of the wicked, at the same time that its promises are fulfilled in the salvation of the righteous, it must follow that such threatenings extend to the future state. Matt. xiii. 41-43. "The Son of Man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them that do iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth: then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father." The punishment of the wicked, and the glory of the righteous are both referred to in this text as existing at the same time. Then shall the righteous shine: then, at the same time in which those that do iniquity shall be cast into a furnace of fire and wail and gnash their teeth. If the punishment here spoken of is confined to this world, then the shining of the righteous in the kingdom of their Father must be confined to this world also. On the other hand if the righteous are to shine in the kingdom of their father in the future world; if, to them, "the glory remains when the light, (of this life) fades away," then the workers of iniquity will be punished and wail and gnash their teeth in a future world. That this whole subject refers to a future world is evident from Christ's own exposition of it. In relation to the same event he says, Matt. xiii. 38, 39, 40, "the field is the world." Again, "the harvest is the end of the world." And again, "So shall it be in the end of the world." It is, then, at the end of the world that the wicked are to be cast into a furnace of fire, and the righteous shine in the kingdom of their Father. It is true that universalists attempt to evade the force of all this by equivocating upon the Greek word aion, which is here rendered world; translating it dispensation, or age, and thereby referring the whole to the overthrow of the Jews and the destruction of their temple, and end of the Mosaic dipensation. As this word will hereafter be introduced on another question, we shall spare ourselves and the reader the trouble of original criticism in this place; we will attempt to show, however, in plain English that the common translation, "end of the world," best accords with the connection. The tares and wheat, by which we are to understand the children of the wicked one, and the children of the kingdom, are represented as growing together until the time of the har

vest, verses 28, 29, 30. "Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay, lest while ye gather up the tares ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and in time of harvest I will say to the reapers, gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn." Now all this is inapplicable to the destruction of Jerusalem for the following reasons:

1. At the time of harvest the angels are to be sent forth as reapers, to collect both the bad and the good, verse 41. "The Son of Man shall send forth his angels and they shall gather out of his kingdom," &c. Now, we ask, what angels were sent forth as reapers at the destruction of Jerusalem ? It could not have been the Romans; for they scattered and dispersed instead of gathering together, especially, so far as the children of the kingdom, or the wheat, was concerned; for the disciples all fled at the approach of the Roman army. Nor could the Apostles have been intended by the gathering angels or reapers, for they were of the wheat; and hence, a part of that which was to be gathered.

2. The righteous, figured by the wheat, are represented as being gathered by the same angels or reapers by whom the tares are gathered, which is false if the gathering of the tares represent the punishment of the Jews by the Romans; for it would be too absurd to be maintained for a moment, to suppose that the Romans collected all the christians and secured them beyond the reach of the ruins of the siege.

3. The wicked are represented as being first gathered— "gather ye together first the tares;" which cannot be true if the harvest of the wheat refers to the preservation of the disciples from the ruin that came upon the Jews; for the disciples first fled and were all on the other side of Jordan before Jerusalem was closely encompassed.

4. Both the tares and the wheat are represented as being collected during the same harvest. "Gather ye together first the tares," &c. "but gather the wheat into my barn." Now, if the gathering and burning of the tares represent the destruction of the Jews, there is no event connected in point of time, which answers to the gathering of the wheat into the barn. It will not answer to say that the preserva

tion of the disciples constituted the harvest of the wheat; for such were the circumstances of this event as to render it altogether improperly represented by a harvest, in which the full ripe wheat is gathered into the barn, safe from the plundering herd and secure from the wasting storm. A harvest would better represent the gathering home of the saints into the garner of heaven, than the flight of the christians from the destruction of Jerusalem, in which they were turned out of their houses, exposed to the storm, and endured cold and hunger, and almost every evil but death itself; yea, much more than many suffered who lost their lives in the siege, such as were smitten dead at an early period, if, as their bodies fell, their souls leaped from the scene of action and mounted to the upper and better world. We think then that it is clear that this subject relates to a final retribution; and if so, it is equally evident, that when the righteous shall be gathered home to heaven, and shine in the kingdom of their father, the wicked will, at the same time be punished for their sins, and wail and gnash their teeth; they will therefore be punished in a future state.

