Chapter 12

The christians also suffered persecution from the Jews; and Peter draws this inference from it--If we, who obey the gospel of God, have to endure so many persecutions from the Jews--if this judgment begins at us, how much sorer punishment will our enemies have to endure, who obey not the gospel of God? And if we the righteous are scarcely saved from this long-predicted destruction, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear? But how did Peter know that it was at hand? Because the persecutions, which Jesus had given them as a "_sign" or "token_" had then commenced at the house of God. The reader will now perceive that Peter was not speaking of a judgment at the end of time, because the judgment of which he was speaking had then commenced--"_The time is come_." Neither was he speaking of christians generally, nor of salvation in the future world; but of those christians _only_ who lived previous to the destruction of the Jewish polity, and of their being saved with _difficulty_ by watching the _signs_ and fleeing to the mountains of Judea as Jesus had forewarned them.

Luke records the language of Christ more plainly to be comprehended than that of Matthew. "In your patience possess ye your souls. And when ye shall see Jerusalem encompassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains, and let them which are in the midst of it depart out," &c. We should be led to suppose that, after the walls of the city were surrounded by an army, it would then have been too late for the christians to save themselves. But Christ as a prophet knew that Cestius Gallus would raise the siege, and fall back to make preparations for a more decisive attack, and thus afford the christians an opportunity to escape. It is evident to every candid reader that Luke expresses in chap. 21st, all that Matthew does in chap 24th and 25th. And that Luke does not refer to a judgment at the end of time is certain from the manner in which he concludes, which is as follows: "And take heed lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and the cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares * * * Watch ye, therefore, and pray always that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass and to stand before the Son of man." Here we perceive that not the least allusion is made to a judgment at the end of time; because there would be no propriety in warning his disciples not to be _drunk or overcharged with the cares of life_ at a judgment day thousands of years after their death. The day when the christians were "to stand before the Son of man" was at the destruction of the Jewish polity, and it was to take place in the life time of some of the disciples. Christ says, "there be some standing here that shall not taste of death till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom." The day of Christ was therefore at hand, and the apostles were warned to keep it in view, and watch the signs that were to precede it. Peter was faithful to these warnings, and when he saw the _signs_, presaging its near approach, he exclaimed--"_The time is come_," &c. This was the day of tribulation, when the christians were scarcely saved from the dreadful fate that overtook their own countrymen, who remained blind till the things that made for their peace as a nation were hidden from their eyes.

[Concluded in our next.]

SERMON XX

"For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God; and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?" 1 Peter iv:17, 18.

In our last we have attended to the first two divisions of our subject--viz: what we were to understand by judgment beginning at the house of God, and who were the righteous, and in what sense they were scarcely saved. We now invite the attention of the reader to the remaining division of the subject. _Third--who were the ungodly, and where they appeared_. By the _ungodly_ and the _sinner_, we are to understand the unbelieving Jews, the murderers of Christ and the persecutors of his followers. It has _exclusive_ reference to them and not to the ungodly who lived subsequent to the destruction of Jerusalem, much less does it refer to all the wicked that have ever existed, or shall hereafter exist, as common opinion asserts. This needs no further explanation.

Under this head, we were also to show _where the ungodly and the sinner appeared_. We have already had occasion to state, that Peter in our text refers to the destruction coming upon the Jews. The time was come when that judgment of persecution, which began at the christians, was to be returned upon the heads of their persecutors in seven fold vengeance and suffering. Their city and nation were to be destroyed, and their magnificent temple, where their devotions were offered, was to be laid even with the ground. Not one stone was to be left upon another, but the whole become one general heap of ruins. Then according to the prediction of Jesus, was there to "be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be." Then was "wrath to come upon them to the uttermost." Then was he to "take vengeance on them that know not God, and obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." Then were "the children of the kingdom to be cast out into outer darkness where there was wailing and gnashing of teeth." Then, as a nation, were "they to go away into everlasting punishment;" for "these were the days of vengeance when all things, that were written, might be fulfilled," and "all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zacharias, should come upon that generation."

