to suffer the eternal vengeance of offended Heaven? Suppose, too, that in connection with the wealth and pleasures of the whole world, the impenitent sinner could gratify his highest ambition, and meet with all the honor and applause which could be conferred upon human greatness, whether merited or not, so long as enjoyed without alloy, or a rival. Let his name of praise be upon every lip, and his fame spread from shore to shore, and he be an object of universal admiration, and let him be conscious of all this too-let his name be adorned with a full catalogue of all the honorary titles which could be bestowed upon himlet him enjoy all the offices which exalt one digni tary or citizen above another-let him be even wor shiped by all the world, whom he would regard his inferior subjects, obliged to pay him the profoundest reverence-let him exercise universal dominion, without interruption during this life,-in a word, let him have the whole world as his exclusive property, to enjoy it as he please, as long as he lives,-what would be the final profit, if, after all this, he were to lose his own soul-be robbed of eternal glory in hea

Oh! how inferior would the whole world, en

joyed for the short season of human life, appear to his miserable mind, when compared with the inconceivable value of the immortal soul? the eternal glories of heaven!

Could man possess all created things, and in the choice of them he should lose his own soul, we can easily conceive how readily he would be willing to exchange his perishing, unsatisfactory possession for the restoration of his soul-for its eternal enjoy. But, alas! nothing-no not even the whole

ment.

world-could redeem it when lost. And yet how many sacrifice their souls to accumulate a mere speck of earth, which cannot be found upon even the map of the State, where their boasted possession lieswhile others lay the foundation of their utter ruin, in grasping after the imaginary pleasures of time and sense, which, like the empty bubble, only appear, deceive, and are gone, without leaving any lasting joy to the victim of disappointment and remorse. In a word, thousands irrecoverably lose their souls through the slightest indulgence of sin or error, persevered in without the least possibility of ever being able to redeem it. What folly for enlightened intelligences!— But more of this at another time: sincerely hoping that what has been said will awaken your serious attention to the value of your undying souls.

LECTURE HIL

THE LOSS OF THE SOUL.

The soul that sinneth, it shall die."

the soul-the inestimable treasu possessions the greatest, the bes affectingly true that it is liab

--. There is, however, a va Led and expressed by men smplies. Some suppos

the sinner. This sent within a few year

S subjects of th Cremer, a new doctrine

er of centuries, se and delusion. I

mose portions ishment of teath, &

Sat sinne

at. beem

et the s er verid. E.

tion of being when employed by the learned penmen is plain from the following. 1 John 3: 14-" We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother

abideth in death."

Here it is said, 1. That a man passes from death, or, if you please, from extinction of being to life, which is an utter impossibility, if death is literal extinction; 2: That a man abides, or lives in death-does he live in ceasing to live? What perfect nonsense! Another text says-John 5: 25-" Verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour cometh, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live?"-Now it is plain to the candid mind, that if men are dead and cease to live, they cannot hear; and yet, they only who hear shall live, says Christ, so that if death means extinction of being by the death of the soul, it must also in the above examples; that would render those passages, with many others which might be cited, altogether contradictory and unmeaning. But they are figurative. So also are the passages which speak of the future punishment of the wicked, as being death.

The term destroy, is also used to defend the anni hilation of the wicked. For instance, "He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy." But that the word destroy does not generally, if ever, mean annihilation is too plain to the careful reader of the Bible, or the man of common sense. When it is said of a man, that his property, or health, or reputation, or influence is destroyed or lost, all perfectly understand it to mean that the man suffers for the want of what he formerly enjoyed, and not that there is annihilation of property

LECTURE III.

THE LOSS OF THE SOUL.

Ezek. 18: 4. "The soul that sinneth, it shall die."

Notwithstanding the soul-the inestimable treasure of man-is of all his possessions the greatest, the best gift of heaven, yet it is affectingly true that it is liable to be lost, to die eternally. There is, however, a variety of opinions entertained and expressed by men as to what the death of the soul implies. Some suppose it means the annihilation of the sinner. This sentiment has been gaining ground within a few years past, among some of the visionary subjects of the advent of Christ. It is not, however, a new doctrine. It is only revived from its long slumber of centuries, to suit the present times of fanaticism and delusion. Its advocates pretend to confirm it by those portions of Scripture, which, in expressing the punishment of the wicked, speak of their destruction-their death, &c.; for instance, such as the text, "The soul that sinneth it shall die," and hence, they suppose that, because when men die on earth, their life is extinct, the soul too will be extinct in its death in another world. But, after all, these would-be wise men affirm that the dead live after they have become extinct, and yet do dot allow that the sinner can suffer what death only represents, viz., eternal conscious misery. That "death" does not always, nor generally mean extinc