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her chickens under her wing, but ye would not." Here then is a plain case of some who had the offer of being gathered together in Christ and would not, and the consequence was, they were not gathered. If the gathering together of all things in Christ, implies the salvation of all men, it follows that God does not propose to gather all things in Christ, only upon the terms on which he proposes to save men; and salvation we have already proved to be conditional, see Chap. VI. Argument, III. It has been abundantly shown, in reply to the argument drawn from the will of God, that man as a moral agent, may defeat the purpose of the divine will in relation to his own salvation; therefore the fact that God proposes gathering all things together in Christ cannot prove the salvation of all men.

Though the above is a sufficient reply, we will add that the most probable meaning of the text under consideration, is that the gathering together of all things in heaven and in earth signifies the union of the Jews and Gentiles in one gospel church; and how this can take place, without implying the salvation of every individual, may be as easy to conceive as it is to understand how Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan could be baptized by John, without supposing that every individual within the specified districts received the ordinance. See Matt. iii. 5, 6.—Col. i. 20. is also urged by universalists in proof of universal restoration, but the above remarks are as applicable to this text as they are to the one on which they have been offered.

Rom. xiv. 11. "For it is written, as I live saith the Lord God, every knee shall bow to me and every tongue shall confess to God." This text has been considered a strong hold by universalists, but a little attention to it must convince all that it contains nothing in proof of universal salvation. The argument drawn from this text takes for granted what should be proved, viz. that bowing and confessing to God imply true repentance on the part of the sinner, and gracious reception on the part of God. Now, the connection absolutely forbids such an exposition. Take it as it stands connected with the verses that precede and follow it, and it reads thus: "Why dost thou judge thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is writ

ten, As I live saith the Lord God, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God." From the whole, it is clear that the oath of God, that every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess, relates to universal judgment, and not to universal salvation. What this confession will be, as the text would be understood by a Jew, we may learn from the following very remarkable extract from Josephus' Discourse to the Greeks, on Hades. For all men, the just as well as the unjust, shall be brought before God the Word, for to him hath the Father committed all judgment; and he, in order to fulfill the will of his Father, shall come as judge, whom we call Christ. This person exercising the righteous judgment of the Father towards all men, hath prepared a just sentence for every one according to his works; at whose judgment seat, when all men, and angels, and demons shall stand, they will send forth one voice, and say, JUST IS THE JUDGMENT: the rejoinder to which will bring a just sentence upon both parties, by giving justly to those who have done well, an everlasting fruition; but allotting to the lovers of wicked works eternal punishment." From this we see that Josephus supposed that men and devils could confess to God at the judgment seat without being restored to the divine favour. We also see that it was his opinion that sinners will confess the authority of the court, and the justice of the sentence, though it will hurl them down to hell; and this no doubt is the meaning of the apostle in the above text.

Phil. ii. 10, 11. "That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." On this text we remark,

1. That the bowing and confessing, of which it speaks, most clearly imply an acknowledgment of the authority of Jesus Christ as the moral governor and judge of all rational beings. The preceding verse says, "God hath highly exalted him and given him a name that is above every name; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow," &c. By this we understand that Christ has received, as he declares, himself, all power in heaven and in earth, and that he is, as

Messiah, constituted the moral governor of the universe, and that all are therefore bound to obey him, as saith the poet: "Jesus, the name high over all, In hell, or earth, or sky; Angels and men before it fall, And devils fear and fly."

But this does not prove the salvation of all men; for this confession commenced among the devils more than eighteen hundred years since, when they cried out saying, Luke iv. 34. "Let us alone, what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy one of God;" but we are not informed that his satanic majesty or any one of his angels are yet restored.

2. If it were admitted that the text speaks of true worship, still it will not follow that it will ever be performed by all men. The expression, "that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus is Lord," expresses no more than the obligation which rests upon all intelligent beings, in consequence of his exaltation. That men should worship Jesus Christ, that God exalted him that men should worship him we are willing to admit; but to infer from thence that all men will discharge this duty, is as absurd as it would be to argue that all men do, and must of necessity do, every thing which God has made their duty. God has exalted Jesus Christ, that all men should now bow and confess in this sense; but all men do not discharge this duty.