Titus led the Roman army against them, surrounded the walls of the city on the day of the Passover, where a great part of the Jewish nation were then assembled, and to which others had fled for refuge, being driven by the terror of his arms like chaff before the whirlwind. Here they appeared! Husbands and wives, parents and children, brothers and sisters, (one promiscuous throng) were gazing in breathless solicitude, while consternation and dismay were depicted in every countenance, and fearful expectation pervaded every bosom! Death, a long lingering death, was gathering around them in all its horrors! Old men and young, maidens, matrons and little children poured forth their lamentations to heaven, invoking the protection of the God of Israel. But, alas! "the things, that made for their peace (as Jesus forewarned them) were hidden from their eyes!" Their hour was come, and the triumphant shouts of the enemy were heard around their stubborn walls, which (massy as they were) dropped to the ground under the subduing power of the battering-rams of war. With these massive engines of destruction, they laid the two first walls in ruin! But the third and last wall it was not in the power of the enemy to gain. The Jews fought with desperation, and by valiant exertions kept the enemy at bay, and for a while seemed to triumph in the fond hope of victory over the foe. The Roman army was driven to great extremity, and even to hesitation, while many of their most valiant men fell in action, and impending victory seemed to hang doubtful. In this moment of suspense, they came to a determination to make no further attack upon the city, but guard it and reduce its inhabitants to submission by famine. All supplies were accordingly cut off, and every avenue blocked up by the vigilant Romans. In addition to this, intestine divisions, civil wars and pestilence raged within the walls of the city. Having no employment in fighting the enemy, they fell to butchering each other. These things proved their ruin, and their national sun went down in blood. Every day thousands closed their eyes in death through famine and pestilence; and thousands by endeavoring to escape to the enemy and surrender themselves up as prisoners for safety and protection, were either cut down by the Roman sword, or met the same fate from their own countrymen. Here they appeared! All hopes of life cut off, nothing presented itself to their view, to end their woes, but the certain prospect of an untimely tomb! Fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, gazing upon each other in silent expectation, saw death gradually advancing in all its horrors. They were driven to the most dreadful extremities, until (is Josephus informs us) "they devoured whatever came in their way; mice, rats, serpents, lizards, even to the spider"--and lastly mothers were driven to eat the flesh of their own children! Here were lamentation and wo indeed! Such tribulation as our Saviour says never was, and never will be. In imagination the mind runs back to the period, and to the fatal spot. It surveys the painful scene, characterized by nought but moral and physical woes--madness and revenge, cruelty and carnage, pestilence and famine, and all the mingled horrors of war! It surveys the starving child clinging to the maternal bosom for help and protection, but alas! That bosom becomes its grave. Here the ungodly and the sinner appeared in deep despair! Unfeeling mortal, do you say that their punishment and sufferings were not sufficiently great, without adding that of immortal pain in the future world? Are you not satisfied without arguing that they ought to suffer endless misery in addition to their woes? Look with an unjaundiced eye over this scene of distress; and as you gaze let justice (if not compassion) once more take the throne of the heart, and then pronounce the shocking sentence of your creed if you can.

That their sufferings were overwhelming is evident from scripture as well as from history. In Lam. iv. The prophet Jeremiah says--"The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children, they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people." In Lev. Xxvi. Moses describes their sufferings as follows--"And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant: and when ye are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you, that shall make you few in number; and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy. And when I have broken the staff of your bread ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight; and ye shall eat and not be satisfied. And if ye will not for all this hearken unto me but walk contrary unto me; then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins. And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat." This did come upon the sinner and the ungodly, and it was "according to their sins." Moses, Jeremiah, and Jesus spake particularly of the sufferings of the Jews in the destruction of their city and they all agree in concluding their chapters. Moses in conclusion says, "and they shall accept of the punishment of their iniquities, even because they despised my judgments, and because their soul abhorred my statutes; and yet for all that I will not cast them away neither will I abhor them to destroy them utterly and to break my covenant with them, for I am the Lord their God." And Jeremiah, after describing their sufferings in the 4th chapter of Lamentations concludes with these words--"The punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion," &c. And Jesus, after denouncing upon them the judgments of heaven in Matt. xxiii. Concludes thus: "For I say unto you, ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." Thus we see that they agree in testifying to the same fact, that the punishment of the ungodly and the sinner, which mean, no other than the Jewish nation in their overthrow and dispersion as we have already noticed, shall end.

