"All power is to our Jesus given;

O'er earth's rebellious sons he reigns,
He mildly rules the hosts of heaven,

And holds the powers of hell in chains."

But is hell under the government of Christ? We answer, It is under the executive departinent of that government. As a moral governor, he exercises authority in every part of his vast dominions-over hea ven, earth, and hell. His administration, however, varies according to the character of the subjects of his government. In heaven he administers the rewards of obedience, by granting them "eternal life," who, by patient continuance in well doing, seek for glory, honor, and immortality." On earth he rules by his published laws and by his gospel; by his providence and Spirit, addressing motives of the most powerful character to the understandings and consciences of mankind. In hell he reigns by the administration of the penal sanctions of his holy and just law. Thus when the Father gave him the heathen for his inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession, he said, " And thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces as a potter's vessel." "But unto them who are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doeth evil." "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment." Hell is, therefore, in some respects, the property of Christ, and under his government, as much as the state prison is the property of the state and under its government.

It may be objected, however, that the system of imprisonment by the state is designed to be disciplinary. True: and, therefore, the parallel does not hold good, as used here, with regard to those who are lost: for there is no hope of their salvation. But with regard to those who are yet on earth and within the reach of mercy, hell itself is a beacon; and hence the reason why it is so frequently brought to view in the Scriptures, and pressed upon the serious attention of the sinner; and hence also the duty of warning the wicked of the "wrath to come." It may also have a powerful influence on other worlds of moral and accountable beings, in preserving them from apostasy. But with regard to the wicked themselves, who are or may be lost, the torments of the damned will work no reformation in them. Their case is hopeless beyond description. Yet to the living we may lift up the voice of admonition and say, "Kiss the Son, lest he be angry with you, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little." Thirdly; by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, he acquired the right of universal homage.

That the human nature of Christ should have been so united to, and identified with, the divine, and so exalted by this union as to become a proper object of worship and of confidence, and that God the Father should be pleased to permit this, are among the most astonishing facts in the universe. Yet so it is, and not only has he permitted this, but by a most solemn expression of his will commanded it, "When he bringeth in the first-begotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him." Whether they be angels or archangels, however long they may have existed, though they were among the

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morning stars which sang together, and were of the sons of God who shouted for joy at the birth of time; though distinguished by age and knowledge, and having passed their state of trial and arrived to a state of confirmed holiness and everlasting happiness, yet all-all are required, by the divine mandate, to bow down and worship the Lord Jesus Christ. Here we see all the angelic hosts prostrate at the feet of Jesus. And as to mankind, the Father hath "committed all judgment unto the Son, that all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father."

Thus we see that all the angels of God, and the entire race of man, are required to render equal honor to the Son as to the Father. And that this homage to the Son of God is a part, at least, of the reward of his condescension to die the death of the cross in our behalf, is very clearly stated in the word of God. "But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore, God also hath highly exalted him, and given hime a name that is above every name; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father." To the same purpose the apostle bears testimony to the Ephesians: "According to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places; far above all principality and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come; and hath put all things under his feet, and given him to be head over all things to the church."

If by the expressions, "of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth," we are to understand the inhabitants of heaven, earth, and hell, (and what else are we to understand by them?) then is the dominion of Christ coextensive with moral and accountable beings throughout the universe of God. And then also is hell itself, which was prepared for the devil and his angels, under the government of Christ, and reserved by him as a place of future and everlasting punishment of the wicked. We are aware, however, that some have erroneously drawn the conclusion from the above passage that all men will be finally saved and happy.

It is asserted by the advocates of that baseless theory, that if every knee is to bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and if every tongue is to confess Christ to the glory of God the Father, it strongly implies, if it does not fully prove, that all will be finally happy. But this by no means follows, for in the first place, St. Paul explains this universal bowing of the knee as consisting of coming to judgment: "For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ: for it is written, 'As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.' So then every one of us shall give an account of himself to God." Thus we see that this universal bowing of the knee is to be understood of rendering up our account at the final judgment; and it by no means proves a willing submission to God. This is farther evident from the

following language: "Rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.” And again, "But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me." In the second place, Christ was acknowledged by some of his worst enemies, to the glory of God the Father, but they were enemies notwithstanding. When he cast out devils they frequently confessed him, though they hated him. "Let us alone," said they, "what have we to do with thee, Jesus thou Son of God, we know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God; art thou come hither to torment us before the time?" So will it be at the last day. Every knee shall bow in the final judgment, and every tongue shall confess to God, whether happy or miserable. All heaven will shout, "The Lord God omnipotent reign. eth;" and all hell will respond, by a universal groan, "The Lord God omnipotent reigneth."

Having the right of universal homage, our blessed Lord permitted himself to be worshiped on several different occasions both by angels and men. The wise men worshiped him at his birth; the disciples and others worshiped him at different times; Moses and Elias made him an official visit of honor from heaven; and angels attended him in his temptation, in the garden, at his resurrection and ascension, and will attend and swell his triumph at the last day. O how exalted is human nature in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ!

Well may the millions of the redeemed unite in one harmonious and universal song, "Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and make us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen."

Fourthly by his death and resurrection he acquired the right of universal pardon.

Having tasted death for every man," and by that act having been made a "propitiation for the sins of the whole world," he was also constituted a perfect mediator between God and man, and the dispenser of the divine blessings of pardon and eternal life, on such conditions as he should see fit to stipulate.

