he meant to show, that at the end of the Jewish dispensation he should set upon the throne of God over all nations, and that all nations would be gathered before him spiritually, and that he would then reward and punish them according to their works, and that all this would come to pass before that generation passed away, although, no one but God knew the day and the hour when it would come, and therefore commanded his disciples to watch, that they might be ready to meet their Lord when he should come. And this is more clearly evinced, when we consider the nature of the question of his disciples which elicited the whole discourse, which has generally been misunderstood by us who are unlearned in the original tongues, by the word Aion, being rendered world, viz.: Matth. Xxiv, 3, "What the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the (Aion) world?" Now, the question was not, what shall be the sign of the end of the material world? but the nature of the question was, what shall be the sign of the end of the Jewish age, course, or dispensation? And he went on to tell them from verse 5, on to 28, and then predicted his spiritual coming at the same end of the age, as I have shown before. But as the chief strength of this objection is built on the word everlasting, viz.: everlasting fire, and everlasting punishment: take notice, the word everlasting, is from the Greek adjective, Aionion, which is derived from Aion, which I have before shown, means age, &c. It is therefore evident that the original word rendered everlasting, does not mean eternal, but, only a long time; and all learned writers whom I have consulted on this word give it this definition, and we who can read nothing but English may see from our Bibles that the word everlasting is from original words which do not mean eternal. For the land of Canaan, or Palestine, was given to Israel for an everlasting possession. The priesthood of Aaron was ever

lasting; the covenant of circumcision was everlasting; and divers other things were called ever-. lasting, which have ceased long ago: therefore, Jesus did not mean that the wicked should be punished eternally, but he meant to represent by figurative expressions in this parable of the sheep and goats, that when he should reign spiritually over all nations as he does now, that those who should do wickedly from one generation to another, should go away, or depart from him into the Lord's fire in Zion, and into his furnace in Jerusalem, or in other words, should be tormented, and condemned by the fire of God's word, both by the spirit of Christ, and the testimony of his servants against their wicked works, which fire of God's word would continue to burn through all the ages of the Messiah's reign, and therefore he called it everlasting fire, and those of every generation in his reign would be punished by it, as well as by calamities, and therefore he called it everlasting punishment, although no individual would be punished everlastingly.

Another objection which is considered unanswerable, is from Matth. XII, 32, and MARK 111, 29, "But whosoever speaketh against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this (Aion) world, neither in the to comei But is in danger of (Aionion) eternal damnation." Now, observe that neither of these express eternity, or eternal, although, in Mark it is so rendered, for I have showed that Aion means age, &c.; therefore, Aionion which is derived from Aion cannot mean any more than the duration of an age, course, or dispensation; but as it is allowed that it never means eternal, it ought not to have been so rendered.

And if my information is correct, in the Sepluagint, which is a Greek translation of the Old Testament, made in the time of Ptolemy, Philadelphus. Ainion is from the Hebrew Olim. And, Olim in our English version is rendered in the following

manner: Continuance, Isaiah Lxiv, 5. Ancient, PROV. XX11, 28. Old, Deut. XXXII, 7. Any, long, any time, long time, long home, and, long dead, Lev. xxv, 32: Isaiah Xlii, 14: Eccl. Xii, 5: Ps. CXLIII, IlI. World, Ps. Lxxiii, 12. Outcasts, Jeremiah Xlix, 36. Lasting, Deut. Xxxiii, 15. Always, Jer. Xx, 17. Any more, Ezek. Xxvii, 36. Nerer, Judges Ii, 1. Perpetual, Gen. Ix, 12. Everlasting, Gen. ix, 16. Forever, Deut. xv, 17. Forever and ever, Ps. cxix, 44. So shall I keep thy law con tinually, forever and ever. Now, as it is evident that Olim, of the Old Testament, and Aionion, of the New, do not either of them mean eternal, and as Aionion is the very Greek word, which, in MARK JI, 29, is rendered eternal, and applied to damnation, or condemnation, and as Aionion is the same Greek word which is rendered everlasting in Matth. Xxv, 41, 46, and in many other passages, and is in many other passages rendered, in English terms, which we know are not to be understood eternal, it is certain that eternal is not a proper translation of the adjective Aionion, as it never signifies any more than a long time. And this is plainly shown by the preceding verse, 28, " Verily I say unto you, all sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies, wherewithsoever they shall blaspheme." Is not this a positive declaration, with a "Verily I say unto you," that all sins and blasphemies shall at some future period be forgiven? This is very plain, it cannot be denied with any color of truth, but then, it is thought that the next words, in verse 29, means to eternally exclude the blasphemer from this promise of forgiveness, "But he that blasphemeth against the Holy Spirit hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation," which is as much as to say, although he shall have forgiveness at some future period, yet he shall never be forgiven till he has endnred a long damnation, or condemnation. And, as in Matth. Xii, 32, "It

shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world," which is from the Greek aion, and means a dispensation, or course of the world, " Neither in the to come," which is as much as to say, neither in the dispensation to come, and as any one may see by reading the context in both passages, that these words were spoken to the Jews, it is obviously their meaning that the Jews, as a nation, should not be forgiven their blasphemy, in that dispensation of the law which they were then in. nor in the dispensation of the gospel to the gen-* tiles, but that when the fulness of the gentiles should be come in, they shall all be saved, Rom. Xi, 25, 26. For whereas the testimony of both Prophets and Apostles, declare that all in Heaven, earth, and under the earth, shall swear that they have righteousness and strength in the Lord, Isaiah Xlv, 23, 24: PHILIPPIANS II, 10, 11, That all flesh shall see the glory and salvation of God, Isaiah Xl, 4, 5: Luke 111, 5, 6, That all things in Heaven, and in earth shall be gathered together in one in Christ, and that God will reconcile them all unto himself by Jesus Christ, and that they will all praise him, EPH. j, 9, 10: Col. 1, 20: Rev. v, 13. And as I believe these prophecies are true, and will in their time be fulfilled, it is impossible for me to suppose that Jesus meant that those who blasphemed against the Holy Spirit should not be forgiven eternally, but that they should not be forgiven till a long time, and if so, my explanation of those Scriptures must be

correct.

Another objection frequently made against the truth of Scripture Prophecy, is the following:

If all men will finally be saved, there is no need of preaching to them, nor praying for them, neither is there any need that sinners should repent or believe the gospel, for (some are blind enough to say) they will all be saved just as well without as with.

. When the children of Israel were in bondage in Egypt, God called Moses and sent him to lead them to the land which he had promised their fa thers that he would give them for an everlasting possession: Moses knew that God had so promised. Now, if Moses had reasoned as you do, he would have said, God has promised to give that land to the children of Israel, and he will certainły do it, there; is, therefore, no need of my going to lead them to the land, for they will have it just as well without as with.

But no, Moses knew that God wrought all such works by such means as he pleased, and such as would effect his purpose; he knew, likewise, that the people never would be in the land of Canaan till they should set out, and travel to it, and so he went as he was commanded, and by the means of Moses, God fulfilled the promise which he made to their fathers. Now, this is a just figure of what is before us. God has promised that all flesh shall see his salvation; but he knows they cannot see it, till they repent and believe the gospel, and it has pleased him, "through the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe," I. Cor. I, 21. For the redemption of a lost world, the first means which God employed was, he gave the promises and sent his Son to be the "Saviour of the world," I. John Iv, 14. And he hath wrought the work of redemption as I have before stated, and by his angels, or messengers, he commanded that it should be preached to "every creature," Mark Xvi, 15. And the gospel is now made known among all nations for the obedience of faith, Rom. Xvi, 26. And all the preaching of the gospel, and all the prayers, and every good work, and all the desires of the Saints, and the groaning and travailing of the whole creation, God is now employing as means to effect that work of man's redemption which he is determined shall be completed. But your objection amounts to this: if a