and refifts this fpirit ; for which therefore the finally impenitent will juftly be damned. Gen. vi. 3. Afts vii. 51. For, fays God, thy holdfaft deceit, they refufe to return. through deceit they refufe to foiozv me. Jer. viii. 5, and ix. 6. They love darknefs rather than ligHt. And when a regard to truth and equity is entirely fliut out by men in power, the witnefles appear to be killed. Ifai. lix. 8. 3. But how can any perifh who have received great benefits by Chrift's mediation and merits ? Can he Jofe any that he has bought f 2 Pet. ii. J. This is a text that Mr. Winchefter lays ftrefs upon. P. 32. But let him remember that the fame word is uied in the pro phetic fong of Mofes, concerning fome who did not efcape divine 'vengeance, which Paul applies to fuch as fin tailfully andfpitefully, af ter receiving the kno-wledge of the truth, Sec. Deut. xxxii. 6,3j.'Heb. x. 26-^-29- And thofe whom Godfaved out of Egypt,. and yet af terward deftroyed for their unbelief, are named as a leading evidence againft men who turn grace into lafcivioufnefs. Judej. Indeed' what good is there in this lower world which does not come by the mediation and merits of Chrift'? By fin every favour was forfeited, and he is the Saviour ofail men, efpecially of thofe that believe. 1 Tint. fv.ro. The rock which all Ifrael drank: of was Ohrift. 1 Cor. x. 4-, 5. And- it was the fpirit of Chrift that preached- in Noah, when the long fuffering of God waited upon the old world j who wexefpi* rits in prifon, when Peter wrote his firft epiftle. 1 Peti i. 1 1, and iii. 19, 20. Which words were perverted by antichrift, to prove the doftrine of purgatory, and are now brought' to prove general falvation. But Chrift aflures us, that if any one is not recon ciled before h.e be caftL into prifon, he flial'l by no means come out thence, till h^ has paid the uttermoftfarthing. Mat. v. 25, 26. Com* mon falvations to all, as well as fpecial ones to believers, are all from Chrift j and to conceit that the former are to be looked for elfewhere, has ruined multitudes. We are warned againft oppofttion of fcience, falfely fo called. The conceit, that fcience for time, and fcience for eternity, are oppofite things, is a rnoft fatal delufion. 1 Tim. iv. 7-^9, and vi. i-^-2i . Do not err, my beloved brethren, every good gift comes from the Father of lights. Jam. i. 16, 17, and iv. 1 3—^-17. Theprince of darknefs could not touch a hoof of Job's cattle, .nor of theGadarenesfwine, without divine pertniffion ; and that was; exa&ly limited, and aifo ov«r-ruled for great good. E Job
^4 f%e Doflrfoe of Unherfal Salvation refuted. Job i. lb, \z, and xlii. 10—12. Luke viii. 32—39. What fools then are all they who yield to deceit and cruelty (which is worftiipping the devil) topbtain any earthly good ! In the fecond and third centuries he prevailed with Chriftian teachers to adopt it as a max im, that it was a virtue to deciive and tie for a good end. And in the fourth century Conflantine was drawn into this fcheme ; when they added, that it was a virtue to inflift temporal penalties, andcori j>oral tortures, for the fame end. And- this veil has been fpread over the nations ever fince. Indeed it would have fpoiled the deiign, to have proclaimed it to all the people. Much pains were iaken to keep it as a fecret, .betwixt civil and religious officers. 33ut the terrible makings that have lately taken place, in earthly ilates,. and religious communities, havedifcovered this deceit, and caufed mens hearts to fail them. For if a man may lie for a good end, he muft neceffarily be the judge of that end ; therefore when it as perceived that he acts upon fuch a principle, others never know when to believe' him, nor how to truflr him." And what diftrefj 4oes this now caufe through the world ! This leads me to a glo rious promifeji which Mr. Winchefter builds much upon, in his arguments againft us, vi2. death Jball be fwallowed up in •viclory. . God being the fountain of life, the firft fenfe of the word death is lofs of union and communion with him. ' Three points are moii ilrongly