I see therefore no arguments, that can be drawn from our text, to prove a future judgment or endless misery in the immortal world. If the objector can see a shadow of evidence in this passage to support such a sentiment, yet I must frankly acknowledge that, for myself, I cannot. There is certainly no word in the text, that has the most distant allusion to the final condition of man. The _judgment_ began at the apostles and christians. But is the _"last judgment"_ to begin at them? Certainly not. But admit that it is; we would further inquire, did the last judgment begin as early as the days of Peter? Impossible. Then he could certainly not have had any allusion to such a day, for he exclaims: "_the time is come_ that judgment must begin at the house of God." Here the judgment to which he refers had commenced, or at least the _signs_ portending it had commenced, and it was to end upon the ungodly inhabitants of Jerusalem. This fact is evident from the context--"Beloved, think it not strange concerning the _fiery trial_ which is to try you, as though some strange thing had happened unto you; but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings, that when his glory shall be revealed ye may be glad also with exceeding joy." From this quotation there can arise no misapprehension as to Peter's application of the text, nor of the persons it involves. They were the persecutors of the christians, and no one will dispute that these were the Jews.

If then this judgment was at hand, it cannot of course refer to a period at the end of time; and it is in this case equally certain, that the _scarce salvation_ of the christians can have no reference to the immortal world. These facts being irresistible, the argument must be wholly given up that "the ungodly and the sinner" were to appear in a state of inconceivable torment beyond the grave, because the _condition_ of "the ungodly" stands in contrast with the _scarce salvation_ of the righteous, and this _salvation or deliverance_ was to be in a day nigh at hand, and from a tribulation or judgment in which their adversaries and persecutors were to be involved, and the _signs_, by which the apostle was admonished of its proximity, had already appeared when he wrote the words of our text. The meaning of his words, I humbly conceive, is simply this--The time _is come_ when the persecutions, predicted by Christ as a _sign_ of the approaching destruction of Jerusalem, must begin at us. And if we the righteous who are innocent, have to endure so many "fiery trials," what will the dreadful punishment be of our disobedient persecutors? And if we are _scarcely saved_ from this impending destruction, by fleeing to the mountains of Judea, where will our thoughtless and sinful appear? We have endeavored to show you where they appeared--have pointed out the narrow escape of the christians, who were "scarcely saved," and referred you to the _signs_ by which Peter knew this judgment was at hand. It is therefore unnecessary to offer any thing further in defense of our views, as the text is, no doubt, plainly understood by every reader.

We close this discourse by noticing one very common objection, made by our religious opposers, to our application of several scriptures. I do this, because I am not aware that it has been done by any Universalist as a _designed_ answer to the objection. The substance of the objection is this:--

_There is not a passage in the New Testament which speaks of a day of judgment, of the end of the world and of the coming of Christ, but what Universalists apply to the destruction of Jerusalem. Then, they contend, "every man was rewarded according to his works," consequently all subsequent nations are not to be rewarded, nor are they to experience a day of judgment_.

In reply to this objection I would remark, that we are not answerable for the many passages which the Saviour and his apostles applied to that event. But if we make a wrong application of any scripture, why do not our opposers point out the error? We will now show why the apostles wrote so much in reference to that period. They do not so frequently speak of that event merely on account of the destruction of their temple city and nation, (though that might justify their frequent reference to it) but there were circumstances of a more imposing and momentous character to attract their attention to that catastrophe. These were the abrogation of the Mosaic rituals and the introduction of a new order of things by Jesus Christ of whom Moses and the prophets wrote. This was a period when every christian was to be delivered from the persecution of the Jews, and the spread of the gospel was to be retarded no longer by their opposition. The Jews as a nation were to be punished for their deeds of blood, and that _spiritual reign or judgment_ commence which should pass upon all subsequent generations of men, rewarding every man according to his works.

