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will the words in either case be understood, until we see what men are really spoken of. Esau, the carnal first-born, like Israel, whom he figured, and of whom in this relation it is said, "Let their eyes be darkened that they may not see, and bow down their back alway," (words which in the Psalm immediately precede the passage which is quoted by St. Peter in reference to the traitor Judas, 1) though hated for awhile, and "as concerning the gospel enemies for our sakes, are yet beloved for the fathers' sakes," and therefore blessed according to the word, "By faith Isaac blessed both Jacob and Esau concerning things "3 for God our Father, like Isaac, has more than one blessing. So the betrayer here, of whom the same passage is quoted, "Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein," is that same carnal first-born, whose life and ways Judas expresses, and whose "fall," like Israel's, as it has been “the riches of the world,"5 shall yet more shew the Lord's riches. In the passage referred to,-"The Son of Man goeth, as it is written of Him; but woe to that man, by whom the Son of Man is betrayed: it had been good for that man if he had not been born,”two men, and only two, are spoken of; "the Son of Man," and "that man " by whom the Son of Man is

to come,

Compare Psalm lxix. 23, 25, with Rom. xi. 10, and Acts i. 19, 20. The same passage is applied by S. Paul to Israel, and by S. Peter to Judas.

2 Rom. xi. 28.

Gen. xxvii. 38.

Heb. xi. 20.

5 Rom. xi. 12.

betrayed. Here are "the old man

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66 man " and "the Son of Man," of whom the one is always the betrayer of the other. Of these the one is the man of sin, the son of perdition, who cannot be saved, but must die and go to his own place; for flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom, neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Good had it been for this man, if he had not been born; but better is it that he has been born, that God might bring in better things. The evil shall work for good, and pass away; while the results shall be for ever glorious. For all that rose in Adam falls in Christ, even as all that fell in Adam rose again in Christ. The evil is only for awhile. "I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself abroad like a green bay-tree; yet he passed away, and lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found."

(vi) But all this, it is said, is opposed to the obvious sense of Scripture; and Scripture having been given for simple and unlettered men, the simplest sense must be the true one: at all events any sense which is not obvious cannot be relied on. This objection is urged by some as though it were

1 It ought not to be overlooked too, that in the passage under consideration, "Good were it for that man if he had not been born," the word we translate "good" is kaλdv, not åyalóv. This surely is not by chance. And I think I see an obvious reason for the choice of the word καλὸν here rather than ἀγαθόν. The καλόν may be missed, while the ȧyadv may by Almighty grace be yet obtainable. 2 Psa. xxxvii. 35, 36.

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unanswerable. But is the so-called obvious sense of our Lord's words always the right one? Let any one consider the New Testament quotations from the Old, and say whether the passages so quoted are applied or interpreted in their obvious sense. Have we not seen also that again and again, as in our Lord's words respecting leaven, and eating His flesh, and buying a sword, and the sleep of Lazarus, and the destroying and rebuilding of the temple,-not to speak of His usual parabolic style, which was expressly used to hide even while it revealed heavenly mysteries, the so-called obvious or literal sense is beyond all question not the true one. Besides the difficulty on this point, as we have seen, is that Scripture seems to bear two different testimonies; here saying that the wicked shall be condemned and perish; there declaring that all death shall be done away. God's two ministrations of law and gospel, and the reason for each, if we understand His purpose in them, explain the difficulty. But understood or not, the fact remains, that Scripture on this point contains apparent contradiction. Those therefore who speak so glibly of "the obvious sense of Scripture" forget how many texts must be ignored, before the doctrine of never-ending punishment can be shewn to be the mind of God. But it is in Scripture as in the books of Nature and Providence. Sensereadings will never solve the difficulty. Who, as he looks for the first time at death, would believe, that

1 S. Matt. xiii. 10-14.

this and this only is the way to fuller, better, life? The fact is, it is not enough to have a revelation. We need eyes also and hearts to read that revelation. And those who have most studied any of the books which God has given us, know that so far from the obvious sense being in every case the true one, all our sense-readings are more or less fallacious and untrustworthy, and must be corrected again and again, if we would possess the real truth. Some have proved this in one field, some in another. All must prove it if they will go onward to perfection.

(vii) There is yet one other objection. It may be said,-If you go so far as to hope for the final salvation of all men, irrespective of what they have done or have been here, why not go further, and say that devils may be saved, for if Old Adam can be redeemed, why not lost spirits also? Have not bad. men the devil's nature in them? Are they not called "the children of the wicked one?" Is not the same evil nature in all God's children, till it is slain?2 Yet has not the Lord died for all, that by His death He might destroy that evil nature and deliver them? And if this nature can be slain and changed in us, why not in Satan and the fallen angels? Shall the Jews be saved, whom our Lord calls "serpents" and "vipers," and of whom He says, "Ye are of your father the devil,” “How can 2 Eph. ii. 3.

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1 S. Matt. xiii. 38.

3 Notice the language, “perish AND be changed," used in reference to present nature, in Heb. i. 11, 12.

4 S. Matt. xxiii. 33.

5 S. John viii. 44.

ye escape the damnation of hell;" and shall God have no salvation for those, who, though now lost, have once been "perfect in beauty, full of wisdom?"1 Was not Satan "the anointed cherub, which covereth, with every precious stone upon him ;" and is he not, though "his heart was lifted up because of his beauty, and he has corrupted himself by reason of his brightness," yet a fallen son, against whom "even Michael, the archangel, durst not bring a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee."3 Where do we read that there can be no hope for such? Is it not rather distinctly written, that though "the Lord shall punish the host of the high ones which are on high, and they shall be gathered in a pit and shut up in prison, yet after many days they shall be visited." Are not therefore "the dragons and the deeps" called to "praise the Lord;"5 yea, are not "the depths laid up in storehouses?" And who is that king who builds the city of confusion, who has God's prophet for his servant and his teacher, who for his pride is as a beast till seven times pass over him, who yet at last regains his reason and his kingdom; that king of whom the Lord says, "Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me like an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up like

Ezek. xxviii. 12.

3 S. Jude 9.

5 Psa. cxlviii. 7.

7 Dan. iv. 34-37.

2 Ezek. xxviii. 14-17. 4 Isa. xxiv. 21, 22.

Psa. xxxiii. 7.