Him that purifying work is begun which makes all who are its subjects new creatures, and enables them to advance in nearer conformity to the divine will, till, being made perfect in holiness, they are conveyed to everlasting happiness and glory.

VI. We infer the infinite holiness and justice of God from the revelation of a judgment to come, and the consequences that are to follow from it. To this future period of retribution we refer for a full explanation of that which we cannot now altogether account for,the existence of evil, and its unequal distribution. We have already, indeed, ample proofs that our supreme moral governor is just; but then we shall see this justice displayed, so as to leave no doubt of its infinitude. It will award the due measure of punishment to the crimes which for wise reasons it here allowed to escape; and the piety and moral excellence, which were here doomed to suffer, will then obtain the high compensations of abounding grace. That will be the day of the revelation of the righteous judgment of God-when, from before the face of him that sits upon the throne, the earth and the heavens shall flee away, and there shall be found no place for them, when the dead, small and great, shall stand before God, and shall be judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. It is only a few years, and this period of impartial retribution will begin-when it will begin never to terminate; "for the wicked will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal.”

To the duration of this punishenmt objection is made as being in itself unequal, and therefore unjust. It

were enough to obviate this objection to state, that the word of that God of whose goodness and equity we have from other sources such numerous proofs, has declared that the future punishment of the wicked will be endless. If it seem unjust that the sins committed during a period so short as the life of man should be visited with an everlasting punishment, let us reflect, that this being a state of trial, however long it might be rendered, still it must be followed by a state of retribution, and to the impenitent, by a state of misery; and that if the threatening of such awful severity be ineffectual to produce a turning of the heart to God now, with the knowledge that the time of probation is limited, while we are kept in uncertainty as to the period of its actual termination, can there be any ground to hope that its effect would be different at any future period? Since he who knows the end from the beginning, and who sees what would be the progress through an endless duration of a corrupt and unrenewed heart, has declared that this is the only accepted time, and that this is the day of salvation, and that men's state is irreversibly fixed beyond death and the grave, may we not safely conclude, that no length of time would lead to any alteration in those who die impenitent, and that nothing would satisfy them but an eternity of unrestrained and unpunished wickedness. Now, if a rational creature rejects an offered and an everlasting felicity, and ventures on eternity while assured by the God who cannot lie of endless misery, I see not on what ground it can be deemed unjust to assign to him the portion which he has chosen. Besides, there is in sin infinite guilt and

inconceivable evil. One act of rebellion against God includes a contempt of his authority, a denial of his righteousness and holiness, and a defiance of his power; it is a complication of impiety and ingratitude, and all that gives to crime its excess of wickedness;—and one such act being infinitely evil in its nature, deserves a commensurate punishment. But we may infer that, irrespectively of any direct punishment inflicted by God, the misery of the wicked must be eternal. To ensure this necessity, all that is requisite is, that they should be left to themselves,-left to the evil passions of their own hearts, and to the remorse of accusing consciences,-left, without any divine influence to change them, to the bitter fruits of a depraved nature.

I cannot help remarking, in the first place, the reluctance which is so generally felt and exhibited to make a full acknowledgment of the holiness and justice of God. Many who admit his power and wisdom question the infinite goodness and equity of his government; and multitudes who extol his goodness really and practically deny his justice. Hence, the feelings that are often entertained, and that are sometimes expressed, concerning the rigour of his law, in demanding more from us than is suitable to our faculties and to our circumstances to give, and the consequent impossibility that a Being so benevolent should finally treat and judge us according to its tenor. Hence also the proneness of man, even when enjoying the light of the Gospel, to rely on his own merits as the ground of his acceptance, and to think that his sinful and imperfect works will satisfy divine

justice. It is to this same reluctance in owning the righteousness of God that we are to trace most of the prevailing errors among nominal christians, and their opposition to the way of salvation through the atonement and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ.

2. Our knowledge of the holiness and righteousness of God should teach us the duty of deep humility and contentedness under every dispensation. Why should a living man complain, a man who suffers the punishment of his sin? And how little reason have they who are personally and experimentally interested in the blessings of the Gospel,-who, though they have been rebels against the authority and government of the just God, are now received into a state of reconciliation,-how little cause have they to complain of the privations and sufferings which they may have to endure in entering into the kingdom of God? That wrath to come of which they were the heirs, even as others, being through the compassionate interposition of Christ averted from them, what cause have they in every situation in which they may be placed, while passing through this world, to give thanks, and to rejoice in hope of the glory of God! When they narrowly look to their hearts, and see their earthliness, and the little progress that they have yet made in conformity to the will and the holy image of God, they may well wonder, that he who is a jealous God, does not more frequently and severely visit them with chastisement.

3. Have they not cause to rejoice in the contemplation of the holiness and justice of God? This must teach them to place implicit confidence in his truth and

faithfulness. He who is infinitely just must fulfil all his promises in time and through eternity. He who is infinitely just will not cast us off at the bar of his judgment, if we now flee to that refuge which glorifies his justice. Him God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness in the remission of sins,-that he might be just and the justifier of him that believeth on Jesus. There is a righteousness to justify us that meets every accusation, that rises up to every requirement, and that is commensurate with the infinite holiness and

justice of the Godhead. “Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth; who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea, rather, who is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, making intercession for us." The righteousness of Christ imputed to us, gives us a title to eternal life, and the righteousness wrought in us by the Spirit, by elevating our nature to a conformity to the holiness of God, makes us meet for its enjoyment. It is thus that Christ becomes the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth; and that the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit.