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nected with the highest improvement of understanding; for "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and a good understanding have all they that do his commandments." To suppose, therefore, that a person of habits decidedly and ultimately vicious could become eternally happy, is to say that he is vicious and virtuous at one and the same time; which is manifestly absurd. This is not to limit the mercy of God, or to circumscribe his omnipotence: for his mercy cannot reach impenitent and obstinate transgression, nor can his omnipotence reconcile contradictions. Men have often been guilty of enormous acts of wickedness, who have been struck with such remorse as led to deep repentance and future amendment. In all such cases, it will be found that radical and universal corruption of moral principle had not taken place, and that when the grace of God is manifested in the extraordinary conversion of atrocious offenders, it has been exerted in renewing and bringing into energetic moral action some latent principle which had been for a season overpowered. But, to talk of a life of depravity as the best preparation for the salvation of the soul, is not more repugnant to the whole tenor of scripture, than it is absurd and shocking in itself.

As it has been already shown that the highest

a Psalm exi. 10.

happiness of man in his present state consists, and, from his very constitution, must necessarily consist, in the exercise and improvement of the nobler faculties of his nature, together with such a portion of sensual enjoyment as is compatible with these; so it is evident, that future felicity must comprehend these enjoyments, brought to the highest degree of perfection, freed from every impediment which now obstructs them, and placed in a course of endless progression. This, as has been shown in preceding parts of this work, is exactly the description of it which holy scripture sets before us; at least such may be fairly deduced from the notices which it has given. For the present condition of our faculties could not, it is most probable, admit of accurate conceptions of the future state of the blessed. The reunion of the soul to a body so improved and refined as we are assured that the human frame will be after the resurrection, exhibits an admirable display of the divine economy, in regard to the future condition of man. For by this the entire being will be resuscitated, and his compound nature be restored in the high, est degree of perfection of which he is susceptible. This important fact, disclosed to us only by revelation, corresponds with the whole analogy of nature, in which constant transmutations are observed, and reproductions are generated, according to stated laws.

It is absurd to suppose that future happiness can be different in kind from that of which man is now susceptible, however superior it will certainly be in degree. For, if this were the case, human identity could not be preserved, and a being with different powers and capacities, in a word, with a nature different from the human, must be created. If man, therefore, is destined for immortality, as scripture positively assures us to be the case, and on this very foundation the whole plan of the gospel rests, the continuity of his existence must be preserved, his constitution must be perpetuated, and his powers must remain, though improved and exalted to a degree of which we can at present form no adequate conception.

The salvation of the human race, then, being the great end of the gospel, and this salvation comprehending two grand branches, their deliverance from misery and their restoration to happiness, nay, their exaltation to happiness of a degree infinitely superior to that which belonged to man's original state before the introduction of sin; and this happiness, consisting in the renovation and right direction of his intellectual and moral powers, or, in other words, in his sanctification; it is evident that this is the ultimate object to which all the parts of the pel economy are directed.

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I have stated that the salvation of mankind is

the end of the gospel, and have explained what is comprehended under this term. The glory of God is generally considered by divines as the grand end of all his dispensations. But if these expressions are rightly understood, though I apprehend that they generally are not, it will be found that they are resolvable into the same principle. No person who has formed any accurate ideas of the divine nature and perfections, can entertain the gross and derogatory conception that the Supreme Being can be actuated by vain glory and ostentation, principles so contemptible even in mankind. We are often obliged to use such terms, by reason of the poverty of language, and to apply to God, as is frequently done in scripture, terms expressive of human sentiments and conduct. As the real honour and glory of man consist in the exercise and happy result of his nobler energies, so the glory of God can imply nothing else but the display and blessed effects of his infinite perfections, of his power, wisdom, and goodness. It is the true glory of the Supreme Being that his omnipotence is always employed in executing the infinitely wise and good purposes of his will; and it is this circumstance alone that renders him the preeminent object of our reverence, love, confidence, and gratitude. Were his omnipotence, like the power of many earthly sovereigns, employed solely to gratify his desire of

dominion, or for any other purpose whatever but that just mentioned, he would be the object of dread and terror, but would lose the character of the wise governor and beneficent parent of the universe. Those who are fain to represent their power as derived from God alone, would do well to consider how God exercises his own power, and to reflect that, if he has bestowed on them the right of dominion, they most grossly abuse their trust, are rebellious against the King of kings, and become obnoxious to his vengeance by counteracting the great ends of his administration. The most impious as well as the most absurd pretension that ever was urged, is that of a tyrant arrogating divine right. It is that of a malicious monkey imitating the actions of a man, and degrading human nature by its disgusting and faint resemblance. Roman tyrants, monsters of our species, might claim an apotheosis; because the gods, into whose number they were received, were as wicked and abominable as themselves. But, for a cruel and sensual despot to derive his power to trample on the rights of mankind, from the infinitely wise and good Lord of heaven and of earth, is the grossest ignorance combined with the most blasphemous arrogance. Nor is the tasteless imbecility of such beings less remarkable than their ferocious audacity. The greatest terrestrial happiness that any mortal can enjoy, is

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