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all thall be caft into the lake of fire, who will not be accepted of the judge, Thefe St. John tells us, hall not live again, till the thoufand years, of the binding of Tatan, and the faints' reign with Chrift in the new heavens and earth, fhall be finifhed.

It is not pertinent to the present subject, to enquire what is really meant by its being impoffible to renew them again to repentance. I have no doubt that it is a proverbial expreffion, and means the same kind of impoffibility with that of the prophet Jeremiah, chap. xiii. 23. "Can the Ethiopian change his fkin, or the Leopard his Ipots; then may ye ye alfo do good that are accustomed to do evil."

It is very difficult, and next of kin to a natural impoffibility, either to renew the apoftates to repen tance, or to reform those who have long accuftomed themselves to do evil.

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But as this is not at all to our purpose, 1 have need to fay no more about it in this place. The next paffage in this epiftle is chap. x. 26-

31. "For if we in wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more facrifice for fins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment, and fiery indignation which fhall devour the adverfary. He that defpifed Mofes's law died without mercy under two or three witnesses; of how much forer punishment fuppofe ye thall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the fon of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was fanctified

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an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the fpirit of grace. For we know him that hath faid, vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompenfe, faith the Lord. And again, the Lord fhall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.".

The meaning of the 26th verse, above quoted, is plainly this, if, after we have been led to the knowledge of the way of pardon of fin, and reconciliation through Jefus Chrift, we give up our faith in Chrif tianity, and our expectations from Jesus Christ, and purfue vicious courfes in direct violation of the precepts of Christianity; there is no way for our res toration, whilst we continue in this ftate of mind, as there is no other facrifice for fin, but that of Je fus Chrift, Continuing in this moral ftate, we can expect no other, than to be devoured with the adverfaries of God.

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Mr. S. quotes one paffage more from this epiftle to the Hebrews, chap. xii. 15. 17. 15. 17. "Looking diligently, left any man fail of the grace of God; left any root of bitterness fpringing up, trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; left there be any fornicator, or profane perfon, as Efau, who for one morfel of meat fold his birthright. For ye know that, afterward, when he would have inherited the bleffing, he was rejected for he found no place of repentance, though he fought it carefully with tears. Verfe 25. "See that ус refufe not him that fpeaketh. For, if they escaped not that refufed him that fpake on earth,

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much more fhall not we efcape, if we turn away from him that fpeaketh from heaven.

Though there be nothing in this paffage which is, in the leaft degree, oppofed to univerfal falvation; yet, as there is a very mistaken ufe of the inftance of Efau, in Mr. S.'s application of the paffage, I confider myself, as in duty bound, not to let a wrong interpretation of fcripture pafs unnoticed.

Mr. S. afks, "Can those be faved to whom there is no place for repentance ?" If Mr. S. had demonftrated that it was eternal life, which Efau fold to his brother Jacob, and which he afterwards fought to regain but could not, and that he certainly will not obtain it of God, because he did not fucceed with his father Ifaac; he might have had fome more color of reafon for his question,

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The Rory of the purchase which Jacob made of his brother Efau's birthright, is told in Gen. xxv. 25-341 "And Jacob fod pottage; and Efau came from the field, and he was faint, And Efau faid to Jacob, feed me, I pray thee, with that fame red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom, And Jacob faid, fell me this day thy birthright. And Efau faid, Behold, I am at the point to die; and what profit fhall this birthright do me and Jacob faid, fwear to me this day; and he fware unto him and he fold his birthright unto Jacob. Then Jacob gave Efau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rofe up and went his way: thus Efau defpifed his birthright."

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It is a very ancient, and almost universal opinion, that when all the children of one family, in the ab fence, or after the decease of the father, offered facrifice, the eldest brother officiated as prieft. Efau, being the first born, had this privilege annexed to his birth. This birthright he fold to Jacob, when he confidered himself to be on the point of death, and found his brother fo unnaturally cruel, as to refufe to fatisfy his hunger, unless he would fell it to him. To officiate as priest, has ever been called a facred office; and therefore a person, who despises that office, may juftly be called profane. But no one ever supposed, with any color of reason, that any spiritual or eternal bleffing was annexed to that office. Nor does it appear that Efau had any idea of recovering the birthright of his father; he confidered that as fold and gone; as appears from his own account of the matter. Gen. xxvii. 36. And he said, is he not rightly named Jacob? for he hath fupplanted me thefe two times: he took away my birthright; and behold, now he hath taken away my bleffing." To officiate as prielt in the family, Efau did not expect; but he hoped ftill to retain, by the bleffing of his father, fome of the privileges of a first born. And the only material difference be tween the bleffing which Efau obtained of his father, and that which had been conferred on Jacob, was that Jacob was to be lord over his brethren, and Efau was to ferve him. Ifaac faid to Jacob, Gen. xxvii. 28, 29. "Therefore God give thee of the dew

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of Heaven, and the fatnefs of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine. Let people ferve thee, and nations bow down to thee; be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's fons bow down to thee: Curf ed be every one that curfeth thee, and bleffed be he that blefleth thee." To Efau he faid, verfe 39, 4o, "Behold, thy dwelling fhall be the fatnefs of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above. And by thy fword fhalt thou live, and fhalt ferve thy brother and it fhall come to pafs, when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck." Efau was to serve Jacob, or rather, the Edomites were to lerve the Ifraelites ; for, in perfon, Efau never did ferve Jacob. Elau was extremely vexed at his brother's unnatural and perfidious conduct and, in a paffion, faid, "the days of mourning for my father are at band, then will I lay my brother Jacob." But, when we trace and compare the history of the two brethren, Jacob and Efau, the latter appears to have been the better man; nor have we the leaft reafon to fuppofe that Efau was not a man of true moral goodness. He rafhly threatened his brother's death; but we have no intimation that he ever took a fingle ftep towards the execution of his hafty threatening; and the probability is, that he foon forgot it. No brother could receive another more cordially than Efau did his brother Jacob, on Jacob's return from Padanaram; and they both, with apparent cordiality, attended

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