believers shall speak the same thing; when But God commendeth his love towards us, in there shall be no more divisions among that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died them; when they shall be perfectly joined for us. Much more being now justified together in the same mind, and in the same judgment. This was the state that St. Paul besought the Corinthians to press after, and wished them to attain; but he had the mortification to see them fall short of it, as all the Christian churches have, from that day to this. But when Christ shall give that glory and honour to his bride, which the Father gave to him, and shall thus unite her to himself, in an indissoluble union, and the several members of his body the Church, shall be as much united one to another, as the members of the natural body are; or, to express it in his own words, "As thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee." When thus the church shall be one, in spirit, love, design, judgment, &c., as the Father and Son are; then shall the world believe, and believing, have life; then shall the world know him, whom to know is life eternal. See verses 2, 3. But as this great cause has never yet existed, the effect has not yet followed; but when the first shall be, the last shall take place in consequence. The petitions in that most excellent prayer, that may, with great propriety be called the LORD's prayer, may be divided into four classes. 1. For himself, verses 1st and 5th. 2. For his apostles, 9, 19. 3. For them that should believe through their word, 20-23. And 4, for the world, verses 21, 23: as I have just observed, and need not add any more upon so plain a matter. Friend.-Proceed, if you please, to show, that the doctrine of the universality of the death of Christ does not lead to licentious ness. Minister. It is evident that it doth not; but on the contrary, it is the strongest motive to all who believe it, to love and live to him who died for them, and rose again. We are not our own, but are bought with a price; therefore, we are exhorted not to be the servants of sin, slaves to our passions, and servants to men; but to glorify God in our bodies and spirits, which are his; and the apostle beseeches us by the mercies of God, to present car bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God; which is our reasonable service. Forasmuch, as we know that we were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb without blemish, and without spot. See 2 Cor. v. 15; Rom. vi. 12, 13; 1 Cor. vii. 23; vi. 19, 20; Rom. xii. 1; 1 Pet. i. 18, 19. What a horrid thought would it be, that Christ should be the minister of sin, and that his blood-shedding should cause wickedness to abound! The love of God in giving his Son to die, is enough to move a heart of stone. "For when we were yet without strength, in due time, Christ died for the ungodly, for, scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet peradventure, for a good (kind, benevolent, generous) man some would even dare to die. through his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son; much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life." Rom. v. 6, 10. Here the death of the Lord Jesus is laid as the ground and the salvation of men inferred from it, with the greatest possible certainty; yet, will any one say, that because Christ hath died for him, therefore he will indulge himself in sin? God forbid. Some say that if they believed this doctrine, they would live in sin; and indulge themselves in their lusts and passions: but then it may be observed, that those who say so are its enemies, and those who oppose the view, and not those who receive it. There is something so brutish and unaccountable in such dispositions, as would lead men to hate their best friends, merely because they are so; that would lead them to hate God, because he loved them; despise Christ, merely because he died for them; that for the honour of human nature, I would hope these instances are rare. But to the point; I have conversed with many who believe that Christ died for them in particular; and yet I never heard them say, that they hated him for it; but, on the contrary, that they loved him exceedingly. Now, is not the same cause likely to produce the same effect? If a thousand persons, for instance, all believing that Christ died for them, find their hearts constrained to love him for it, would it not have the same effect upon ten thousand, ten millions, or ten millions of millions?-And if it would cause licentiousness to abound in the world, to preach that Christ died for all, if it was universally believed; by the same rule it must cause it to prevail, in a lesser degree, to preach that he died for a small part, at least, among those who believe themselves to be of the number; and, therefore, it must not be preached at all, that he died for any?— Who can deny the consequence? It seems to be evident, that Christ has done and suffered too much for those that he died for, to lose them finally; and thus the universal Restoration stands connected necessarily with the universality of the death of Christ, and is deduced therefrom, in the easiest manner; therefore, the doctrine of the former cannot tend to licentiousness, as it stands upon the ground of the latter, which hath been demonstrated to have no such tendency. 