foul; you have endeavored, with your ftupefactive poifon, to blunt the fword in the hands of the cherubims, which, for your fake, keeps us from the tree of life.

A mistaken idea has been entertained of fin, even by profeffors. I have often heard fincere ministers preach, in their reproofs to their hearers, that it was the greatest folly in the world, for people to forego falvation, in a future ftate, for the comforts and pleafures of fin in this. Such exhortations really defeat their intentions. The wifh of the honeft preacher is, that the wicked fhould repent of their fins, and do better; but, at the fame time, he indicates, that fin, at prefent, is more productive of happiness than righteoufnefs; but that the bad will come in another world; that although doing well is a hard way, yet, its advantages will be great, in another ftate. Juft as much as any person thinks fin to be more happifying than righteoufuefs, he is finful; his heart efteems it, though, in fome poffible cafes, for fear of the lofs of falvation in the world to come, he may abstain from fome outward enormities; yet, his heart is full of the defire of doing them. A thief paffes a merchant's fhop, wishes to fteal fome of his goods, but durft not, for fear of apprehension and punishment. Is this man lefs a thief, at heart, for not actually taking the goods? I have been told, by perfons of high profeffions in chriftianity, that if they were certain of falvation in the world to come, they would commit every fin, to which their unbridled passions might lead them; even from the lips of fome who profefs to preach the righteoufnefs of Chrift, have I heard fuch-like expreffions! I do not mention these things to caft reflections on any perfon, or denomination in the world; for I have a favorable hope, that there are fome, in all denominations, who are not fo deceived; but I mention them, in order to fhow how deceiving fin is, to the mind. It is as much the nature of fin, to torment

the mind, as it is the nature of fire to burn our flefh. Sin deprives us of every rational enjoyment, fo far as it captivates the mind; it was never able to furnish one drop of cordial for the foul; her tender mercies are cruelty, and her breafts of confolation are gall and wormwood. Sin is a falfe mirror, by which the finner is deceived in every thing on which his mind contemplates. If he thinks of his Maker, who is his best friend, it ftrikes him with awe, fills his mind with fearful apprehensions, and he wishes there was no fuch being. If he thinks of any duty which he owes his Maker, he fays, in a moment, God is a hard master, why fhould he require of me what is fo contrary to my happiness? Religion is only calculated to make men miferable; righteoufnefs blunts my paffions, and deprives me of pleasures for which I long. But it reprefents ftolen waters to be fweet, and bread eaten in fecret to be pleafant." In a word, fin is of a torment-giving nature to every faculty of the foul, and is the moral death of the mind.

Well, fays the reader, can fin have all thofe evil effects, and not be infinite? Undoubtedly, as all thofe evil effects are experienced in this finite ftate. Thoufands, who, I hope, are gone to greater degrees of rest, than the most upright enjoy here, were once tormented with fin, were once under the dominion of the carnal mind. The effects of fin, as fin, are not endless, but limited to the state in which it is committed. This, perhaps, will be contrary to the opinion of many who read this treatife, as they are wont to fuppofe, that there are three cardinal confequences produced by fin, viz. Death temporal, death fpiritual, and death eternal.

As to the first of thefe confequences, I think I have plainly refuted it. Men die natural deaths, because they are naturally mortal; but they are not mortal becaufe of fin, for man was mortal before he finned; if he was not, he never

could have finned. My opponent will fay, that the death of the body is the confequence of fin, when one man murders another ; to which I reply, one man could not murder another, if men were not mortal. Sin cannot be faid to be the caufe of natural death, any more than of natural life. I will acknowledge that fin is often the mean whereby natural life is ended, and my oppofer must acknowledge, that it is often the mean of perfons being introduced into natural life. Perhaps an hundred are introduced into exiftence by illicit connexions, where one is taken out by malice prepence. But the meaning of the objector is, that man became mortal by fin; to which I reply, if immortality is corruptible by fin, the chriftian hope of immortality is a vain one. The death which Adam died, in confequence of fin, happened on the day of tranfgreffion, if we may believe the fcripture account about it; but Adam did not die a natural death, on that day, nor for fome hundreds of years afterwards.

The way in which many have tried to reconcile the fcrip tures with their traditions, in this matter, appears ftrange to me; they quote 2 Peter, iii. 8. « But, beloved, be not ig norant of this one thing, that one day with the Lord, is as a thoufand years, and a thoufand years as one day;" and as Adam died short of a thousand years, he died in the day of tranfgreflion. But, in order for the text to read to their meaning, it ought to read thus, "One day with the Lord is a thoufand years, and a thoufand years is one day;" as they understand the text, the conjunction as has no poffible meaning. In refpect to spiritual death, I believe it was all that was meant by the word, "in the day thou eatest there of thou fhalt furely die." But, if eternal death was also intended, there was no recovery for man. Why divines have carried this matter fo erroneously beyond all fcripture tenets, I cannot imagine. But, it is faid, fpiritual or moral death

would be eternal, were it not for the difpenfation of the gof pl, by which death is fwallowed up of life. So we might fay of any thing elfe, even of a momentary nature; it would be eternal, if it were never to end. The days of a man's

life would be eternal, if they were never to end. The fpring would be eternal, if it were not fucceeded with the fummer, A rose would be an eternal flower, if it never withered. And youth would be eternal, if it were not for old age and death. But what do all fuch arguments avail? The grand, fablime and glorious fyftem of God, carries every thing away that has its birth from mortality and time.

I have already hinted, that fin might have confequences which were not evil, but not as fin. By the infinite wisdom and goodness of the Almighty, fin may be of advantage even to the finner himself; but I fay again, not as fin. If the infinitely Wife and Good intended any one thing for good, which we rightly call fin, that event, in respect to the divine intention, is not fin. I have introduced a circumstance, in the fore part of this work, in which, what I am now endeav oring to illuftrate, may clearly be seen. It is evident that, that which Jofeph's brethren meant unto evil, God meant unto gool. Now the immediate confequences of their fin, to them, was guilt of the first magnitude. Who could calculate the one half of what they endured, in confequence of the wrong which they had done? But the confequences which God intended, in the iffue of the event, were altogether beneficial; and those who committed the fin, by the merсу of God, were made the partakers of the benefits contained in the purpose of him who meant it for good.

Again, it is evident from the fcriptures, that Herod, Pontius Pilate, the Gentiles, and the people of Ifracl, were gathered together against Jefus, to do what the council and the hand of the Almighty had determined to be done. See Acts

H

iv. 27, 28. Had Herod, Pontius Pilate, the Gentiles, and the people of Ifrael, any better meaning, in crucifying Chrift, than Jofeph's brethren had, in felling Jofeph to the Ifhmaelites? All who read the queftion, will anfwer, no. But the facred text fays, they were gathered together to do what fo ever God's hand and council had determined to be done. Now I alk, was not the determination of the murderers of Chrift, the fane, with the determination of Divine Wisdom? Says the reader, I cannot fay it was not, and yet, I dare not fay it was. I will then anfwer, the Almighty intended all they did, fhould be done; but he intended it for a very different purpose from what they did, who did it. They intended the deftruction and overthrow of the doctrine which Chrift preached, and they hoped the things which he had fpoken, concerning them, would fail of taking place. But the means which they ufed to oppofe the cause of Chrift, were thofe with which God intended to promote it. They miffed of their intentions, and the Lord carried the whole of his into effect. What chriftian is there in the world, who will fay, the con fequences of the death of Christ are not good? or, that those who were his murderers, for whom he prayed on the cross, will not receive an advantage from his death, which they meant for evil? Or, who can limit the good contained in the defigns of the Almighty? But will this rule do, fays the reader, to apply to all fin? I answer, without hesitancy, that I fully believe it. Food for the body would never please the appetite, unless we first experienced hunger; the cooling fpring would not be fought for, if men were never thirsty; health could never be prized, could we not contrast it with fickness; eafe is appreciated, by the remembrance of pain; and a phyfician would never be wanted, if it were not for our infirmities; a Savior would never have been praised, by his redeemed, had they never been in bondage; the fong, “ Thou baft redeemed us to God, out of every kingdom and nation,"