is the day of salvation." But how soon he will say, Depart from me, ye worker of iniquity, I never knew you"-you cannot tell, but God knows. And should he address you to night, as he did the rich man—the man of anticipated pleasure, saying, "Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee"-O, what a miserable eternity you would experience. Then be admonished and not trifle away your precious moments, and your valuable soul, and the inestimable treasures of heaven.

LECTURE V.

SALVATION IMPOSSIBLE FOR THE FINALLY LOST SOUL.

Matt. 16: 26. “What will a man give in exchange for his soul ?”

OUR Lord, who knew the inestimable value of the soul, after inquiring what advantage a man would gain by preferring the whole world before the salvation of his own soul, adds, “What will a man give in exchange for his soul?" i. e., suppose a man gain the whole world, and in doing it he lose his own soul, what can he find of sufficient value to restore that loss? There is evidently, in the very face of this inquiry, a positive indication that the lost soul can never be saved, under any consideration, or by any means. No, not even by the Savior himself. A few arguments will justify this assertion.—And,

1. That it now is, and ever will be, beyond the power of man, by any act or suffering, to redeem his own or another's soul. If this sentiment were not true, the Savior of sinners had never been promised-had never been referred to--had never come-had never died and risen again to justify the believing soul. There is no natural or moral power in man by which he can, at will, take hold on heaven, when lost. Indeed, the will of a lost soul is opposed to holiness and the holy, hence, he is morally incapable of desiring or of receiving heaven. He has no power to arrest Divine justice, or to excite Divine sympathy for

himself, much less for another, in the same wretched state; so that he is irretrievably lost, so far as human ability can effect a change in his condition. His cries might be continual and sufficient to excite human sympathy, even to the violation of civil laws or human rights; but they could have no effect upon the just and holy God. The rich man, while in hell, lifted up his wistful eyes to heaven, and expressed the deep anxiety of his soul and body in his address to Abraham, whom he called Father; but, however sympathetic were the expressions of his countenance, and his miserable condition, and his address, he could not even move a glorified saint who had possessed human sympathy while upon the earth. Now being divested of everything but what was consistent with the infinite justice of God, he could only utter a sentiment expressive of the will of Him against whom the sinner had transgressed with a high hand, and who had with determined greediness preferred this world before the only God and the true riches.

The lost sinner cannot affect the mind of God by any appeal that he would make, of having been benevolent to the poor-in sympathizing and relieving the afflicted-in defending the widow, the fatherless, or the oppressed—in liberally and actively sustaining and extending the Kingdom of Christ in the world. Neither can he plead that he was a professed disciple of Christ, and as such advocated his cause in opposition to infidelity and crime, and in so doing, was instrumental in the salvation of souls, and in strengthening Zion, and in checking the progress of unbelief and sin. Neither can he urge that he was generally applauded by men for his external deportment, his

intelligence, his amiability of temper, his respectability as a citizen and as a man of fortune. Neither can he claim any favor on account of his embarrassments, losses, afflictions, or unfavorable circumstances, for attending to the concerns of his soul. He cannot charge the misfortune of the loss of his soul to the prejudices which he cherished against the religion of Christ, against the Church, and against Christians, on account of the imperfections of true believers, or the shameful sins and dishonesty of the deceived or false professor of true religion. We argue,

2. That the atonement of Christ can have no effect to save the lost soul which has passed the bounds of time, and entered into the eternal world. It is true, Christ came to seek and to save lost sinners: but his power to save extends no farther than the present life-the future life is a state of confirmation of what is done on earth and in time. This life is the period of man's probation, the time when he should prepare for another state of existence. The Scriptures speak of it in that light. They afford no hope of future bliss but to those who improve the present seed-time. The life to come is the state of retribution, the harvest or reaping season. Hence, "whatever a man sows in. this life, whether good seed to eternal glory, or bad seed to eternal misery, that shall he reap in eternity." Christ is now ready, while the sinner lives, to do his part to save the penitent soul. He will cast none such away. But however willing he is now to save, is no argument that he must of necessity accommodate himself and his atonement to the slothful, the vicious, and the unbelieving, who listen not to his pressing invitations of mercy-or who falsely hope

for future restoration. The united testimony of Scripture is, "Seek ye the Lord while he may be found; call ye upon him while he is near." "Behold, NOW is the accepted time; behold Now is the day of salvation." It is exceedingly difficult to reconcile these passages of Divine truth with the flattering but false hope of the sinner, that God will finally save his lost soul because of what Christ has done. But it should be remembered that God, in his word, speaks understandingly and consistently with his whole course of conduct towards his creatures. Hence he does not require men to do or to receive now what they can as well realize in another state of existence. And if he require us to secure his salvation now, or in this life, as a preparation for eternity, he virtually affirms the impossibility of gaining that salvation in another world; or of being happy there without a previous preparation.

There are several striking instances recorded in the Gospels which illustrate these facts with that force which the Divine teacher intended should impress the reader with the solemn importance of timely attending to the things of his soul with respect to the 'future state.

The case of the foolish virgins is given to remind us of the sudden and unexpected coming of Christ to call the careless sinner away from the privileges of the Gospel, showing, that when this is done, all hope of their salvation is vain and lost. For when the door of mercy is shut, continued knocking and earnest beseeching cannot secure an entrance into the favorable presence of Christ.

The case of the unjust steward, who was unex