4. Another principle upon which the universal doctrine depends, is, the unchangeableness of God: whom he loves once, he always loves; he loved his creatures when he made them, as none can well deny; their sins he never loved, nor ever will; he hath declared, that he loved us when sinners, but never as sinners. His eternal and constant hatred of all sin, and his unchangeable love of all his creatures, are of the nature of primary truths from which the doctrine of the general Resto- | He hath sworn by himself, the word is gone ration may be easily and plainly inferred. In this view we may understand those many dreadful threatenings and gracious promises, made to the same people and persons: both shall be fulfilled the first, while they continue as rebels, which are designed to humble and subdue them; the last, when they shall have accepted of the punishment of their iniquity; when their uncircumcised hearts are humble, when their stubborn knees shall bow to JEHOVAH, and their former rebellious tongues shall swear allegiance to him. out of his mouth in righteousness, and shal I not return, that unto him "every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.' "Isaiah xlv. 23. The counsel of GOD shall stand; he will perform his pleasure, notwithstanding all the opposition that men can make: GoD is not a man that he should lie, neither the son of man that he should repent. Hath he said, and shall he not do it? or, hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good ?" Numb. xxiii. 19. If God will have all men to be saved and restored, and to come to the knowledge of the Does this idea lead to licentiousness, that truth, if it is his good pleasure which he hath God hates sin, and determines to pursue it to purposed in himself, in the dispensation of entire destruction, and never to put up his the fulness of times, to rehead all things in sword so long as there is a rebel in the uni- Christ, both in heaven and on earth; if he verse; yet, at the same time, has no positive hath sworn that unto him every knee shall hatred to the souls which he has made, but bow, and every tongue shall swear; and if he only wishes them to return to order? This worketh all things after the counsel of his idea appears to me, equally to check pre-own will, and is determined to perform all his sumption and despair; and tends to put an pleasure, which he is able to do; and with end to licentiousness, rather than to encourage him nothing which he pleases is impossible. it for if rebels are assured that their rightful sovereign hates them, and will never suffer them to be reconciled to him, it naturaly causes them to fight with tenfold rage, as all warriors will testify as on the other hand if they believe he is too weak, or undetermined to conquer them, they will be presumptuous, and continue the war. It cannot, therefore, be affirmed, by any person of reason, that the declaration that God will destroy sin, tends to promote it; or that his love of order, and hatred of evil, being compatible with his love to the creatures he has made, is a doctrine that encourages men to rebel; the contrary is evident; and yet these are the very grounds of the Universal Restoration; which cannot therefore be licentious. 5. Another of the first principles of the Restoration is, the immutability of God's counsels; which he hath confirmed by an oath, "That by two immutable things (viz. his word and oath) in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge, to lay hold upon the hope set before us." Heb. vi. 17, 18. "God hath abounded towards us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself. That in the dispensation of the fulness of times, he might gather together (or rehead) in one, all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth, even in him; in whom we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things according to the counsel of his own will." Ephes. i. 8-11. God is our Saviour (or Soteros, Restorer) who will have all men to be saved, (sothenai, restored) and to come unto the knowledge of the truth." 1 Tim. ii. 3, 4. This is the will and counsel of that God who "Doth according to his will in the armies of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, what doest thou?" Dan. iv. 35. I say if all these things are true, (as who, that believes the Scriptures, can deny,) then, is not the doctrine of the Restoration true? And who will venture to charge that with licentiousness, which God, in the counsel of his will hath purposed, and is determined to perform? We know, that the will of God is a will to all goodness, and that he cannot do anything unjust or contrary to his holy nature, or inconsistent with his plan of moral government, or that shall tend to promote rebellion; therefore, if GOD had seen that this great work had been, in any respect, injurious to his perfections, character, government, &c., he would not have proposed it; and if he had foreseen that the knowledge of it would have been hurtful to mankind, he would not have revealed it but since he hath done both, we may certainly argue that it is not a licentious dootrine to declare, that GOD will finally make all his intelligent creatures happy; by making them all his subjects, by destroying their sins, and making them holy, in a way perfectly con sistent with all his perfections and attributes; without doing the least injury to his character, or rendering his moral government weak, or making any of his words void, whether threatenings or promises, or in the least setting aside the sanctions of his law or gospel, or a future state of rewards and punishments; without derogating at all from the glory of the Mediator, but rather exalting it to the highest possible pitch without saddening the hearts of the righteous, or diminishing in the least, from the happiness of Heaven, but rather causing it to increase; for if there is joy in Heaven over one sinner that repenteth, there must be more over many, in exact proportion; and as GoD will certainly give greater possible joy to his chosen, and there is no doubt but it will receive addition from every one that is restored, or brought home to himself; therefore, it can only be brought to its highest possible pitch by the Universal Restoration, which doctrine cannot, therefore, be licentious, as God has appointed and revealed it, and all holy beings (except some weak good men on earth) rejoice therein exceedingly. 