affertedof his chara&er/ which are, that it is 'impojjiblc for jhim to lie, to\ deny him/elf, or to entice any into fin. 2 Tim. ii. 13^ Heb. vi. 18. James i. 13.' Every thing that happens of this nature proceeds from.fallen angels, and fallen men,' who are much alike.' The fecond fenfe of the word death is the difiblution of our bo dies, including the means of it,' as' diforders in ourfelves," and vio lence from others. . Murder and lying form the chaj-adter of the devil and his children. John viii. 44. And the infliftion of juft punifhanent therefor, compleats the full fenfe^of thofe dreadful terms, death and hell, as they are ufed in fcripture. And die indulgence cf known deceit and cruelty appears to be the covenant with death, and agreement With hell, that fcornful men in power have often imagined to fecure thenrfeives by. Such have frequently' treated the warnings of truth with mockery ; and thereby the bands of many Jiave been madefirong. They reafon thus, is not the Lord among us ?x none e'vil can come upon us. From a negative proportion they form a pofitive conclusion. For any foul to profefs that Chrift is in him', and that he has the ivitne/s of it in himfelf, this they cannot endure^ and why f beoaufe, if that be neceffary and attainable, I am con-" demned without it, ind in neglecYof it. Self-defence, therefore, moves them to. oppofi* fuch things, and to fay, when the overflowing Jcourge Jhall. pafs through, it Jhall not come unto us. But God has promifed to 'eltabliih the mountain of his houfe above all fuch pow ers, apd to make a glorious feaft there. Even a feaft which fhall faufe. many nations to flow thereto, as freely as the waters ever >.' • * '" - .•....• ran^
The Dotirine of Uhiverfal Salvation refuted^ 3$ ran ; with this language, come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the houfe of the God of Jacob, and he will teach ut of hi a 'ways, find vie 'will 'walk in his paths. The effeft whereof will be the turning of fwofds into inftruments of agriculture, and bringing wars -to an end. The cowering and 'veil over the nations (hall be deftroyed, and deathfwillo'wed up in viBory. I John ii. 21 , and iii. 14. Prov. viii. 36. Ifai. xxv. 6, 7, and xxviii. 14—22. Micah iii. ii, and iv. 1—5. The only lawful ufe of the fword before is to defend the injured againft thofe who would hurt or defray. Ifai. xi. 9, 16. Rom. xiii. 1 —-io.; To the redeemed death will then be entirely fwallowed up ; their enemies all be difarmed and fubdued„ arid their forrows turned into joy. Mai. iv. i —3. 1 Cor. xv. 54—58. But zt the fame time God will lay judgment to the line,. and righteoufnefs to the plummet, in fuch a manner, that impeni tent febrners will have neither covering nor reft , but a perpetual 'vexation, only to underftand the report. Which report plainly intend* the gofpel that they rejefted. Ifai. Iiii. 1.' Rom. x. 16. ViBory and triumph mean honor and joy to the viftors ; but when were the words ever ufed, either for the annihilation of for the happinefs of all enemies ? Can fuch a fenfe of thofe terms be found iit language ? If not; it is arbitrary with a witnefs to impofe fuch a; fenfe upon the word of God: See 2 Cor. ii. 1 4— 17. Col. ii. 15- Pfaliri xlvii. i—3, and lxviii. 18. If Ifai. xxviii. 14—22, be com pared with Mat. vii. 24—27, it appears, that while believers who hear Chri&'s fayings, and do theni, will enjoy eternal fecurity, all that are of the oppofite charafter will be overthrown by the ftorm. . • The mifery of fallen men lies greatly in this ; they firft fet up> ihe idol in their heart, and then come to enquire of God. This: was the error of Balaafrt. But if we were willing to learn of Jefus, fcnd to do his fayings ; to take all our ideas from the word of truthi arid to a&^accordingly, how happy mould we be ? Chrift calls ust 'this ddy to ii>ork, as much as ever Mofes did ; but the latter ftipulates the price for it i the other profnifes the foul that it fhall receive 'ivhat is right, he belrig the judge. Debt is a reward proitiifed for & certain fervice ; and which "may be