his Apostles; and "let every mouth be stopped" before him for ever.

"Behold! all souls are mine, saith the "Lord. As the soul of the father, so also "the soul of the son is mine. The soul "that sinneth, it shall die;" "but if a "man be just, and do that which is lawful "and right," " he shall surely live, saith "the Lord God.” "The wicked shall go 66 away into everlasting punishment," saith our blessed Lord; "but the righteous into "life eternal." And St. Paul declares, "whatsoever good any man doth, the same "shall he receive of the Lord, whether he "be bond or free:"" of the Lord he shall "receive the reward of the inheritance; ⚫ but he that doeth wrong shall receive for "the wrong that he hath done, for there "is no respect of persons.'

DISCOURSE XXIV.

Subject. THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD.

AND

THE DOCTRINE OF NECESSITY IRRATIONAL UNSCRIPTURAL. THE FINAL ALLOTMENT OF THE IMPENITENT AND REDEEMED.

JOHN V. 28, 29.

The hour is coming in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation.

T has been a question much debated among learned men, whether or not the Jewish religion included in its motives to obedience the prospect of future rewards, or deterred from disobedience by views of retribution beyond the grave. The discussion, it should seem, (as is the case with

most other theological controversies) might easily have been terminated, by throwing all hypothesis and inapplicable learning out of the argument, and merely" searching "the scriptures" for information and authorities on the disputed point.

On an impartial reference to these ora. cles of truth, it would be discovered, (we are inclined to think,) that, although the Mosaical law dealt only in promises and threatenings of a temporal nature, yet the holy men of old, through the means of revelation, had obtained a knowledge, and actually entertained a lively hope, of a better state of being after the present life; and that this knowledge and hope, transmitted by tradition to their successors, were professed and cherished by a portion of the Jewish people in the time of our blessed Lord.

It will be readily admitted, that these views of futurity were obscure, and confined to a few (comparatively speaking) of God's peculiar people; and that no clear or generally revealed disclosures were made to mankind of a resurrection, a future judg ment, and an impartial distribution of rewards and punishments in the life to come, until Jesus Christ" brought life and immortality to light" by the Gospel.

But it must be maintained, that, "accord"ing to the scriptures," we have the best grounds for believing the more reflecting and spiritual of the Jews entertained a full assurance that the dispensations of this world, whether good or bad, did not comprise every thing which man had to expect; but that the best blessings reserved for the righteous, and the sorest punishments to be inflicted on the disobedient, were to be enjoyed or endured in a future state.

66

The proofs of this assertion are numerous and forcible. The ancient Patriarch Job comforted his soul amidst his overwhelming sorrows with this animating conviction: I know that my Redeemer liveth, and "that, at the latter day, he shall stand upon the earth. And though, after my "skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God, and not another.' David "rejoiced" in the full persuasion, that his "flesh" should "rest in hope;' and that his "soul" should not be left "in hell." The Angel declared to Daniel, in his vision, that "many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall "awake; some to everlasting life, and some "to everlasting shame and confusion of "face." Solomon, in Ecclesiastes, speaking of death, explicitly says, "then shall

64

"the dust return to the earth as it was, "and the spirit shall return to God who

gave it ;" and concludes his book with assuring us, that "God shall bring every "work into judgment, with every secret "thing, whether it be good, or whether "it be evil." And, finally, St. Paul, in his Epistle to the Hebrews, speaking of the Jewish fathers, their future hopes, and expectations, declared, "these all died in the "faith, not having received the promises; "but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, "and confessed that they were strangers "and pilgrims upon the earth;"—Abraham, in this persuasion, looking "for a city which hath foundations, whose builder "and maker is God;"-Moses, in this persuasion, "choosing rather to suffer afflic"tion with the people of God, than to "enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; "esteeming the reproach of Christ greater "riches than the treasures in Egypt, for "he had respect unto the recompense of the "reward;"-and the Martyrs under the Law, in this persuasion, preferring to be "tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection." While the same Apostle, in his answer to the speech of the "orator Tertullus,"

66