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stool." This passage is quoted by Paul (Heb. i. 13) as referring to Christ. Now when the enemies of the Redeemer are subdued, will he cease to sit at the right hand of the Father? Surely not: he will sit there enthroned in glory for ever; and so the criminal will remain in prison for ever. In Gen. viii. 7, we read that Noah sent forth a raven from the ark, "which went forth to and fro till the waters were dried." But it did not then return, nor ever afterwards. Hence some of the most eminent theologians in your church admit, that if the agreement do not take place on earth, if the sinner is not reconciled to God through the blood of Jesus, he never can be reconciled. If he "die in his sins" he must perish eternally. Wherefore the Holy Spirit saith, "To-day if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts." "Now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation." There is no day of salvation beyond the grave. Search the Bible from beginning to end, and you will not find a single promise of pardon in eternity. "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still."

But, perhaps, you will reply that there is one passage at least that speaks of forgiveness in the world to come. This is in Matt. xii. 32, where it is said that the sin against the Holy Ghost

shall be forgiven neither in this world, nor in that which is to come." It is hence argued, that though this particular sin be irremissible, there is an implication that some transgressions are forgiven in the world to come. As this passage is regarded as the main pillar of purgatory, let us give it a candid and careful examination.

Certainly no forgiveness takes place in heaven, for no guilt enters there; nor in hell, for out of it there is no redemption. Hence, if there be pardon at all after death, it must be in a third place. But Purgatory is not a place of pardon. but of punishment. The persons who go there are those who have not "fully satisfied the justice of God" for their sins, whether venial or mortal, and they go there to endure the torment due to them. If the last farthing of a debt must be paid, it evidently cannot be forgiven. But it is forgiveness that is spoken of in the text, which cannot therefore refer to Purgatory. In the parallel passages in Mark iii. 29, and Luke xii. 10, it is simply said that the sin against the Holy Spirit shall never be forgiven. And that these two passages are explanatory of the disputed text in Matthew, has been maintained by the most eminent of the Fathers, including Augustine, Jerome, and Chrysostom. The word alwv, translated "world," means age or

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dispensation. With the Jews the present age was the dispensation of Moses; the future that of the Messiah; and our Lord seems to have quoted a proverb current among them to denote that which was to happen never.

The next passage that claims our attention is 1 Cor. iii. 12-17. Roman Catholics contend that the apostle here teaches that we are saved "by fire," and this they say must be the fire of Purgatory. But "so as" is a term of comparison denoting only a similitude of mode. To be saved so as by fire, is to be saved with great difficulty, like a person escaping from a conflagration. Hence such persons are in Scripture compared to "a brand plucked out of the fire." And the same idea occurs in Jude, verse 23, "Others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire," as the angel pulled Lot out of Sodom. This mode of expressing deliverance from imminent danger, was familiar to the best writers among the ancient heathen.

Now, my dear Friend, you will observe that this fire is not penal but probatory; it is intended not to expiate sin; but to prove the work. "Every man's work shall be made manifest:" "it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work, of what sort it is:" "if any man's work shall be burnt, he shall suffer loss;

but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire." It is natural that we should enquire, what is it that is here said to be revealed, tried, and burned? Some say, the bad works of the Christian are here intended. But what is the meaning of building bad works on Christ? And how can the fire of Purgatory "reveal" and "try" every man's work? For every man does not go there, but only such as build wood, hay and stubble. And how can this fire try any man's work, what sort it is, seeing that the state of his soul, and the precise amount of his guilt must be ascertained and decided on, before he goes there at all? He goes there, not that his true character may be made manifest, but that his sins may be punished. This interpretation is inconsistent with itself, and derives no countenance from the context to which we shall presently refer.

Others assert that the work to be burned up, and which is represented by wood &c., is the false doctrines which men mix up with the truths of the Gospel; and that the fire that tries and burns them up, is persecution and affliction in the present life. But it is very questionable whether persecution has a tendency to destroy errors in religion. I think the reverse is the fact.

Both these interpretations are inconsistent

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with the imagery employed by the apostle, a right apprehension of which, and of the nature of a Christian Church, would shew at once the clearness and beauty of his language. The sort of institutions that have obtained in the world, under the name of churches, is so different from that which the word of God describes, and there is such a total absence of Scriptural discipline in those churches, that I am afraid I shall have some difficulty in getting you to understand the explanation of this much litigated passage which I am about to offer.

Take up your Bible now, and read from the 9th to the 17th verse inclusive. You perceive from the beginning of the chapter, that the Corinthians were divided into parties or factions. Some were for Paul, and some for Apollos. Whence Paul takes occasion to remark, that ministers are God's fellow-labourers, i. e. fellow-labourers employed by God; and he calls the people who are the object of their labours, "God's husbandry;" and then immediately after (verse 9), "God's building." This last idea he takes up, and pursues to the end of the 17th verse. Now, observe it is the people of God that constitute the building; it is not works nor doctrines, but the people themselves. And it is not Christians as such, but ministers that are the builders; the apostle