claimed when the fefvice is performed, whatever difference there may be in value betwixt the fervice and the reward. God, as the moral Governor of the world;. fiever fails to pay all his debts ; that is, to reward every one for any fervice that is in any fenfe good ; but matt would claim more^ and, like Cain, are often filled with wrath, becaufe others are accepted and they not. But iri the great day he will flop every mouth with this queftion ; Is ii not lawfulfor me to do 'what I twill with mine tnun ? Is thine eyecvil, hecaiife I dm good ? Mat. xx. 1— 16. All the conteft turns upon that point. To name fuch a thing as his chofen, or his eleB, as intending a certain number of the humaa race that he will fave, while he inflifts deferved pnnifhment upon $he reft, this many cannot endure j and why? becaufe if his will, his
j6 y&e Doflrine of Univerfal Salvation refuted. his choice, muft determine the whole matter, it is infinitely dan gerous for me to let up my will againft him. And it is alfo certain from hence, that if I do to, I cannot poflibly fucceed ; and when I am entirely defeated, it will lie wholly with him whether he will Jhew me any mercy or not. Dreadful thought ! Who can bear it ! Any thing muft be liilened to rather than this. In July, 1780, I' heard Mr. Winchefter preach in Bofton, from Rom. x. 4 ; when he fpake againft univerfal falvation, and obferved, that if men ran to fuch horrid extravagances as they did, in times when it was not difputed but that fuch as died in fin would have endlefs mifery, what would they do if they were taught that every one Ihould finally be faved r Among the many obje&ions that he has now attempted to anfwer, I think 4ie has parted this over in filence, which is no clear proof that he thought it could be anfwered. But if God iscontinually feeking to make every creature happy, jwhy does he not do it ? If obftrudtions thereto have arofe that he did not fqrefee, where was his wifdom ? If he forefaw them, and could not prevent them, where was'his power ? And if he could have prevented them, and did not, where was his goodnefs ? A fair- anfwer to thefe queftions will fettle the whole controversy. A clear right to property, and a good right to govern, are two: very plain ideas. And it is alfo well known, that property cannot be holden, nor government maintained, without lbme token of acknowledgment is paid, by the tenant and the fubjeft. For this token from Adam, God referved but one tree to himfelf ; therefore by eating of it man rebelled againft heaven, and fei2ed upon the earth for his own. And when God had ufed fuch other methods as he pleafed, he fent his only begotten Son, to demand his due ; but the tenants faid, this is the heir, come let us kill him, and let us feize on bis- inheritance. Mat. xxi.. 38. And the fame difpolition of rob bery and violence is vifible through the world to this day. And flow it is openly declared, that God did not ait arbitrarily in thofe affairs. If he could have had his own will and pleafure, he would never have put man to fuch a trial ; and does not arbitrarily inflifit punifhment upon him, poor creature, now he has fallen, and has tot into fuch a terrible labyrinth ! However, he intends yet to eliver him before he quits his purfuit, though it will be " ages of ages before the work is perfe&ed !" If this does not difcover an infinite malignity in fin, what can it be ! We muft deny that there is an infinite dignity in the perfon of Jefus, or elfe allow that there was an infinite merit in his death. And to deny his right to beftow the fruits thereof upon whom he pleafeth, would be to deny him that right-to property, which is claimed by every freeman upon earth. To fay that he owes us thofe fruits, is the height of madnefs ! And he declares to all what will be the iffue of the conteft, with thofe who fay, vie tuill not have tbUmanto rt'gn evfrus, Lukexjx, H~27' Let all wake up then, and -
