the Gospel. Gal. 3: 8, "And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed." If these promises constitute the Gospel, of course they must relate to the spiritual blessings to be conferred on all mankind.

OBJECTION 3. - "These promises are to all the families of the earth. If, therefore, only one out of every family is saved and all the rest are lost, it will be a fulfilment of the promise."

ANSWER.

- Peter understood by the phrase, "all families,” all mankind. Acts 3: 25, "And in thy seed shall all the KINDREDS of the earth be blessed." Point us to an individual who is not related to ary nation, tribe, kindred, tongue or people, and we will admit that he is not included in this promise. But, as there never was nor never can be any such person, hence every individual of the human race is included in this promise.

OBJECTION 4.-"The unbelief of some men is so great, that these promises to them can never be fulfilled."

ANSWER. The unbelief of man cannot overthrow the faith of God, nor convert truth into falsehood. Rom. 3: 3, 4, For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? GOD FORBID yea, let God be true, but every man a liar."

OBJECTION 5.

"The penalty of God's law is endless misery; and, as this penalty will be inflicted on those who do not repent in this life, and as thousands live and die unrepentant, hence these promises to them can never be fulfilled."

God has never annexed the

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ANSWER. penalty of endless misery to any law which he has given to man. Besides, there is no law of God, no penalty annexed to any law of his, nor any punishment ever threatened by Jehovah, which will prevent the fulfilment of these promises. Gal. 3: 15-17, Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto. Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, and to seeds, as of many; but as of one, and to thy seed, which is CHRIST. And this I say, that the covenant that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, CANNOT DISANNUL, that it should make the promise of none effect." See also Gal. 3: 21, Is the law then against the

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promises of God? GOD FORBID.' That there is an absolute cer tainty of the fulfilment of these promises, is further evident from Paul's testimony in 2 Cor. 1: 18—20, "But as God is true, our word toward you was not yea and nay. Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me, and Syl vanus, and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in him was yea For ALL the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen unto the glory of God by us." No language can more clearly ex press the fact, that in relation to these promises, as well as all other promises of God, there are no buts, nor ifs, nor ands, nor conditions, about it; but, on the contrary, they are yea and Amen; and are, therefore, absolutely certain and sure of being fulfilled.

2d. This doctrine is founded on the immutable oath of JEHOVAH. God has pledged himself by his oath to fulfil his promises. Gen. 22: 16-18, "By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, that in blessing I will bless thee, and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." Isa. 45: 22-24, "Look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word has gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. Surely shall say, in the Lord have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed." Heb. 6: 16-19, "For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, CONFIRMED IT WITH AN OATH; that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the vail." OBJECTION 1.-"The quotation from Isaiah proves that some of those who will bow the knee to God shall be made ashamed, and the idea of shame is inconsistent with the idea of salvation.'

ANSWER. Are not those who are converted to the Gospel, and who are reformed by its influence, ashamed of their former course of conduct? and if they have ever been incensed against God, are they not ashamed of it, when they come to understand his character? Most certainly they are. But, surely, this is no bar to their salva

tion. The fact is, to bring the sinner to a sense of shame, is an important step towards his reformation and salvation. That the shame here spoken of, which will be experienced by those who have been incensed against God, will be no bar to their salvation, may be seen by consulting Ezek. 16: 62, 63, "And I will establish my covenant with thee (the Jews); and thou shalt know that I am the Lord; that thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done."

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OBJECTION 2. The quotation from Hebrews shows that the immutability of God's counsel' was made known only to the 'heirs of promise.'”

ANSWER. We have shown that all the nations, families, and kindreds of the earth, are heirs of the promise. And the immutability of God's counsel, or the certainty of the fulfilment of these promises, has been made known to all the heirs who have believed in them, is made known to all who do now believe in them, and will be made known to all who ever will believe in them. The believer in these promises looks forward in prospect to the time when they will be fulfilled to all the heirs, and this faith imparts to him a hope, which is as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast. If there are any who do not believe these promises, we have shown that their unbelief cannot make the faith of God without effect. The quotation from Isaiah proves, not only that every knee shall be brought to bow to God, but that every tongue shall swear, saying, Surely, in the Lord have I righteousness and strength. Now, if there are any who will never have righteousness and strength in Jehovah, then, if God compels them to swear that they have, he will compel them to swear to that which is false.

