Christ may be said to have commenced his reign, at his resurrection, and ascension into heaven; but the pouring out of the Spirit upon the apostles, and especially the terrible judgment which he executed upon the Jewish nation, about forty years after his death, should be regarded as the consequences and effects of his glorious reign. St. John survived this last event.' Note in loc.

9. ROSENMUller. 'In this passage reference is had to the propagation of the gospel through the whole world, and the destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish state, as we learn from ver. 28.' Scholia in ver. 27.

It may not be improper to remark, in this place, that Dr. Beecher, also, has borne a certain kind of testimony, that in his opinion, this passage affords no proof of endless torment. I mention the circumstance, not to bring odium upon him, but to show that even his eyes were once, for a moment, open to the light. He was reading this passage, commencing at ver. 25, in the Baptist meeting-house in Cambridge. Perceiving, as it would seem, that the close of the passage would prove his application of it to be manifestly wrong, he stopped short,— and sought an escape from his difficulty. He read thus:

and who

For what

'For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; soever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father, with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. Verily Ihem! and another evangelist says, Whosoever denies me, I will deny him.' See Universalist Magazine, Vol. viii. p. 175.

SECTION XXIX.

'Verily, I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.' MATT. xviii. 3.

THE parallel places are Mark x. 15, and Luke xviii. 17. These words are frequently quoted, as affording proof that a portion of mankind will never be saved. But that they admit an easy application to the affairs of the present life, may be seen from what follows:

1. GILL. 'Ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven: ye shall be so far from being one greater than another in it, that you shall not enter into it at all; meaning his visible, spiritual kingdom, which should take place and appear after his resurrection, upon his ascension to heaven, and pouring forth of the spirit. And it is to be observed, that the apostles carried these carnal views, contentions, and sentiments, till that time, and then were turned from them, and dropped them; for, upon the extraordinary effusion of the Holy Spirit, they were cleared of these worldly principles, and understood the spiritual nature of Christ's kingdom; which they then entered into, and took their place in, without envying one another, having received the same commission from their Lord and Master.' Expos. in loc.

2. HAMMOND. Unless you change your inclinations and desires, and take yourselves off from this vain ambitious expectation and pursuit of a carnal kingdom of Christ, and of your receiving dignities and pre-eminencies in it, you can never be true disciples of Christ, this carnal ambition, and projecting, being so contrary to the christian temper.' Par. in loc.

'Suffer little children to come unto me and forbid them not, for these are of that temper of humility and meekness, which is so necessary an ingredient in a Christian. Mark x. 15. Verily I say unto you, there is no admission or reception to Christianity, but for such.' Par. in Luke xviii. 16, 17.

3. GILPIN. But Jesus rebuking his disciples, bade

them suffer the little children to come unto him; for their innocence, and simplicity of manners, were the true emblems of those virtues, which must adorn every one, who wished to be a member of his kingdom.' Expos. in Mark x. 15.

4. WHITBY. After noticing the extravagant expectations entertained by the Jews in relation to the reign of the Messiah, Dr. Whitby proceeds thus :

Christ plainly tells them, (his disciples,) that these inclinations, desires, and expectations were inconsistent with their being members of that spiritual kingdom which he was to erect; since they who followed him chiefly on these accounts, when they saw no such thing could be expected from him, but rather the quite contrary, must desert him; and therefore he requires them, to fit them for this kingdom, to become, as to these things, like little children, who are absolutely free from all contrivances and designs of this nature, never concerned in the least for empire, and dominion over others, or for increase in wealth or great possessions, and know not what a post of honor, or what wealth means; this, saith our Lord, being that which will remove all that obstructs your entrance into my kingdom, and make you the most eminent subjects of it, (ver. 4,) and so shall be regarded by me; for to encourage all men to show the greatest kindness to them, I let them know that I will accept and reward all kindness done to them, as if it were done to myself; and will severely punish all that shall offend them, (ver. 5, 6).' Annot. in loc.

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5. CAMPBELL. Unless ye be changed:-The English term, to convert, denotes always one or other of these two things: either to bring over from infidelity to the profession of the true religion, or to recover from a state of impenitence to the love and obedience of God. ther of these appears to be the meaning of the word here. The only view is, to signify that they must lay aside their ambition and worldly pursuits, before they be honored to be the members, much more the ministers, of that new establishment or kingdom, he was about to erect.' Note in loc.

While such confident believers in the doctrine of endless misery, as Gill, and Hammond, and Whitby, and Campbell, allow that this text affords no proof of its truth, we need not be immoderately alarmed, even though some ministers of the present day think, or at the least speak, differently on the subject.

SECTION XXX.

'Wherefore, if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee; it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into everlasting fire. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell-fire.'-MATT. xviii. 8, 9.

THE parallel place is Mark ix. 43-48. So far as I have examined, all the orthodox commentators agree in referring this passage to the concerns of the future life; chiefly, it would seem, on account of the word gehenna, which occurs here. The reader is referred, for some remarks on this word, to the notes on Matt. v. 22, 29, 30.

SECTION XXXI.

'Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king which would take account of his servants. And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him which owed him ten thousand talents. But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me; and I will pay thee all. Then the Lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellow-servants, which owed him a hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, pay me that thou owest. And his fellow-servant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with

me, and I will pay thee all. And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. So when his fellow-servants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me; Shouldst not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.'-MATT. xviii. 23-35.

THIS parable was designed to teach men their duty to forgive each other, in view of God's goodness and grace to themselves; and to teach them further that God would surely recompense them according to their deeds, if they neglected this duty. Most commentators refer the punishment, denounced by implication, to the future life, though they interpret the parable itself as having relation to temporal affairs only. I have not found any, so far as my examination has extended, who make a direct application of the whole passage to temporal concerns, though some, as Rosenmuller and Kenrick, seem to leave the matter in doubt, whether the punishment belong to this life or the next. Grotius says, the celestial kingdom, or kingdom of heaven, in this place, signifies the period after the advent of Christ.' And he, like the others I have named, leaves it somewhat doubtful whether he understood the punishment to belong to the present, or the future life.

SECTION XXXII.

Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily, I say unto you, that a rich man shall hardly enter the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven.'-MATT. xix. 23-24.

THE parallel places are Mark x. 24, 25, and Luke xviii. 24, 25. That the phrase kingdom of heaven, has relation to a state of things in the present life, may