We have now examined the principal texts which are urged in proof of universal restoration, and we venture that every candid and prudent mind will require stronger proof of so important a sentiment, than any thing contained in these scriptures, before they will venture their everlasting all upon its

truth.

V. Universalists argue the salvation of all men from the promises of God, especially from the promise made to Abraham. So much stress is laid upon this promise, that we often hear them call universalism "the Abrahamic faith." In order to show the ground taken by universalists on this subject, we will give an extract from the pen of the Rev. Pitt

Morse. In giving an account of a public, oral debate, which he once held with the writer of these pages, he makes the following statement. "Then came up the all engrossing subject of conditionality. I took the position that God can control the human will without doing violence to human freedom. -This was sustained by argument, and confirmed by the unconditional covenant recorded in the thirty-first chapter of Jeremiah and the eighth of Hebrews. I proved that the promises are universal and unconditional, that they contain spiritual blessings, that there is no law against them, and that they are confirmed by the oath of God." See Magazine, &c. published at Utica, N. Y. for Nov. 3, 1832. On the all engrossing subject of conditionality, as Mr. M. calls it, the reader is referred to what has been said in the preceding Chapter, Argument III. In this place we shall only attend to the promises which Mr. M. says, 66 are universal and unconditional." In speaking of the covenant, recorded Jer. xxxi. we suppose he refers to the 33d verse, which reads thus: "But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; after those days saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and will write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people." It would appear from Mr. M's own account that he relied upon this as a principal text in support of his theory; we will therefore show that it furnishes no support to universalism. 1. The text does not speak of all men, but of the house of Israel in distinction from all other men. Mr. M. says,

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I proved that the promises are universal," and refers us to this text as one of the proofs he introduced on the occasion. From this, the reader can judge how well he sustained his cause. "This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel; I will put my law in their inward parts," &c. This, with Mr. M., is a universal promise, i. e. the house of Israel includes not only every individual of the descendants of Israel, but all the gentile world. Such conclusions are only worthy of the cause of error. Should it be said that the text relates to the days of the gospel, and that it includes all believers as the spiritual Israel of God, we grant it; but still it is not universal, for it can include only such as believe the gospel, experimental christians, in distinction from such as do

not receive the gospel. Now is the time in which God said he would do these things, and all true christians enjoy the blessings promised in the text; but does it follow from thence that swearers, and liars, and filthy drunkards, have the law of God written in their hearts?

2. It is evident that the promise contained in the text is not unconditional, as Mr. M. supposes. It is true there is no condition expressed in the text, but still scripture, matter of fact, and the experience of all christians, prove that the blessing here promised, is conditionally enjoyed. A few observations must be sufficient to show this fact. The nature of the blessing must convince all of its conditionality. "I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts." This implies that renewal of the moral man, which is termed in the New Testament being "born again," being "saved by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost," being "after God, renewed in righteousness and true holiness," &c. It implies the difference between a true christian and one who is not. Now that all this is conditional, is evident from the following text. John i. 12. "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believed on his name." It is true that the work of renewing the heart is the work of God, which none but God can do, as the 13th verse shows; but still that God may do this work for us, may put his law within us, and write it in our hearts, the text above quoted shows that we must receive Christ, and believe on his name; the blessing therefore is conditional. Again, the promise in the text is shown to be conditional from a consideration of the agent by which God performs this work for us. This agent is the Holy Spirit. It cannot be denied that it is by the Holy Spirit that God writes his law in the hearts of men. Now, we have shown in the preceding chapter that the influence of the Spirit, as well as all the other means which God employs to save sinners, may be resisted by the sinner himself; it must therefore be conditionally that God promises to write his law in our hearts. Once more, the promise in the text under consideration, is shown to be conditional from its partial fulfilment. In order to see this, it is necessary to fix on the time in which God has promised to

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