inform us," that for this cause (or because they would not "love the truth") God shall send them a strong delusion, that they shall believe a lie.” To whom is this strong delusion to be sent ? Not to those "who had received the love of the truth," but to those who had contumaciously rejected it (although their eternal salvation was the precious reward for receiving it); to those who had come with "all deceivableness of unrighteousness," and deluded the people to believe there was no God. To these men, the apostle affirms, God shall send a delusion" so strong, that even the very persons shall at length believe the lie, which they themselves had fabricated, and wickedly imposed on others. Nor is it uncommon for a liar to repeat and impose his lies on others so often, as to become a believer in them himself. Nor, while we believe in the justice and righteousness of God, can we be surprised, if he should withdraw his divine love and protection from wretches that hate him in his eternal truth, and leave them to the delusion "of the evil imaginations of their own hearts:" for having, by the eternal decree of his wisdom, created man, made him as he made the angels, a probationary creature, and vested him with a free will, to love the truth, to return him love for love, or gratitude for his protection and mercies, or to disobey and hate him, he is perfectly justified in withdrawing his divine love and protection from those who reject his truth, though offered to them, all nature proclaiming it.

Were he to continue his benefits and favours to such men; were he to save wretches so contumaciously wicked, he would want objects on which to exercise his justice and mercy. Such an act of his power would be a virtual repeal of his eternal decree, by which he conferred on mankind a freedom of will. In this light, the text can alone be considered: for God cannot be the author of evil. "He is a "rock, his work is perfect; for all his ways are "judgment: a God of truth, without iniquity, "just and upright is he*." And then the true exposition of the text will be this, that God, in his infinite wisdom, having created man a free agent, to choose either good or evil, and having vested him with the light of reason, and of conscience, to assist him in making a right choice; having demonstrated his infinite wisdom, power, and beneficence, by all the works of creation, by the revelation of his divine will in the holy Scriptures; and proved his omniscience and omnipotence by bringing to pass the numerous prophecies foretold; and by his infinite goodness and mercy, and immaculate doctrines of his blessed Son; and by the wonderful miracles performed by that Son, and his apostles, through the all-powerful effects of his Holy Spirit, would no longer strive to save men who should rebel against him, with the avowed design of withdrawing his creatures from their "love of his truth," and their allegiance to

his divine government. This love and allegiance are not only indispensably necessary to their everlasting peace and happiness, but to the order and harmony of the universe; and therefore, for their deserting it, he would give them up to uncleanness, through the lusts of their own hearts; "to their vile affections; to "the strong delusion of believing the lie, "which they had wickedly imposed on others. "A lie, which all they who believed not the "truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness," should be given up to believe," that they all might be damned;" that they all, not only those who invented, and wickedly imposed the lie on others, but all who should be deceived by and believe it, might be condemned and punished according to their deserts, and God's righteous pleasure. Now what "lie" can this be, which shall be so pregnant with illusion, error, and mischief, as to render its devotees, as well as themselves, proper objects of the just indignation, and ultimate punishment of the wrath of God? Is it not that, from which" all deceivableness of unrighteousness arises? Is it not the lie mentioned in the text, which includes "all deceivableness of unrighteousness?" Is it not "the mystery of iniquity," the mystery of atheism, or the mystical tenet that there is no God? For can there be a mystery more above the comprehension of man, than the position, that the universe, and all things in it, have been created without a God? Or can there be a mystery more completely ini

quitous, more mischievous, and more destructive of that peace and order of the world, which has ever, and must forever depend on a belief of God, and Providence? Yes, it is a mystical lie, contradicted by the voice of all nature, by every object that presents itself to the reason and intelligence of man; a lie, which saps the foundation of all virtue and religion, and opens wide the flood-gates of the blackest impiety and anarchy; a lie, which destroys all sense of a future state, all hope of reward for the most virtuous thoughts and actions, all fear of punishment for the most enormous crimes; and leads mankind blindfold into an unlimited gratification of every lustful passion, and fearless perpetration of every sin; a lie, the belief in which tends to degrade the human race from that elevated rank of beings in which God has beneficently placed them, to a state which confounds the harmony and fitness of things, and tends to destroy the order and beauty of the universe. A lie, by the belief of which man becomes unworthy of, and forfeits all title to the protection and love of his creator, renders him not only unfit for, but dangerous to the society of his fellow creatures, and a proper object of the righteous condemnation of infinite justice, according to the Divine pleasure, whatever that may be.

Now is not this the identical, the great, the essential, lie, by which the revolution of France has been nourished from its embryo state to its maturity? Did it not come in all the terrors

and horrors with this very lie in its mouth? Has it not, in its fundamental records, published this lie to the world, in order to delude it into its vortex? Has not this lie formed its whole strength, and crowned its iniquitous design with extensive and dreadful success? And does it not, at this moment, place all its hope and confidence in fraternizing the world into atheism, anarchy, and uproar, by a general belief of this very lie?

There is one more mark of the "Man of Sin," given to the world by the apostle, which is too significantly pointed at the French revolution, to be omitted. It is not said in the usual language of the prophecies, that it "shall come," or "rise," or "appear;" but that it shall be revealed." This mode of its coming is repeated in three different verses; and therefore seems intended as an important mark of the Power foretold. The word "reveal," means to make something manifest, which before lay concealed. In this sense it is used in many parts of the Scriptures, and in this sense it accurately applies to the manner, in which the French revolution has come. We cannot read the different histories of this political monster, without perceiving that it had secretly been conceived, and was working in the minds of men long before it appeared in the world; and that it virtually, if not really existed several years before it appeared. Indeed, it may be truly said, that it existed from the association of the atheistical crew in the