The _gospel reign_ is called "the _judgment of the world_" by Jesus Christ, in the same sense that Moses judged the world two thousand years by the law. Jesus says, "Think not that I will accuse you to the Father, for there is one that _judgeth_ you even Moses in whom ye trust." From this it is evident that Moses was then judging the Jews. But this covenant was abolished at the destruction of Jerusalem. Paul says, "he taketh away the _first_ that he may establish the _second_." The word of God, in this covenant, is spiritual and sharper than any two-edged sword--it is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart, while that of Moses was outward, and took cognizance of the conduct only. The objections of our opposers are therefore unsound. And though we apply those passages, which speak of a judgment, to the destruction of the Jews, yet that judgment or reign of Christ which then commenced, is yet going on, and will continue till all are subdued to himself. He then came in his kingdom, and will continue to reward every man according to his deeds till his kingdom ends. So we this day experience the effects of his coming, and of his judgment or reign, and are justified or condemned according as we embrace or reject the words of everlasting life. We see therefore the propriety of the apostles dwelling so much upon that great event, which should witness the passing away of the types and shadows and the establishment of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

SERMON XXI

"For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." 1 Cor. xv:20.

The death and resurrection of all mankind are a theme of no ordinary moment, and have given birth to many theories and speculations among the advocates of Christianity. The common opinion is that one portion of our race will be raised to immortal life and glory in the future world, and the other to immortal damnation and dishonor--that at the same instant the living will be changed and that the whole human family will, in this condition, be arraigned before the "Judge of quick and dead," and receive their irrevocable sentence for endless joy or endless wo. Others believe, in opposition to these limited views of the divine character, that the resurrection is the closing scene of the great plan of salvation, and that no judgment is to succeed it. This resurrection, they believe, will introduce the numerous posterity of Adam into the same condition of immortal glory and honor, being made, by the power of God, "equal unto the angels, and be the children of God being the children of the resurrection." As to the _judgment day_, they do not believe, that the whole human family will be congregated in one amazing throng at one period of time, but that the judgment of the world, by Jesus Christ, commenced at the destruction of Jerusalem, when the Mosaic dispensation, with all its imposing rituals, passed away, and that this _judgment_, or in other words, this _gospel reign_ of Christ, is still progressing, and will completely terminate before the resurrection takes place. Notwithstanding this view of the day of judgment, yet they suppose that the _resurrection day_ is a designated period when the cerement of the dead shall burst, and all the slumbering nations, simultaneously, start up from their beds of clay, the living at the same instant be changed to immortal beings, and this countless throng, in one unbroken strain, shout--"O death! Where is thy sting? O grave! Where is thy victory"?

Though this scene would be full, and immortally sublime, and disclose a grandeur which a seraph's eloquence never can describe, yet I take the liberty to dissent from this long and fondly cherished opinion, and will humbly endeavor to present you my views on the immortal resurrection of the human dead. The ideas I have advanced in my sermons on the _new birth_, require me to do this. And no one has more occasion to rejoice than myself, that we are bound by no creeds, and that the preachers of our order encourage and cherish free investigation. Among such able and benevolent theologians, I feel conscious, if I err, that they will endeavor, in the spirit of meekness, to set me right. I therefore hold no one responsible for the ideas I am now about to advance. I am by no means in favor of new theories built upon mere human speculations, nor do I deem it an enviable task to make innovations on the long and universally established opinions of the christian community. I shall simply appeal to the scriptures to sustain me in my present exposition, and by that standard I am willing my views should be tried, for by that alone, they must ultimately stand or fall.

From the text we have selected, it might, perhaps, be expected, that we should proceed to prove the final holiness and happiness of the human family by showing, that he who is "made alive in Christ is a new creature"; but as this has, heretofore been done so often and so ably, we shall confine our attention, principally, to the different scripture accounts of the resurrection of the dead, and endeavor to ascertain whether it is indeed, to take place at the end of time and be general, or whether it is continually transpiring as gradual as the successive deaths of our race in Adam.

And here I would distinctly remark, that the dead are represented as being raised at the coming of Christ. This is admitted and believed by all. But where, I ask, is there in the Book of God _one passage_ to prove any coming of Christ after the destruction of the Jewish polity when he commenced his _gospel reign_, called the _judgment of the world_? This was his _second_ coming; but where but where is there a _scrap_ of scripture to prove his _third_ coming at the end of time? For one, I have searched in vain for such testimony. That Christ came in his kingdom, during the life time of the persons he addressed, and then commenced the judgment of the world, is certain. This is not, however, admitted to be that coming of Christ when the dead will be raised immortal. Where then is revealed that _third_ coming of our Lord, at the end of time, to raise the dead? I think it will be an unsuccessful task for any man to search it out and bring it forward.