ly, which has occupied much of my time, I have had all the ordinary duties of a clergyman to perform, from which I have had only an occa, sional relief. It will be perceived by those who listened to the lectures as first delivered, that the original number, twenty, has been reduced to thirteen. This has been done to bring the work into a smaller and cheaper compass. The first thirteen of the twenty, were delivered to my own congregation from brief notes. In their present form they were repeated in the city of Troy. Upon the author's turning his attention to publishing, he found that it would be better to classify the several passages made use of by Universalists, an answer to one of which would be an answer to all. This classification may not be apparent in all cases. To mention an instance,-those passages containing universal terms, such as all and every, have been thus dealt with, and a rule given for their correct understanding. By this, and similar processes, the bulk of the work has been greatly reduced. Wherever the author has been indebted to others, he has given the customary credit by marginal references, or has incorporated it in the body of the work. The lectures are now submitted to the perusal of the reader, but not without the earnest prayer of the author, that his labor be not in vain. BENJ, I. LANE. WEST TROY, May 6, 1844. CONTENTS. DIRECT ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE TO PROVE THE DOCTRINE OF ENDLESS PUNISHMENT,.... Argument founded upon the promises of scripture,.. Argument founded upon those passages of scripture, which repre- Argument founded upon those passages of scripture, which assert that some men shall never enter the kingdom of heaven,... ..101 DIRECT ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE TO PROVE THE DOCTRINE OF ENDLESS PUNISHMENT........117 Argument founded upon those passages of scripture which repre- Argument founded upon those passages of scripture which intimate that a change of heart and a preparation for heaven are confined to this life,... .132 ..137 Argument founded upon those passages of scripture which foretell the consequences of rejecting the gospel,. LECTURE VI. DIRECT ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE TO PROVE THE DOCTRINE OF ENDLESS PUNISHMENT,.......147 Argument founded upon those passages of scripture which represent the punishment of some men as remediless, or which imply its eternity, ..150 Argument founded upon those passages of scripture which apply the terms "everlasting," "eternal," "forever," and "forever and ever," to future punishment,.. LECTURE VII. ...159 THE POSITION, ASSUMED BY UNIVERSALISTS, THAT THE WICKED RECEIVE ALL THEIR PUNISHMENT IN THIS LIFE, DISPROVED,.... ....169 .172 Penalty of the divine law proportioned to the good to be secured by it,.. Not true, in point of fact, that the wicked are punished in this life, according to the demerit of their offences,....... ..176 The righteous often suffer much more in this life than the wicked,........ .......179 Inward horrors and remorse of conscience, in the present life, do not constitute the punishment of the wicked,.. .181 Assumption that all men receive the punishment their sins deserve, in the present life, a plain denial of the mercy of God,................183 Not true that the wicked receive their punishment in this life, because multitudes have died, and do die, in the very act of sinning with a high hand,...... ...185 Not true that the wicked receive the punishment of their sim in this life, because God hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world,..... That the wicked are punished according to their deserts, in this life, inconsistent with the account the scriptures give of Judas Iscariot,........ According to the doctrine of universal salvation, the position that .187 .188 vii the wicked are punished according to their deserts, in this life, involves an absurdity,....... LECTURL VIII. .189 THE MORAL INFLUENCE OF UNIVERSALISM,........193 According to Universalism, sin ceases to be sin when conscience ceases to reprove,. ....197 Scripture makes it the duty of christians to "come out from the world," to "confess Christ before men," and to unite themselves in church covenant with the people of God; to attend meetings for religious conference and prayer; to pray in their families and in the closet, and to send the gospel to the destitute; which Universalism does not,. Universalism never produces revivals of religion,....... Influence of Universalism upon the minds of men tends to subvert the moral government of God,...... .201 .205 Direct tendency of Universalism is to strengthen the hands of the wicked,........... .207 .210 Universalism consorts with Infidelity,. LECTURE IX. .212 THE ENDLESS PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED NOT INCONSISTENT WITH THE JUSTICE OF GOD,......217 Either God's law is unjust, or he is righteous in taking vengeance,.... 222 Either the gospel is not what it purports to be; a system devised by infinite wisdom for delivering men from sin; either its conditions are unjust, or God is righteous in taking vengeance on them that obey it not,....... .....231 Either God is unjust in punishing the wicked at all, or he is righteous in punishing them forever,.... ...... .235 Either God in justice ought to reclaim and save sinners, as soon as they become such, or he is righteous in taking vengeance,.. LECTURE X. ..237 THE ENDLESS PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED NOT INCONSISTENT WITH THE LOVE OF GOD,..........243; Endless punishment of the wicked not inconsistent with God's love of benevolence,. .246 Endless punishment of the wicked not inconsistent with God's love of complacency,..... LECTURE XI. GOD GLORIOUS IN HOLINESS, IN THE ENDLESS .259 .265 God has appeared "glorious in holiness," in all his judgments which he has from time to time sent upon the wicked,.... .......267 The heavenly hosts will praise God for punishing the wicked,...270 God glorified in the sufferings of Christ,.... .273 That God will be glorified in the destruction of the wicked, appears from the relation that subsists between God and man,.. ..275 No place in the universe for which the finally wicked are fitted, but hell,.... Evil nature of sin fully developed at the judgment,. LECTURE XII. .280 282 UNIVERSALISM REJECTED BY THE PIOUS,.... .289 The righteous are made sad by the promulgation of the dogma of universal salvation, because it is not true,... 292 Because it strengthens the hands of the wicked,.. .294 Because its influence goes to lead men to destruction,. .......296 Because it makes the atonement of Christ, not the "wisdom of God," but a piece of folly,....... ..300 Because it grieves the Spirit of God, ..302 Because it never begets a spirit of prayer, but disinclines to the practice of it all those who embrace the system,. .304, Because it never begets a spirit of tender compassion for souls,...305 LECTURE XIII. THE IMMUTABILITY OF MAN'S MORAL CHARACTER AND CONDITION IN A FUTURE WORLD, ........311 That there will be no change of man's moral character and condition in a future state, is evident from the fact, that probation is limited,.. .314 None of the peculiar means which God has appointed to produce a change of moral character, employed to that end in a future state,316 The condition and circumstances of beings in the other world, such as are fitted to confirm and perpetuate, and not to produce a change in their moral character,...... .328 |