The right, as well as power, to pardon sin was certainly founded upon the fact of his divinity; but his right as the Son of man not only grew out of his inseparable union with the Godhead, but also and especially resulted from his death and resurrection.

It may be here objected, that he exercised this right previous to his death and resurrection. So he did; and so he also pardoned sins and saved souls hundreds and thousands of years previous to his advent to the world, but both the one and the other were done by virtue of a prospective atonement infallibly certain in the fulness of time. So that we may say, that mercy ran in debt to divine justice for the pardon and salvation of all who were pardoned and saved up to the very hour in which the atonement was made; but the bill of mercy had the endorsement of the second person in the adorable Trinity upon it and when it arrived at maturity it was met and discharged to the last farthing by our surety at Calvary. And more than this: the sacrificial act by which the tide of mercy was rolled back to the remotest antiquity of our fallen race also provided for the exercise of pardon and salvation through all future time. For it seems that although the VOL. XI.-April, 1840.

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fulness of the Godhead dwelt bodily in him, yet he could not, consistently with the claims of his moral government, exercise the prerogative of pardoning sin except in consideration of an ample atonement made or to be made. But by his death and resurrection this right was se cured to him as the Son of man, and consequently we find him claim. ing and exercising this right while on earth. "But," says he, "that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins.' And again, "Thy sins which are many are all forgiven thee." As this right was founded upon a universal atonement, so it was a universal right, extending to all mankind.

But it may be asked if he possesses the right of pardoning sin universally, will he not exercise that right, and absolutely pardon all men? We answer, No: unless all men (infants and idiots excepted) do absolutely comply with the stipulated conditions of salvation. These are, repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. The former, the more remote condition, and the latter, the only immediately preceding condition of justification and salvation. To deny that these conditions do exist in the divine economy, as those upon which our salvation is suspended, is to deny the plainest declarations of the word of God: "Except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish." "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned." So that although he possesses the right of universal pardon as the Son of man, yet he also, as the Son of God, possesses the right to say upon what conditions his guilty subjects may avail themselves of that infinite benefit. This is not mere assertion. The word of God is plain and full upon this point. And if aught, in our view, can invest him more fully with the attributes of the Lord of the living and the dead, it appears in the exercise of his divine sovereignty, by which he has made one exception, not to the right, but to the exercise of this right, in relation to one particular sin. I refer to the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost: " Verily, I say unto you, all sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: but he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damna. tion; because they said he hath an unclean spirit." We are aware that it has been affirmed to be impossible for men in general to commit this sin, but we beg leave to dissent from this opinion, unless it can be clearly shown that men in general cannot attribute the miracles of Christ and the operation of the Holy Spirit to the agency of the devil. If this can be done, and we think it can, in any age or part of the world where the religion of Christ with all its attending miracles is known, then is there danger of committing the unpardonable sin. And is it not to be feared that many have been guilty of this fearful sin, who, while they have beheld the powerful operations of the Spirit of God, have attributed that work to the agency of the devil? This, however, is the only exception to the exercise of this universal prero. gative of Jesus Christ in pardoning sin. All other sins and blasphemies wherewith soever men shall blaspheme may and shall be forgiven unto the penitent believing soul. For," says he, "whosoever cometh unto me I will in no wise cast him out." 64 Look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is none else; beside me there is no Saviour."

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Fifthly; by the death and resurrection of Christ he acquired the right of universal judgment.

The qualifications of Jesus Christ to fill the judgment seat at the last day are unquestionable. The inseparable union of the divine with the human nature in his adorable person qualifies him infinitely with wisdom for the exercise of this interesting and yet awful prero. gative of judging the world. The most perfect knowledge of all the facts connected with the moral conduct of all the accountable intelli. gences of the universe, including all the imaginations of their thoughts, their words, with all their actions; and all the varying circumstances of dispensation, motive, &c., are all to be present in the most perfect manner to the mind of the Judge, to enable him to proceed with unerring accuracy in deciding the everlasting destinies of all the subjects of his government. Now, if the fulness of the Godhead did not dwell bodily in him, this would be utterly impossible; but as it does, he is eminently qualified for this great and solemn work.

Another of the essential qualifications of Christ for the Judge of all the earth, is, the justice and holiness of his character. It is a prin. ciple laid down by the apostle, that if God were unrighteous he could not consistently judge the world, (Rom. iii, 5, 6,) but the promise is, that he will judge the world in righteousness, and that "every man shall receive according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." On the same principle the final decision will be varied accord. ing to the dispensations under which men shall have lived and acted: "For as many as have sinned without law, shall also perish without law; and as many as have sinned in the law, shall be judged by the law, in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ." Thus there will be no respect of persons with God. But will the man Christ Jesus occupy the judgment seat? He will; for thus it is written: "The Father hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man." "God hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained: whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead." And we are farther "commanded to testify unto the people, that it is he which was ordained to be the Judge of quick and dead." Also when the process of the final judgment is described in the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew, it is the Son of man who shall come in his glory and all the holy angels with him;" and who shall sit upon the throne of his glory;" and before whom "shall be gathered all nations."

So true is the declaration of the text, that "to this end he died and rose, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living." As such, he is heir of all things-he governs all worlds and all creatures—is the object of universal praise and adoration-holds the "keys of death and of hell"—and will finally judge and decide the everlasting destinies of angels, men, and devils. With what pomp and glory shall he appear "the second time!" not in the character of a sin offering, but in all the glory of the Father, with all the holy angels with him!