that he stands, and to beware, lest he fall from his stedfastness1; to examine himself, to try the state of his mind by the balance of the sanctuary, and to form an estimate of his feelings by the standard of the revealed word of God; disregarding those feelings, or rather regarding them as dangerous delusions, if they agree not with that unerring standard of truth; lest when men imagine that they enjoy peculiar light, the light which is in them should prove to be darkness, and if so, how great is that darkness 2.

May the embassy of mercy be received by every man with faith, humility, and gratitude, and may it work in every man its intended effect, the salvation of his soul, through the unlimited redemption which is in our divine Master and Saviour; to whom with the Father and the Holy Spirit, be ascribed all praise and glory, and dominion, now and for evermore. Amen.

1 2 Pet. iii. 17.

2 Matt. vi. 23.

SERMON II.

1 TIMOTHY, ii. 3—6.

"For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, who will have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth; for there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time."

In a former discourse on these words, I proposed to endeavour to prove that the doctrine of universal redemption is taught by the Church of England, and also in the Bible.

Time would only then allow of the performance of a part of my intention: I trust that I then satisfactorily proved, that our Church teaches that the redemption which is in Christ Jesus is intended by the Almighty Creator and Father of the human race, to be as extensive in its effects as the sin of our first parent,-that "as by the offence of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life 1," and

1 Rom. v. 18.

that "as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive 1." It is my intention on the present occasion, with the Divine permission, and I trust with the Divine favour, to endeavour to show that the doctrine of universal redemption is taught in the Bible; that sacred source from which alone true doctrines spring; that divine foundation which is alone a secure and sufficient basis for our religious opinions; that holy standard by which alone religious doctrines and opinions can safely be tried. Having already shown that the doctrine in question is most distinctly, most fully, and most frequently taught by our Church; if I should now prove, as I doubt not may easily be done, that this is also the doctrine of the Bible, I shall, in one point, establish that which I firmly believe to exist in all, viz. the perfect agreement of the Prayerbook of the Church of England, with the Bible; from which Christians of every denomination profess to derive their religious opinions.

In furtherance of my present purpose, I now proceed to direct your attention to the words chosen for the text. In them, the doctrine for which I contend is so clearly set forth to us, that it might seem difficult to imagine that any other doctrine than that of universal redemption could be derived from them; but other passages of Scripture have been so interpreted as to lead to a different

conclusion from that which seems to arise from the text; and that which is obscure and doubtful in the interpretation of various parts of holy writ has been allowed to bias men, and to cause them to overlook the obvious conclusion, to which the text and very many other parts of the sacred writings inevitably lead and much ingenuity-may I be allowed to call it perverse ingenuity-has been used to represent the mercy of God in Jesus Christ, as confined within very narrow limits; whereas, the general spirit of the gospel of mercy and peace, and good will towards men, presents to our view the goodness of God as being over all his works, and the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, as extending to all over whom the offence of the first man reigned', and as including every descendant of fallen Adam.

Clearly and distinctly, and repeatedly, as this doctrine is presented to us in so many instances, by assertion, by implication, and in various other ways in the several forms of sound words to be found in our Prayer Book, it might seem to be improbable that any who profess to reverence the opinions of our Church should, in so important a matter, differ from her: but we have to deal with facts, and what is the fact in this instance? I reply, that some among us are to be found who maintain that the redemption which is in Christ Jesus does

1 Rom. v. 17.

not either in reality or in intention extend to all mankind.

We have to deal with the opinions of some among us, who like the Jews of old would represent the mercy of Him who is infinitely good and kind, as extending only to those who believe and worship as they themselves do. Some there are who so interpret the word of God as to teach out of the word of Him whose grace bringeth salvation to all men', that by an eternal and divine decree the greater part of mankind are for ever shut out from the possibility of obtaining any beneficial interest in the death of Christ, or of becoming receivers of that divine grace whereby alone they can believe to the saving of their souls.

Against such opinions we deem it to be our solemn and sacred duty to enter our protest, humble as it is, and insufficient as we are, adequately to treat of these things; but our consolation is, that our sufficiency is of God, whose divine word is full and explicit in its declarations of the truth of that doctrine of mercy, which we would now present to you; as we firmly believe, after diligent study of that most holy word with prayer; and as we humbly trust, not without the aid of that Divine Spirit which dictated that word, and by whose teaching alone it can be rightly understood. Let us turn to the holy record, and let us now examine the proofs of universal redemption, furnished by that

1 Tit. ii. 11.