word of promise, at the gate of Eden, or from the mouth of Moses, as it is to believe the word of history from the pen of Matthew or of Luke? If they heard not Noah "and the prophets," would they have believed though they had read the evangelists and the apostles? So that if the case of men before Christ demand an exhibition of special clemency, so also does the case of men long after Christ. The antediluvians had not "seen the Christ." Neither have we. Not a few among us even discredit his history. So that if Christ preached the gospel to antediluvians in prison, must he not in equity resort there constantly to preach to the lost out of Christian lands? To such visionary results, does the extraordinary interpretation of this passage lead us. In fact, the character of the antediluvians is clearly seen to be such, as shows them to be precisely the wrong ones, to whom, if to any, the gospel should be preached in eternity. Why did not the apostle hit upon the case of men who were heathen indeed; who had never listened to the words of righteousness from the lips of a messenger of God? These men had heard preaching before. They had enjoyed the gospel in their lifetime, and despised it. They had possessed no small share of advantages for piety; for God's Spirit had striven with them mightily. Theirs was no common sin. They had abused God's "long-suffering." They were not ignorant, but, in Peter's own words, they were "disobedient." All this phraseology of Peter magnifies exceedingly the wickedness of the antediluvians, and heightens the hopelessness of their case. 7. Hear Peter's own unequivocal opinion of the character and state of the sinful antediluvians, in his 2d Epistle, 2:4, 5, 6,7. He unhesitatingly ranks them with "the angels that sinned," whom God "spared not," but cast down to hell, and delivered over to chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment. He associates them also with the Sodomites, and with the inhabitants of Gomorrah, and calls them "ungodly." In v. 9, he says, "The Lord knoweth how to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished." This was his doctrine. He was taught it by the Spirit. Or, he derived it from his knowledge of God, taken in connection with three great undisputed events; viz.: the casting out of the Angels, the conflagration of Sodom, and the destruction of the old world by a flood. The case of the "old world," was one of his proofs. And if he could put their case to such an use, could any thing have been further from his thoughts than the publishment of the gospel, "good news," "glad tidings of great things," to them in their prison? And are those who interpret this passage after the extraordinary method, better judges of the character, deserts, state, and prospects of the wicked antediluvians than Peter himself? After the same pattern, also, is our Lord's expressed estimation of them. Every one must see, how directly this forced interpretation is in opposition to the sayings of the very divine preacher before whom the supposition in question opens the doors of the prison. Who, reading Christ's description of these men in Luke 17th, would imagine that he had it in contemplation, within a twelvemonth or so, to visit their prison-house with the words of life and deliverance? 8. If the extraordinary interpretation of this passage be true, then the antediluvians had two seasons of probation. But if they enjoyed two periods of trial, then in equity did the Sodomites; and, then, why not the fallen angels too? But Peter in his second epistle 2: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, puts them all together in one dark category, saying of them that they are "reserved unto judgment." Further: If the antediluvians had two periods of probation, then in equity also have all bad men, of whatever age. All gospel-haters living may live on in sure hopes that, in the clement dealings of the great Father, they shall have like opportunity of repentance in the world of spirits! Eternity is not a world of doom; but of hope; of bright hope to the most reckless among men! Let the ministry contend no longer against the strong odds of nature's tendencies, and God's designs! Let us give way at once to the strong love of pleasurable sin, which reigns in the human bosom; let us no more disturb the little comfort which THIRD SERIES, VOL. I. NO. II. 18 men can snatch from life, as they hurry along; let us leave the pulpit, handle no more the sword of the Spirit, forget the Bible, and, all together, "eat and drink, for to-morrow we die!" 66 9. If it be asked, why, in case Peter designed no allusion to a mission of Christ to the imprisoned spirits, this digression concerning the years and events of the deluge was introduced; it might be answered, that an attentive reader would find but little difficulty on this point. The mind of the apostle most naturally lighted upon that most memorable time and event, as aptly