The Doftrine of Univerfal Salvation refuted. 37 and fee where we are ! The whole difpute that we have been upon js about the extent of promifed falvation. Who has promifed any fuch thing ? Anfwer, all the promifes of God are in Je'fus Chriit, yea, and in him amen, to the glory of God, by his church.- Did any prince ever iffue a proclamation of grace to rebels, without any reftri&ions ? And was it ever thought among men, that it was ineonfiftent with juftice, truth or mercy, to give exa£t defcriptions of fome particular characters of rebels, and to except fuch out of the general aft of grace } and was it ever called mockery, infult, and infincerity, to call all the reft to come in, with a free promife of pardon and life, if they came in by the certain time that was fet * Is not juftice and truth as much concerned in vindicating the rights and honor of government, by exemplary punifliment upon the con^temners thereof, as irr mewing mercy to penitents r Andean there be any dependence made upon what Chrift has laid, if he has not except ed fome fort of finners out of his gofpel proclamation ! yea, and declared that fuch will have a much forer punifhrncnt than finners againft the light of nature, or the law of Moles ? Luke x. u — 16. Heb. vi. 6, and x. 28, 29, and xii. 2^ 26. No pardon was ever promifed to men who prejumptuoujly and defpitefully acted again it the light. Num. xv. 27—31. Pfahn xix. 13. Mat. xii. 31, 3*. And the caufe why Paul obtained mercy was his finning ignorantly, and not prefumptuoujly. 1 Tim.i. 13. Now it has been proved, that to expeft and claim promifed bleflings, in a way of difregard to hi* precepts, is prefumption, and tempting of God. Concerning fuch, he fwore that they fhould not enter into his reft. A chief leader in this way faid to Mofes and Aaron, all the congregation art holy, every one^of them; wherefore then lift you up yaurjel'va ? But the command to the people was, departfrom the tents of thefe wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs. Num. xvi. 3—26. Which things are recorded for a warning to all. Jude 1 1 . Fury in men often operates unreafonably ; of this there is nothing in God. And his debates with his vineyard are in exact meafure, and to purge away fn. But withered boughs will be caft into the fire; for it is a people of no underftanding ; therefore he that mp.de them will not have mercy on them ; and he that formed them will Jhew them nofa vour. Ifai. xxvii. 4— n. This appears to be the only place in the bible where fury is faid not to be in God ; while the word is ap plied to his righteous vengeance upon the wicked near fifty times therein. And though Wincheiler has referred us to above fixty places, to prove that the words everlailing, forever, &c. are ufed in a limited fenfe, p. 37, 38, yet all but two of them are in the old teftament, when they were under fhadows which were to end, while the fubftances they typified were to continue. And his two proofs out of the new teftament are thefe, vi?. Paul fpake to Philemon of receiving his fervant forever. But how ? not now as a fervant, but as a be^Yed brother j and will vh»t lelatian eyej end? Again, in
38 The Doftrine of Vmverfal Salvation refuted. Rev. xiv. 6, the word everlafting is evidently connefted with the word gofpel, and not with the preaching it upon earth ; and is not the gofpel of ah endlefs nature ? Thefe are his only proofs from the new teilament, to limit the fenfe of thofe words. And his party are forced to confefs that the duration of mifefy, and the continu ance of happinefs, are both expreffed by the fame Greek word in" Mat. xxv. 46. And if the words ufed in Rev. xx. io; to exprefs the continuance of punifhment in the burning lake, do hot meaii endlefs duration, Dr. Doddrige fays, it is hard to fay what words can do it. And by fuffering finiiers, iiT~various ways, to exert themfelves as far as creature power can poffibly go, how will their defeat and oonfufiori demonftrate the folly of not following divine direftion entirely ! And while their defeat, confufion and mifery, are ever vifible to the blefled; what reverence, efteein, joy, and praife tO' their God and Saviour, will it ever excite in redeemed' fouls ! And angels w#l join their fong. Ifai. lxvi. 24. Luke xiii. 27—29. Rev. xiv. 10, and xix. 1-^-6.' '."