6. Another of the principles on which the general Restoration is founded is, that God hath given all things into the hand of Christ, who hath declared, that it is the Father's will, that of all that he gave him he should lose nothing; and that power was given him over all, that he should give the knowledge of GOD, even eternal life, to all whom the Father had given him; and that all without exception, whom the Father hath given, shall come in such a manner, as not to be cast out: But as all these scriptures have been recited, and reasoned upon before, I shall only now observe that as God the FATHER hath given all things to CHRIST, and as he hath engaged to bring all back, without exception, and hath both will and power to perform this work, and came into the world on purpose to accomplish it, it must of consequence, be finally perform ed: yet it cannot tend to licentiousness, or the God of Heaven, and the Lord Jesus Christ, would never have planned it, approved it, or sought to execute it. Many more first principles, on which the doctrine of the Restoration is founded, might be mentioned, and shewn to be far from tending to licentiousness. But I shall mention but one more; and that is-The Scriptures must be fulfilled, the Scciptures cannot be broken: None of the words of God can fail of being accomplished; and he hath not only denounced dreadful threatenings, but made many gracious promises to the same people. These cannot be fulfilled together; and if there is no truth in the Restoration, I cannot see how the latter will ever be fulfilled at all; and if sins are not punished in the persons who commit them, I am equally at a loss what sense or truth there can be in the former. It would be a great task to collect all the texts which justify the remark, that theatenings and promises belong to the same people in different periods, some specimens of which have been given in the course of these dialogues. Now, it cannot lead to licentiousness, to suppose that the Scriptures shall all be fulfilled; but it must lead to infidelity, and all kinds of evil to suppose the contrary. These are the first principles upon which the doctrine of the Restoration stands, and by which it is supported; and as these have been all considered, and proved to have no tendency to encourage sin, separately, much less can they have any such tendency, jointly; and then it evidently follows, that a doctrine which seems necessarily deduced, or inferred by undeniable consequences, from all these considerations united, cannot be false, or have any evil tendency. But I shall next proceed to shew that all true, experimental, and practical religion, seems so consistent with the Universal Restoration, that it may be reckoned a wonder, that all who have tasted that the Lord is gracious, and have dilligently practised his commands, have not in all ages been fully convinced of the truth of it. Friend.-Is it possible that you can do this? If so, I hope your reasoning will be attended to; and I must confess, that you have cleared your way so well, by considering the first principles of the doctrine, and shewing that they are very far from tending to licentiousness, that I am half inclined to think you will be able to answer this objection, formidable as it has been considered hitherto. Minister. As I trust you have been made acquainted with experimental religion, I need only appeal to your own experience, for the truth of what I advance; and I am apt to think, if you will answer me candidly, to a few questions, you must acknowledge either that the Restoration is true, or that your experience is false. Friend. I am willing to give you as plain and candid answers as I can; for it will be of no use to deny what the Lord has done for my soul. Minister. Let me then ask you in the first place, did you not see yourself los: and undone; and that you were vile before God, unworthy of his mercy, and totally unable to deliver yourself from your sin and misery? Friend. I certainly did; and I was sometimes ready to think there was hardly such a sinner on earth as myself, all circumstances considered; for I had sinned against such light and love, that I thought all the world might be forgiven sooner than myself. Minister. And were you not brought by the power of God, to resign yourself into his hands, without reserve, to do with you, and dispose of you, according to his will and pleasure; being convinced that he neither would nor could do you any injustice? Friend.-O yes; and then I found peace; my rebellion against God ceased; I looked upon him quite differently from what I did before; I saw that he was wholly right and just, and that I was entirely to blame. My murmurings against him ceased; I viewed him as such a holy, good, merciful, and yet righteous God that I could trust my soul in his hands, with the most entire satisfaction. Minister. And when Christ was revealed to you as a Saviour, how did he appear? Friend. As one able and mighty to save, even to the uttermost; and I thought there was not only a sufficiency in him for me, the vilest of all, but for the whole world, yea for a thousand worlds, had there been so many. His blood seemed to me so precious, his obedience and sufferings so meritorious, his power so great, his love so rich, boundless and free, that I was overcome with the transporting view. And as I saw in him a fulness for all, so I found