LECTURE. VI.

SALVATION IMPARTIAL AND UNIVERSAL.

ISAIAH xxv. 6, 7, 8.

And in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees; of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it."

THE first subject of inquiry found in this portion of divine truth is to ascertain what the inspired author means by the mountain of which he speaks in our text.

The same Prophet in his 2d chapter speaks as follows; "And it shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established upon the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations ́ shall flow unto it." As the prophet here speaks of the establishment of the mountain of the Lord's house upon the top of the mountains, it seems to indicate the setting up of the divine power and government over the powers and polities of this world; the exalting of the mountain of the Lord's house above the hills signifies the exaltation of the divine economy and government over all the powers of the earth. The same in substance is found in the 2d chapter of Daniel, where the four great empires of the world are particularly characterised, their dissolution represented, and the kingdom of God set up and established. "Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken in pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them; and the stone that smote the image, became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth"

This is explained as follows; "And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to another people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever."

The gospel covenant is represented by mount Sion, in the epistle to the Hebrews; "But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem," &c. Here the same which is called a mountain is called the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. In the epistle to the Galatians the two covenants are represented by the allegory of Sarah and Hagar; " For this Agar is mount Sina, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage, with her children. But Jerusalem which is above, is free, which is the mother of us all." This is the same Jerusalem of which mention is made in the 21st of Revelations, as follows: " And I John saw the holy City, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride, adorned for her husband." This mount Sion, this heavenly, new Jerusalem, this city of the living God is the mountain of the Lord's house which is to be established upon the top of the mountains, and exalted above the hills, and unto which all nations are to flow. All nations will finally submit to the laws and government of the gospel, and be willing subjects of him who shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth, of the increase of whose government and peace there shall be ho end."

As the prophet informs us, that all nations shall flow to this mountain of the Lord's house, so in our text he says; "In this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things," which invites us to the consideration of the universality of the grace of the gospel.

The divinity of this testimony is visible on the face of it. It is like every thing which belongs to the wisdom and goodness of God. There is no partiality in

it. Every thing contrived by man discovers its origin by its partiality; so whatever is revealed from God proves itself to be from him by its impartiality. This universal impartial language is the language which the Holy Ghost saw fit to use to express the extensiveness of the divine goodness. The promises of God to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, expressive of the gospel covenant are recorded in similar language. God certified the fathers, that in the promised seed all the nations and all the families of the earth should be blessed. These promises perfectly harmonise with the prophecy under consideration. In this mountain, in this seed, in this covenant, in this kingdom, in this city, in this government the Lord of host shall make unto all people a feast of fat things. The same universality is expressed in the 2d Psalm. "I have set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree; the Lord hath said unto me, thou art my son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession." Like unto this is the following in the 22d Psalm, “All the ends of the world shall remember, and turn unto the Lord; and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee. For the kingdom is the Lord's; and he is the governor among the nations This word kindreds, is used by St. Peter in the 3d of Acts. "Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with the fathers, saying unto Abraham, and in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed." According to this divine declaration, all the kindreds of the earth are the children, and if children, then heirs of the testimony of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with the fathers. In prospect of these great and glorious things of the kingdom of God, the prophet David says, in the 64th psalm; "All men shall fear, and shall declare the work of God; for they shall wisely consider of his doings." In the 72d psalm we find the following; "He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth-men shall

be blessed in him, all nations shall call him blessedall kings shall fall down before him; all nations shall serve him." Psalm 86th, "All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee 0 Lord; and shall glorify thy name, for thou art great and doest wondrous things; thou art God alone." In bearing such testimony as the foregoing, David was a man "after God's own heart." In addition to what has been quoted from the prophet Isaiah, the following may be mentioned; Chapter 52d, "Break forth into joy, sing together ye waste places of Jerusalem; for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God." Chap. 53"All we, like sheep, have gone astray: we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all-He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied; by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities." Chapter 49th, "And he said, it is a light thing that thou shouldst be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel; I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayst be my salvation unto the ends of the earth." Time would fail us to recite all this kind of testimony from the prophets who spake of the coming of the Just One, and of the glory that should follow. We find in the New Testament many arguments and declarations corresponding with the promises of God and the sayings of the prophet on this glorious subject of universal grace. Jesus said, "God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved." The beloved disciple says; "We have seen and do testify, that the Father sent the Son to be the saviour of the world." Again he says that "Jesus Christ the righteous is the propitiation for the sins of the whole world." St. Paul bestows much argument to show that "where sin abounded, grace hath much more abounded; and that as by the offence of one,

judgment came upon all men unto condemnation, even So by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life." He exhorts Timothy to pray and give thanks for all men, because God will have all men to be saved, and as a reason for this he says, that the one Mediator gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

Having presented the hearer with this very limited sketch of the divine testimony in favor of the universal goodness of God to mankind, a humble desire is felt that we may now look with enlightened eyes and candid minds, to see how this doctrine agrees with the works and ways of God which are visible.

Can we see in all the works of God, any instance where the Creator has discovered any want of goodness to the creature which he has made? Is there any thing that we can point out in his universal providence that is a proof of a design to harm the works of his hands? Every animal, every fish, every bird, every reptile and every insect speaks forth the goodness of its Creator. Is there a nation on the earth who are so treated by the divine Being, that they can say to the world, we have never received a favor from our Creator? Is there an individual among men who will stand forth and protest against all the doings of God, and say, I have received nothing but evil from the hand that formed me? Is there a son or a daughter of sorrow in the hearing of this humble voice, who will assure us that "these light afflictions, which are but for a moment," will not "work for us an exceeding and eternal weight of glory:" and that God is not good unto all, and that his tender mercies are not over all his works?

Much has been said in the christian church, and much has been maintained by the prejudices of the ignorant against the universal goodness of God, and in favor of a partial system of salvation; but after all, the great question is, has God furnished those who limit his favor, with sufficient proof that they are right in so doing? In his sun-shine and in his rain does the Father of our spirits inform us, that he has elected a