..• In a word, if any one of the human race is finally loft, the fcheme we oppofe muft be falfe. And he who Cannot err fays of one of them, goedtvere it for that man if he hadne'uer been born. The way Winchefter takes here, is to prove that Job and Jeremiah wifhed that they had not been born, whofe fuffefings were light and fhor't to what Judas's will be. P.. 42, 43. But will he lift up his head; and argue again, that becaufe good men were miftaken', that there fore Chrift was alfo ! In the next page he ftientions what Solomon fays, about art extraordinary long life, and large family, to a wicked man ; and that an Untimely birth would be better than his.' Eccl. vi. 3—6. From whence he argues, ^that Chrift's meaning was; that if Judas had died in the womb, it would have been'good'for him ; that then " he would have been at reft, where the wicked " ceafe from troubling, and where the Weary are at reft." But .as certainly as the Bible is true, all things do tOork together for the good of all the obj efts of God's love. Rom. viii. 28. Therefore if J udas had been an objecl of that love, it would have been good for him to have been born, and to go through all that he did ; as it real ly was for Job and Jeremiah, though they once thought otherwife. Till a fair anfwer can be given to this argument, I think it needlefs to follow my opponent any further. And fKall clofe with! naming a few plain fcripture rules of decency and gofpel order", with fome motives to enforce them. 1. Chrift is head of all principality and power, and the church' is Compleat in him ; and every fool who truly receives him, re ceives him as fuch ; and is commanded to walk in Chrift as he received him, as he has been taught. Therefore We are requited', not to let men or angels intrude their commands or judgments betwixf the believer and his glorious head. Gal. i. 8, 9. Col. ii.6—23-. i, laadmiflign. of .members, J-e{ eyery Qhurch be careful tha>t they
The DoRrine of Univerfal Salvation refuted. 39 they receive none but ftch as give a perfonal credible profeflion of a faving union to Chrift by faith. Lake vi. 45. John i. 12—14. ££ts ii. 47. Rom. x. 10. 3. Let all teachers endeavour to ufe found fpeech, which cannot be condemned ; words eafy to be underftood, and which give a diftindt and certain found ; and be as willing that others mould judge, as they are to fpeak. j Cor. xiv. 7—40. Titus ii. 7, 8. ' 4. In public communities, let men ever have the lead and govern ment ; fo that when women are heard, and ail due regard is paid to them in their places, it may be done in fuch a manner, that it Ihall ftill fee. evident that they are not heads and governors of public affemblies, but under covert. Luke \i. 38. 1 Cor. xi. 3 — 16, xiv. 34, 35. 1 Tim. ii. 11, 12. 5. Exclude all driving about who fhall be the greater!, and by love ferve one another. Let due efteem and affiftance be given to offi cers in their places; while all are fubjett one to another, andbecloathe.4 with humility : For God refifteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Luke ix. 46—50. Heb.xiii. 7, 17. 1 Pet. v. 1—5. 6. Let all be upon their guard againft teachers who are fond of addreffing the paffions, and putting animal nature into motion, without enlightening the understanding, convincing the confcience, and eftablifhing the judgment. Jer.iii. 15. Aftsxxv. 18. 2Cor.iv. 2. Eph. iv. 14—:i6. Heb. xiii. 9. ~ 7. Be not flothful in bufinefs, but fervent in fpirit, ferving the Lord; and indulge not the difpofition of eating any man's bread for naught. ' Rom. xii. 2 Theff. iii. 6— 12. With regard to this laft rule, two great extremes have long ferved to uphold each other. ' Minifters who have been fupported by tax and compulfion have frequently eat other men's bread for naught. Seeing of which has carried many into the oppofite extreme. Some have gon.e fo far as to eleft paftors, and to partake of the fruit of their labours from year to year, without thinking themfelves under obligation to fupport them in their work, or to reward them there-. fiar. - Neither honor nor~confcienee would have permitted either party to act as they have done, if it had not been in religious affairs.