in him an infinite willingness to save all: for how could I think otherwise? I knew myself to be most unworthy, and that he had graciously pitied me: I beheld his love, like a river, flowing down to me as free as water; and I was amazed that I had not beheld it before, in the same light. I saw that the love of God to me, did not now begin, but was now manifested to my soul. I saw that there was no change in God, but all in myself. These words were precious to my heart at that time :-" Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love;—therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee." Jer. xxxi. 3. As also these: "Son be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee." St. Matth. ix. 2. Minister. You have brought my own experience to my mind: It pleased GOD, by an incident too trifling to mention, to bring me to seek earnestly for an unfading treasure; and by a train of circumstances, fixed the concern deeply upon my mind; and I laboured night and day, but could obtain no rest, till one morning-a time never to be forgot ten!-as I was walking on a journey, under great distress, and when deliverance seemed farther from me than ever, all at once I was brought to resign my soul into the hands of God, and thus I expressed myself: "Lord, here I am a poor helpless sinner: I resign myself into thine hands; take me, and deal with me just as thou pleasest. I know thou canst do me no injustice." Immediately these words came into my mind, with great power and sweetness: "In an acceptible time have I heard thee; and in a day of salvation have I helped thee." Isaiah xlix. 8. And I had then such a view of CHRIST as to make me cry out "Glory to God in the highest! This is salvation; I know this is salvation!" Then those passages which you have mentioned, came into my mind with great energy; and I saw the fulness, sufficiency, and willingness of CHRIST to save me and all men, in such a manner as constrained me to venture my soul into his arms; and if I had ten thousand souls, I could have trusted them all in his hands. And O how did I long that every soul of Adam's race might come to know the love of God in Christ Jesus! And I thought I could not be willing to live any longer on earth, unless it might please God to make me useful to my fellow creatures. What peaceful hours I then enjoyed! But they have left an aching void This is a little abstract of what God did then graciously teach me by his Spirit; but I had been brought up in that particular system and in the course of a few years came to be so firmly attached to it, as to refuse, in my preaching, to make general invitations to mankind at large; rightly reasoning with myself, that if provision was only made for a small part, I had no warrant to call or invite the whole to come and partake; and therefore only pressed the duty on such characters, as hungry, thirsty, weary, heavy laden, such as were without money, sensible sinners, &c., all of which I concluded to be of the elect; because I judged the Spirit had begun to operate savingly upon their hearts; and that to these, and these only, the Scriptures directed invitations to be made; never considering that text" Hearken unto me, ye stout hearted, that are far from righteousness. I bring near my righteousness; and it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry." Isaiah xlvi. 12, 13. During the time that I remained in this close hearted system, labouring with all my might to maintain it, I chanced to come to a house where, as far as I can judge, was a very sensible and pious young woman, whom I never saw before or since. She gave a very judicious account of the work of grace upon her heart; but when she came to that part, where she said she beheld an infinite fulness in CHRIST for ALL the world, I interrupted her, and told her that could not be; for there was no provision made for all, and therefore it was impossible that she could have any such discoveries made to her by the Spirit of God. This I insisted upon, according to my system, contrary to my experimental knowledge; (O the mischiefs of bigotry, prejudice, and vain attachment to system!) she, on the contrary, maintained, that she clearly viewed matters in that light; and that she certainly was taught to believe, that in Christ there was a fulness and freeness for all. This I denied; and she was thereby prevented from finishing what she had begun. I can never forgive myself for the opposition I made to what I knew to be truth by experience; and as I did not inquire the name of the person, I have had no opportunity of making a recantation by letter, as I ought to have done; and having never been in the place since, and it being highly improbable that I ever shall be again, I feel myself extremely hurt, whenever I think of it. Friend.-I can but admire the agreement between us in matters of experience; for I found the same dispositions of mind that you mentioned, when it pleased God to reveal his Son in me. Minister. I never found an experienced Christian in my life, but would give much the same account, provided that his system was not in sight; and I have found some, that though they were violently attached to the contrary system, and knew my intention in asking the questions; yet answered the following affirmatively. Did you not see and feel yourselves the vilest of sinners? Did you not view the love of God infinitely full, free, and unmerited? Did you not behold in Christ an infinite fulness, sufficiency and willingness, to save all, without exception? Did you not love all, and wish all might come and partake of his grace? Did you not earnestly desire the salvation of all, not only of your family, friends, neighbours and nation; but also of your ene mies, and of all mankind?