Matt. viii. 11, 12. “I say unto you that many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven, but the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." By "the children of the kingdom," in this text, we understand the Jews, who rejected the Saviour, "to whom pertaineth the promises, and of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came." By those who are said to come from the east and west, we undertand the Gentiles who believe the gospel and are saved. Now we ask, do they come from the east and west and sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in this life? This no one can pretend is the case, unless it be in some visionary or ideal sense. Will the righteous then come from the east and west, and sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in a future state? This no one can doubt, who believes in the future happiness of any portion of the human family; and if so, it is in a future state that the unbelieving Jews will be cast out, and weep and gnash their teeth.

Luke xiii. 28. "There shall be weeping and gnashing of

teeth when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and and all the prophets in the kingdom of God and you yourselves thrust out." Here their weeping and gnashing of teeth is fixed at a time when they shall see the patriarchs and prophets in the kingdom of God. Now, it cannot be consistently said that the Jews saw the patriarchs and prophets in the kingdom of God at the time of their destruction, or at any subsequent period. If then it is in the future world that they are to see the patriarchs and prophets in the kingdom of God, it follows that it is in a future state also, that they will see themselves thrust out, and weep and gnash their teeth-they will wail and gnash their teeth when they see Abraham, &c. in the kingdom of God, and this belongs to the vision of the future world.

This argument cannot be evaded by saying that these texts relate to the rejection of the Jews, and the call of the Gentiles here on earth; for in this sense they are not true.

1. Those, to whom these scriptures relate, are represented as being sensible of their exclusion from the kingdom of God, which is not true of the Jews in this world; for they contend that the Gospel dispensation, or the Christian Church, is not the kingdom of God, and maintain that they are his only true people.

2. They are represented as seeking admittance into the kingdom, saying, "Lord, Lord, open unto us," which is not the case with the Jews here, for they have never sought admission into the christian church.

3. They are represented as being frowned away on making such application. "When once the master of the house bath risen up, and hath shut the door, and ye begin to stand without, and knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me all ye workers of iniquity." This is not the present condition of the Jews. The door of the church is open to them; the gospel invitation is to all; the heralds of the cross invite them; Jesus bids them come, and God gives every returning Israelite a full welcome to the blessings of the Gospel kingdom. 2 Thess. i. 7-10. "The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven, with his mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that

know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power, when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe." Here the wicked are threatened with a punishment awful in its description. Now, we ask when will this threatening be executed? The text itself answers, "when he shall come to be glorified in his saints." The wicked then are to be punished at the same time that Christ shall come to be glorified in his saints, and this, doubtless will be at the last day, when he shall come to judge the world, at the general resurrection. 1 Thess. iv. 16, 17. "The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we be ever with the Lord."

We think we have shown, conclusively, in this argument that the promises and threatenings of the gospel are cotemporary in their fulfilment, from which it must follow that the wicked will be punished after death, or else, that the promises of the gospel secure nothing to believers beyond the shades of the tomb; and to embrace the latter alternative universalists will have to abandon their present theory, and appear as infidels, without disguise.

IX. The scriptures teach that the punishment of the wicked is longer than man's entire earthly existence; and if so, it must follow that such punishment is in a future state.

1. When the scriptures speak of the life of man, they represent it to be very short, and employ the most expressive terms and figures to denote its brevity. 1 Peter i. 24. "All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass; the grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away. "James iv. 14. "What is your life? it is even a vapour that appeareth for a moment and then vanisheth away." Psalm ciii. 15, 16. "As for man, his days are as grass, for the wind passeth over it and it is gone." Job. vii. 6. "My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle;" viii. 9. "Our days upon earth are a shadow." xiv. 1. 2. "Man is of few