illustrating the position and danger of men at the day of his own preaching. The modern world had wandered, as the old world did. God had planned a great redemption, of which the ark built by Noah was a type. While the vast multitudes, Greeks and Jews, to whom Christ was either a stumbling-block," or else "foolishness," would be destroyed by an overwhelming spiritual destruction, "baptism" (or, what was prefigured by it, Christ's church) would prove an ark of safety to a few. The same Spirit which preached unto the antediluvians, was preaching in the days of Peter. Likewise, "The end was at hand." (1 Pet. 4: 7.) And while Christians should not hesitate to "suffer" for Christ, in imitation of him, the wicked should make haste to safety for the Spirit, while it might through the "long-suffering of God," "bear long with them," yet as then, so now, it would not always strive; and God's swift vengeance upon the ungodly was at hand, even as in the days of Noah. : Finally. All due account should be made of the benevolence, the "love to being in general," shown by the extraor dinary interpreters of this passage. Charity, however, must not shelter perversions. Wherever else in the sacred volume, they fancy their favorite ultimate restitution is to be found," they should not persist in finding it here. They must not wrest, at least, this scripture. There is much that is pleasing to some minds, and perhaps in itself to all, in the thought, that in some fulness of time, all created intelligences are to be brought back into allegiance to the great Supreme, however egregiously they have sinned, or however extended may have been the time of their punishment. But, in truth, it must be granted, that such a theory finds but a scanty support in the Bible. Scripture evidence is against it. To arrive at it, we must needs be wise above and beyond what is written. The Bible speaks of but one probation; that is life. The Bible speaks of but two future states; those are founded on the pillars of eternity itself. If we travel our moral journey by the Bible, we must believe that "after death comes the judgment;" when the righteous will be publicly acquitted and acknowledged; and when the wicked, under just condemnation, shall go away into everlasting punishment, "where is weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth," where "their worm dieth not, and their fire is not quenched." ARTICLE IV. HOME MISSIONS. BY A MISSIONARY. Rev. THOMAS LIPPINCOTT, Marine Settlement, Ill. THE philosophy of Missions is, we suppose, to some extent understood by the Christian community; at least by that portion of it which it is the design of this article mainly to address. The command of our Saviour, just on the eve of his ascension: "Go ye into ALL the world, and preach the gospel to EVERY creature"-or in its more amplified and specific form as given at the close of Matthew's gospel: "Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you:' :" that is-CHRISTIANIZE or convert-AND SPECIFICALLY INSTRUCT EVERY HUMAN BEING-with the accompanying promise, "Lo I am with you always, even unto the end of the world," presents at once the duty, the obligation, and the en couragement of Christian Missions. But we deem it necessary that another brief passage, containing our Lord's explanation of the command, be attentively considered. "Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." Luke 24: 46, 47. Here is the whole system of Missions in a nutshell. The mission of Christ to atone for sin, and to conquer death by dying and rising from the dead; by which life and salvation are procured for dead sinners on their believing in him; and then the mission to publish the news and the invitation to every creature" in "all nations-beginning at Jerusalem." Why begin at Jerusalem ?-Because the first offer was to be made to the descendants of Abraham, who had been the depositary of the oracles of truth: because they were, and would be, almost omnipresent throughout the world, and could spread the intelligence far and wide:-and especially because the evidence must be laid before the Jewish people, and confirmed on the spot, before it could be expected to find credence elsewhere. But there was another reason still: a reason which of itself would have justified the order to begin at Jerusalem. They were there. There is a principle of human action which is well expressed by the apostle in his letter to the Galatians (6: 9): As we have therefore OPPORTUNITY, let us do good," etc. Our obligation to do good to our fellow-men is just in proportion to our ability—which includes opportunity as an essential element—and our opportunity is usually in proportion to our nearness to the object. "God loves from whole to parts: but human soul The principle is incontrovertible; and he who forgets or overlooks the object of compassion at his own door, while he talks and weeps about the miseries of mankind, exhibits a very |