- When believers view the glory and authority of their Lord and .Saviour, it moves them mo& freely and faithfully to atterid to the duties of their ftation, be they in office or out of it, in church or ftate. Ti«y chooje tke. things that plea/e him ; and to fill up their place.v with duty and ufefulnefs is their greateft concern ; knowingthat fuch. labour cannot be ir^vain in the Lord. But violence hat fo long been connefted with authority, on one hand, and licentioufnefs with the viotd. freedom on the other, that it is not an eafymatter to feparate them in the minds of men. But what worfhip muft it be, that can influence any to lay fuch a claim to the goods or labours of others, as truth and equity between man and man will not give ! Much light in thefe things is already granted. in our land, r u. - ' and
40 the DoEfr'tne of Uniwrfah Salvation refuted. 4nd it is hoped that a greater reformation is before us. To promote which, the following confiderations may ;be ferviceable. . i. Only by pride come th contention, and the love of money. is the root of all evil. Prov. xiiii t.p. I Tim. vi. 10.- Which evi dently are imaginations that we can do better for qurfelyes, thaa God would do for us, if we were entirely direfted by him ; and that we have a better right to power and property, thah our neighbours have. But how great is this delufton ! When fouls are reconciled to God, and aft in union and communion with him, their greateft trials and afflictions work together for their everlaftrng good. Whereas each man who regards felf above God, all that he gets in that way iacreafesJiis -mifery : For the more he has got of a feparate intereft of his ovvn^ the more he has to take care of .and defend, both againft Go'd and man ; a woful tafk indeed ! The great events of a feven years war now hold up a ftriking demonftration of this truth to all the world. 2. Self-condemnation of all things-is the inoft op.pofite to-happinefe. And though men have various ways to bMnd or bribe their confcience*now,-in violating the golden rule, yet the day is hafteniug that will remove all filch coverings forever. It will then be feid, to fuch as die in their fins, remember thai thou in thy life-time rtctisaedft-thy-good things-', iut noiv<—a great gulf isfixed. How much fhe bmb glorified berfelf, and lived delicioufiy , fo much torment andfortorjo gimeher. Lukexvi. 25, 26. Rev. xviii. 7. And never will th.ey.be- again able either to conceal their fhame, or to be infenfible of their guilt. In vain do fome pretend that the rich man had ' a good feed within him, bScaufehewas foearnettthat his brethren might -not -come to that place of torment ; which, they fay, is con trary to the temper of devils. For the devils are deceived, as wel| si men ;. and pray as earneftly as they againft torment, when' in their immediate view. Luke-viii. 28—31. And it is as vain to argue, that there cannot be different degrees of punifliment, if hell-torments. are without end. : 3. Every foul now is either a flave to fin, or a fervant of rightaou-fnefs ; either under the bondage of corruption, or in the liberty of God's children, in a greater or lefs degree. Rom. vi. 1-6, and viii. <^2<rt i-: f©yj- p>efent as well as eternal welfare is therefore what ifttiftediatelyconcerns this.prefent argument. The more we can obtfekybf vi&in-y over corruption, and of real conformity te the will <ff ©od, the happier We are here. Great peace have all they who; Ibtfelus law, and* nothing mall offend them ; font they who walk after their own lufls; -are- mwmurers and cotiiplainers. Jiidfe 16. Could^it -therefore be poilible, that the torments of the damned- *«euld have ah end, yet we are dertainly as fafe as our opponents ; bur, esAHe other hand, what a rifk do they run; in their way !' ff ?e^foirCa» be-heafd, it. will make every one ineahteft to ltnoW1 Mtfliiftto* Q O 0. - ....". .. 'l ' '"''. ••-•' lc* • T H e E N D.