-Could not you embrace the whole human race in the arms of benevolence? Did you not find it in your heart to pray for the salvation of all mankind, as for your own? If you had as much power as good will, would you not bring all to bow to the sceptre of grace, and to be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ? Friend. I do not see how an experienced, person can refuse to say yes, to all these questions; they are so agreeable to the very tempers of the new born soul; and I am sure, I found them in my heart, at the very time when I first tasted of the love of God. Minister.-Well then, my friend, let me ask you, from whence did these tempers and dispositions proceed? Friend. To be candid, I think they were given me from above, and came down from the Father of lights, from whence, every good and perfect gift cometh; and I am the more apt to think so, because I found contrary dispositions in my heart before; and the more I am sensible of the forgiving love of God, the more I find these affections which you have described, and these desires for the good of others. Minister. Then let me ask you, can a small drop be larger than the unfathomed abyss, and ocean of love? Have you more compassion towards your fellow creatures than the God that made them? Can any effect be greater than its cause? Would you bring all to submit to God, and be happy, if you could? And will not he, to whom nothing that he pleases to do is impossible, bring all his creatures to be reconciled to himself at last? He has infinitely more love to his creatures, than all the saints and angels in glory have; he is possessed of infinite power and wisdom, as well as love; all means to accomplish the work are known to him; he can do it in a way that shall cause his praise to abound exceedingly, in a way perfectly consistent with all his perfections, and the whole of his glorious character; it is his will and purpose so to do, as has been proved at large. What, then, can hinder him from fulfilling it? as we have opportunity. This is recommended to us by the example of our heavenly Father, who maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust; and no person can say, that the belief of this doctrine tends, in the least, to hinder us from doing good to our fellow creatures; but rather encourages us so to do, from the consideration that God loves them all, and does good to all, and is determined to make thein all the subjects of his kingdom at last. 3. We are commanded to forgive all men their trespasses, and to pray, saying, "Forgive us our (debts, or) trespasses, as we forgive (our debtors, or) them that trespass against us;" St. Matth. vi. 12; St. Luke xi. 4. And our Lord says, "For, if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses;" St. Matth. vi. 14, 15. See also xviii. 21, 35; St. Mark xi. 25, 26; St. Luke vi. 37. Now, is it possible to suppose, with any degree of reason, that our Lord would command us, upon pain of his highest displeasure, to forgive those whom he hated, and determined to punish while he should exist, without having the least desire or design to do them good? Has he promised us the greatest blessings, if we will forgive all men; and will he never forgive them? He that can believe this, let him believe it. However, since forgiving all men is a plain command, which none can deny; I trust, no one will venture to say, that believing the final Restoration of all men, at last, will have any tendency to make us break this precept of our Saviour's, upon which he lays so much stress; but, I think, the contrary is evident. Friend.—I am not able to gainsay this reasoning; it seems almost undeniable. But 4. We are commanded to pray for all men. can you shew that the doctrine of the Res-St. Paul says, "I exhort, therefore, that, first toration stands connected with practical religion, or the keeping of the commandments of God? Minister. I can very easily do that, in every instance; but shall only attend to the following, as a specimen. 1. Our Lord has commanded us to love all mankind; not our brethren and friends only, but even our greatest enemies; and all for this purpose, that we may be the children of our Father who is in Heaven, whose love is universal, and whose tender mercies are over all his works: See St. Matth. v. 44, 48; St. Luke vi. 27, 36. But if God doth not love all himself, Christ hath commanded us to be more perfect, in that respect, than our Father, who is in Heaven; which to suppose, is highly absurd. What shall we say to that doctrine that teaches us, that God hates with a perfect hatred, many of those whom he hath commanded us to love as ourselves? Therefore, there is nothing in the doctrine of the Restoration, contrary to the love of our neighbour; which on the contrary is promoted thereby. 2. We are commanded to do good to all men, of all supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God, our Saviour (or Restorer) who will have all men to be saved (or restored) and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time." This is the great doctrine of the Gospel, the very foundation of Christianity: Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle; (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity." The apostle not only believed, but taught; not only taught, but commanded others to teach and preach this great doctrine, of God's being the Saviour, or Restorer of all men. In this he glorified, saying, "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation. For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour (or Restorer) of all men, especially of those that believe. These things command and teach." Upon this grand foundation, St. Paul re |