implied. Conditional threatenings and promises respecting the final salvation of the righteous, run through the Old and New Testaments.

Nothing short of humble and faithful perseverance in duties pertaining to life and godliness, and a continued reliance on the grace and power of God, through Christ, will secure our salvation, either for time or eternity. This is evidently the doctrine taught by Moses and the prophets, and strictly inculcated by Christ and his apostles: "And if any man speak not according to the law and the testimony, it is because there is no light in him." St. Paul, in his first epistle to the Corinthians (chap. x.), referring to the manner in which God punished and destroyed some of the Jewish people who sinned against him, adds, "Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples; and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come; wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." On which Mr. Wesley remarks, "The word translated thinketh, most certainly strengthens rather than weakens the sense." Hence he translates the passage thus: "Let him that assuredly standeth take heed lest he fall." This version will appear preferable even to the common English reader. The sense is complete and intelligible. A man who merely thinks he stands, or according to Griesbach, "seemeth" to stand, but in reality does not, would have nothing to fall from; and if admonished respecting his condition, the admonition, we may suppose, would have been worded differently, so as to have reproved him for his delusion and fancied security. We perhaps cannot conclude this important subject better than in the language of St. Paul to the Romans. Referring to the Jews, he

says: "Because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith"-(not by election.) "Be not highminded, but fear: for if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he spare not thee. Behold, therefore, the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness; otherwise thou also shalt be cut off, and they also, if they abide not in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again." Rom. xi. 20, 23. Though these words were originally written in reference to the Jews and Gentiles generally, they may nevertheless be considered applicable to individual cases. In the above passage we may see in what sense the apostle used the IF; viz., to shew what may take place, and what has taken place: for "God did not spare the natural branches," but cut them off; and what will take place in reference to those who "stand by faith," if they do not continue in God's goodness, they also shall be cut off, totally and finally.

XXVIII. GOD'S MORAL GOVERNMENT.

THE subject of Moral Government is profound and mysterious. Reference to Mr. Finney's remarks. What is implied in Moral Government. Man is an intelligent and accountable being. God is the Supreme Moral Governor. Difference of opinion on the origin of Polytheism. Moral Government in relation to man particularly defined. The rules of Moral Government. God does not rule over man as an arbitrary despot: God rules by the law of love. The moral law, or Ten Commandments, considered. What is implied in man's accountability. God's decrees in reference to man cannot be eternal, unconditional, and unalterable, as this would be incompatible with man's accountability. Sanctions, or rewards and punishments. The last judgment. The final sentence. Hell, how spoken of in Scripture; Milton's description. Heaven will be eternally enjoyed by Saints.

PERHAPS no subject has occupied the attention of theologians so much, and has been more minutely and extensively elaborated by moral philosophers, than God's moral government of the universe. The subject in itself, when gravely considered, is so profound, and in many respects so mysterious, that it requires clearness of mental vision and enlargement of thought in order to form correct notions of its true character, the nature of its administration, and the ultimate results in relation to future rewards and punishments. On these subjects Mr. Finney makes many useful and important remarks. But, upon the whole, his definition of moral government, and its relative bearing on those subjects which he considers are essentially associated there

with, are so lengthy, and his divisions and distinctions so multifarious, that it is almost impossible to understand him. Besides, some of his remarks on the divine right of government appear to be irreverent and presumptuous, as well as altogether superfluous.

Without even mentioning the many nice and superfluous distinctions which a minute investigation of the nature and character of God's moral government seems to suggest, and which have been discussed by several eminent authors, we shall proceed to notice a few of the most important particulars. God's moral government necessarily implies the following particulars: namely, moral agents who are governed, a moral Governor, moral laws, the accountability of moral agents who are governed, and future rewards and punishments awarded by the Governor to the moral agents who are the subjects of such moral laws. These subjects we shall briefly consider in order:

1. Moral government, then, is God's government of intelligent and accountable beings by a code of laws calculated to promote their happiness, and to illustrate the infinite wisdom, almighty power, unsullied justice, and immutable goodness of the Great Eternal Mind. This view of the subject accords with the views of Dr. Pye Smith, who defines moral government thus: "The Infinite Being manifesting his perfections in the supporting of moral order among intelligent creatures; or, subjecting rational creatures to law, and dealing with them according to the sanctions of that law." (F. L.'s, page 160.) Many eminent authors have expressed their ideas on this subject in similar language. I wish it to be distinctly understood that I do not intend in this essay to take a general view of God's

moral government, but simply to consider it in relation to mankind while in their present state of being. Jehovah is the supreme Governor of the universe, and consequently moral government is a phrase applicable to the management of the universal economy, or the government of all intelligent beings throughout the empire of universal dominion. All created minds, wherever they exist, and whatever are their capabilities, must be under some form of government, and of course under the control of the Supreme Being, and that government must be moral in its character. I shall not however take this extensive view of the subject, but consider it more particularly in that restricted sense which has just been pointed out; namely, in relation to man in his present state of being and future destiny.

Man is a free and moral agent, capable of receiving and rightly using a prescribed code of morals, by which to regulate his conduct and thereby to make himself useful and happy. This proposition is a philosophical axiom ; and every method resorted to by ingenious minds to overturn it is an additional confirmation of the palpable truth which it contains. But it may be asked, What is it which constitutes mind, intelligence, or the capacity for thinking, reasoning, &c.? Those who believe in the materiality of the mind argue that it consists in the peculiar qualities and formation of matter. We have before proved this notion to be unphilosophical-a groundless hypothesis, unscriptural, and at variance with the established laws of the physical universe. Therefore, the only rational answer which we are capable of giving to the inquiry is: When God made man, by a divine inspiration he created in him a living soul"-a rational, intelligent, and immortal