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him, thousand thousands ministered to him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him, and the judgment was set, and the books were opened. And I saw the dead both small and great, stand before God. And the dead were judged out of the things that were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead that were in them, and they were judged, every man according to their

works."

And the following are the decisions of that day: "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; and he that is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that is holy, let him be holy still. Blessed are · they that do his commandments, that they may have a right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie."

And but two classes are recognized as existing through eternity. And the destiny of one class is portrayed in such language as this: "Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; but ye have set at nought all my counsel, and despised my reproof; when your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you; then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me. For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord; they would none of my counsel, they despised all my reproof; therefore shall they eat the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices." They shall be tormented day and night forever and ever. The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of Almighty God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation. And they have no rest day nor night, and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever."

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And the destiny of the other class is thus described: “He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb, which is in the midst of the throne, shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters; and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. And there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain. And God himself shall be with them, and be their God, and they shall see his face, and his name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there, and they shall need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light, and they shall reign forever and ever."

When the mind is turned to the awful scenes of such a day, the destiny of a part of our guilty race, shakes the soul with dismay, and even confiding trust in a Benevolent and All Perfect Redeemer, does not always prevent the anxious wish to know why all this misery must exist forever in his domains. Could not mind be formed without such terrible results? Does the existence of all that infinite happiness of which God is the dispenser, necessarily involve such consequences? Is it, in the nature of things, impossible for an infinite number of perfectly free agents to exist forever without the collisions of selfishness, unless some display of its terrific evils exists to warn and defend? Must the Deity otherwise have dwelt in perpetual solitude, with none to love and none to bless; while all his infinite desires of activity and benevolence, and all his boundless faculties would suffer the ceaseless pangs of ungratified desire, and the death of inactivity and hopeless apathy?

These are questions that sometimes rise, but Revelation gives no answer. Yet Revelation does teach enough to hush every fear. It teaches that the evil which man bewails, is not his solitary grief. His Creator shares in the sorrow, and in the sacrifice to redeem. He came to seek and to save the lost, and he wept over his ruined creatures; and in such

language as this he mourned the self-inflicted ruin of this guilty world: "How often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, but ye would not. Oh, that thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things that belong to thy peace, but now they are forever hidden from thine eyes!"

CHAPTER XXIX.

CAUSES WHY THE REMEDY FOR DISORDERED MINDS IS NOT SECURED BY MANKIND.

In what precedes, it has been shown, that the human mind is disordered; that this evil can be remedied by means of love to our Creator; and that in his character, as exhibited in his works and in his word, may be discovered every excellence which can operate on the human mind in awakening affection.

But in looking abroad upon-the world, though we find an adequate remedy provided for the guilt and sufferings of our race, we find it seldom applied. Age after age rolls away, and nation after nation passes into the invisible world, with all the baleful habits of long established selfishness. Reason teaches no remedy in a future state; Revelation offers none but in the mode of relief offered in this scene of probation, and declares that if it is ineffectual here, there is no hope for the hereafter.

The enquiry then arises, why, if there is a remedy for such appalling and interminable evils is it so seldom secured? What` is it which prevents mankind from embracing this relief from present and from future ills? To obtain satisfaction on this enquiry, we must resort to the pages of Revelation to learn

in the first place, how this relief is to be administered, and how mankind are to be brought under its influence. For when we have learned the method by which a blessing is to be secured, we are enabled to detect the reasons why men suffer from the want of it.

In the Bible we find those of mankind who are spoken of as saved, as redeemed, as delivered, as born again. as children of God, and by various other appellatives, have this event ascribed to the following causes: To the Father, to Jesus Christ, to the Holy Ghost, to the power of God, to the righteousness of God, to knowledge, to truth, to the word of God, to faith, to repentance, to love, to obedience, to the ministers of Christ, to the exertion of their fellow men, and finally, men are said to save themselves.

The following are examples to illustrate each of these particulars. Men are saved by the Father, by Jesus Christ, and by the Holy Ghost. 2 Thess. 1:16 "Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts." Matt. 18:11. "The Son of man is come to save that which was lost." Rom. 5:5. "The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts, by the Holy Ghost."

Men are saved by knowledge. "Grace and peace be multiplied unto you, through the knowledge of God, and of our Lord Jesus Christ; according as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue." The power of God, and the righteousness of God save men. Eph. 1:18, 19. "That ye may know what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power." 2 Pet. 1: 1. "To them who have obtained like precious faith with us, through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ."

Truth saves men. John 17:17. "Sanctify them through

thy truth, thy word is truth." James 1:18. "Of his own will begat he us, by the word of truth."

1 Cor. 9:22.

"I am

The ministers of Christ save men. made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some."

Men save each other. James 5:20. "He that converteth a sinner from the error of his ways, shall save a soul from death."

Men save themselves. "Take heed to thyself and to thy doctrines, continue in them, for in so doing, thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee." 1 Peter 1: 22. "Seeing ye have purified your souls, in obeying the truth, through the Spirit."

Men saved by obedience, faith, repentance, love, and belief of truth. Rom. 6:17, 18. "But ye have obeyed from the, heart, that form of doctrine which was delivered to you; being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness." Gal. 3:26. "Ye are the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ." Acts 3: 19. "Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out." Rom. 8:28. "All things work together for good to them that love God." 2 Thess. 1:13. “God hath chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth."

Fear saves men. Prov. 28: 14. 66 Happy is the man that feareth always." Phil. 2:12. "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling."

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It has been previously explained that it is common, in the use of language, to give the name of a thing, sometimes to all the ideas included under a cause or an event, and sometimes to a part. In this case, the salvation of the soul is the event, and the enquiry is, what is the cause of this redemption of the mind from its disordered state. All the above expres- sions are names given to the different ideas included under the cause of this change. The following statement, it is believed, will explain them all.

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