3d. This doctrine is based on the determinate will of God. It is God's will that all men shall be saved. 1 Tim. 2: 1—6, "I exhort, therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings, and for all in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time."

OBJECTION 1.-"The word will here expresses only God's willingness to have all men saved, and not his determination that they shall be."

ANSWER. 1. The text does not say that "God is willing to have all men saved," but "God WILL HAVE all men to be saved." 2. That the word will here expresses a will of purpose or determina tion, is evident from its Scripture usage. In Matt. 8: 3, Jesus says to the leper, "I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed." John 5: 21,"For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom he will." John 6: 37, "And him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." Rom. 9: 18, "Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth." Eph. 1: 9, 10, "Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure, which he hath purposed in himself." Eph. 1: 11, "Who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will." See also John 6: 38-40.

OBJECTION 2. - "Although God may will the salvation of all men, yet his will may be defeated, as it was in the case of the Jews; of whom it was said, Matt. 23: 37, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not.”

ANSWER. 1. To say "I would," and to say "I will,” are two very different things. The former expresses only a willingness, but the latter a positive will of determination. 2. The passage in Matthew only expresses the willingness of Christ; but the passage in 1 Timothy expresses the will of God. Christ came down from heaven "not to do his own will, but the will of him that sent him,” John 6: 38. Christ was willing that the cup of suffering might from him; nevertheless, he pass 66 says not my will, but thine, O God, be done." Matt. 26: 39. 3. That the will of God, respecting the final destiny of his creatures, can never change, nor be defeated, may be seen from the following scriptures. James 1: 17, "With God is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." Job 23: 13, "He is in one mind, and none can turn him." Prov. 19: 21, "There are many devices in a man's heart: nevertheless, the coun sel of the Lord, that shall stand." Dan. 4: 35, "He doeth accord ing to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of

to be "free from the law of sin and death;" and in Col. 1: 13, they are said to be "delivered from the power of darkness, and translated into the kingdom of God's dear Son." On the other hand, unbelievers are said to be "condemned," to be "dead in trespasses and sins," and to be "without hope, and without God in the world;" as we shall now show.

II. OF DAMNATION. Damnation is supposed by many to consist in being sent to a place of misery after death, called hell. But to this opinion we object as follows:

1. The Bible nowhere gives any such definition of the word damnation. The original word rendered damnation is in many places rendered judge, judged, punishment, condemn, condemned, and condemnation. It occurs frequently in the New Testament, but is not used in a single instance to signify punishment in another world.

2. It is contrary to the definition which the scripture writers themselves give of this term. Paul says, Rom. 5: 18, “Therefore, as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life." The word which is here rendered condemnation is the same that is rendered damnation in every instance where that word occurs in the New Testament. Now, Paul says, in this text, that damnation had actually come on all men; but certainly all men had not gone to a place of endless misery, called hell. On the contrary, millions of the human race were at that very time alive, and on the earth. If, therefore, they were damned at all, it must have been here, in this present world. Again, if Paul used the word condemnation here to signify endless misery, then he represents that this misery had come upon all men. contrary to fact. Besides, if endless misery had come on all men. how could it be followed by the free gift of justification unto life? Certainly there would be no room for it. And as Paul says this free gift came after the condemnation, hence, he did not use the original word which is rendered damnation in the New Testament, to signify endless damnation, nor any other damnation than that which is experienced in this life. Our Saviour frequently used thewords condemnation and damnation; but he nowhere says that any man, or any set of men, would be damned in a future state of existence. On the contrary, he defines the word thus: John 3: 19, "And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world,

But this was