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CHAPTER IX.

On the œconomy of Probation, and its counterpart, the œconomy of Retribution.

IT may be taken for granted, because it is capable of being proved from scripture, that as there is a visible church of Christ, so there is an invisible; but whereas the visible is now in being, the invisible is still to come; and whereas the visible exists upon the earth, the invisible does not exist at present on earth, whether it is hereafter to exist there or not.

It may also be assumed, that as Jesus Christ is the head of the visible church, so is he likewise of the invisible; and as Christians, his servants, are members or component parts of the visible, so will they be of the invisible. It follows from these premises, first, that the final end of the constitution of the church on earth, is one which makes it temporary and transient; being always designed to conduct to the church in heaven, and ultimately to be consummated therein: secondly, that none can be members of the invisible church, which will result out of the visible, who have not previously been members of the visible, which precedes and prepares the way for the invisible.

Further, it may be taken for granted, that to become a member of the invisible church, to be admitted into the society of the congregation of that church, is to be put in possession of the inheritance and kingdom, prepared for the righteous from all

eternity. To belong, therefore, to the society of the invisible church, is the reward proposed to the personal obedience of every individual professing Christian, at present a member of the visible church, in this life; and the attainment of that reward is the consummation of his ultimate personal happiness, in another state of being.

It follows from this consideration, that whereas the church on earth consists of merely professing Christians, whether nominal or real, the invisible church in another state of being, can consist of believing or faithful Christians only. But if this be the case, it follows of necessity that before the formation of the invisible church, as ultimately resulting out of the visible, some process of separation is requisite, whereby the members of the visible, though mixed and confounded together at present, may be distinguished asunder, and the really good and faithful be discriminated from the merely seeming and nominal.

Now, in order to such a separation, and before it can be carried into effect, it is equally necessary that the good should previously be known and ascertained from the bad, by some infallible criterion: and in order to be so known and ascertained, it is necessary that some period or process of trial should first be conceded to both. And as the process of separation which distributes them asunder at last, is one and the same in respect of both, so must the process of trial also which discriminates them previously from each other, be one and the same in respect of both. The good, in order to be recognised as the good, must not be tried by a distinct rule from the bad; nor the bad, with a view to the

same result, by a distinct rule from the good; but both by the same. And since they are each members of the same visible church, before the separation in question, though not of the same invisible church, after it; it follows that the process or scheme of trial is something which they must both undergo previously, and the process or scheme of separation something which they must both undergo finally, in their proper capacity as members of the existing visible church; and in that capacity only. This process of trial I call the œconomy of probation; and this process of separation, with the consequences to which it leads in respect to both classes of its subjects, I call the oeconomy of retribution.

It is evident, therefore, that the œconomy of probation in this sense, precedes and conducts to the œconomy of retribution; and that the œconomy of retribution arises out of and concludes the œconomy of probation. It is also evident that the subjects of both are the members or congregation of the visible church, and coexistent with both is the existence of the visible church; the economy of probation going along with the continuance and duration of the church on earth, and the œconomy of retribution preceding the formation of the church in its future state of being, and consequently standing nearly in an equal relation to both states of the church, as the last act in the consummation of the one, and the first step in the constitution of the other.

It seems essential, then, to the doctrine of an œconomy of probation, whether as represented in parables or not, that it be described to conduct, and as always designed to conduct, to a final œconomy of retribution; and conversely, to that of an oeconomy

of retribution, that it be described to follow, and as of a pre

intentionally carrying into effect the purpose vious œconomy of probation-in reference to the same subjects or persons: but that each in their primary design and purpose should appear to go no further than the state of things, at present in existence, upon earth; and that neither of them, or only the latter, should have any thing to do with the state of things which, whether upon earth or in heaven, may hereafter supersede that which exists at present.

Again, since our Lord Jesus Christ, as the head of the invisible church, just as much as that of the visible, stands still in the relation of a master to Christians; and Christians, as the members of the invisible church not less than as members of the visible, stand still in the relation of his servants to Christ; it follows that the economy of probation preparatory to the oeconomy of retribution, is an œconomy, undergone by Christians in their proper capacity of the servants of Christ, and the economy of retribution which carries into effect the final end of an œconomy of probation, is a retribution awarded to Christians in their proper capacity as the same and consequently, that the economy of probation is something imposed by Christ, and that of retribution is something dispensed by Christ, to their respective subjects, in his proper capacity of the Lord and Master of the church. The final end, then, both of the economy of probation, and also of the œconomy of retribution, is something which concerns Christ himself in the latter capacity, as much as Christians in the former; that of the œconomy of probation being to discover who are his real servants among all those who are nominally

so; and that of the œconomy of retribution being to distribute to each, in consequence of this discovery, their appropriate recompense of reward.

But if such be the purpose designed by the scheme of probation, preparatory to that of retribution, it seems absolutely necessary to its attainment, that Christians, as the servants of Christ, should be left for a time to themselves: that is, no such scheme of trial could begin, or be carried on, during the continuance of Christ himself upon earth, as personally a witness of the conduct of all or any of his servants. I say, however, for a time: since it is not less evident that, supposing Jesus Christ to be personally gone away from his church on earth, in order that such a scheme of probation might begin and proceed, it could never be concluded, or followed by a scheme of retribution, without his return sometime or other, to take cognisance in person of the behaviour of his servants during his absence.

The right of a master to the services of his proper dependents, and the obligation of the dependents to render those services to their proper master, are the same whether he himself is present or absent: but the motives to obedience or disobedience on the part of the servants, and therefore the merits of obedience or disobedience, are not exactly the same whether their master is present or absent. If the misconduct of a servant under the very eyes of his master, is entitled to resentment at all, it must be entitled to instant resentment, and be followed by instant punishment: and if the good conduct of a servant, under the same circumstances, is entitled to approbation or reward, it must be followed by instant approbation and instant reward. There would

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