frequently, and forcibly pressed upon our regard by the word of God? Is it then either safe or lawful for us to shrink from the investigation? Are the ministers of Christ authorized to cast that into the shade, to which inspired apostles have given prominence? Can they be faithful to their trust, unless they are able to say, "We have not shunned to declare the whole counsel of God?" Shall we presume to suppress that which the Spirit of wisdom and revelation has deemed it important to disclose? Is not "all Scripture given by inspiration of God, and (without excepting the doctrine of Election) profitable for doctrine, for conviction, for correction, for instruction in righteousness?"

Favour me, then, my friends, with your fixed and willing attention, while I endeavour to place before you a scriptural statement of the doctrine of Election, disentangled from unnecessary abstruseness and controversial subtlety. Let the attempt be,

I. To state, with simplicity and conciseness, the doctrine of Election, as taught by the inspired writers;

II. To obviate some misconceptions on the subject; and,

III. To exhibit the effects which the disclosure of the doctrine is designed and calculated to produce.

I. Let me endeavour, in few words, to convey a clear idea of the doctrine itself.

The apostle Paul, in addressing himself to the believers at Ephesus, thus writes:-God "hath chosen us in him (that is in Christ) before the foundation of the world; having predestinated us to the adoption of children." In both these expressions, he is assigning the only reason which can be given for the grant of spiritual blessings; or rather, he is tracing those blessings to their original and eternal source. He specifies among these blessings the forgiveness of sins, acceptance in the beloved, the adoption of children, and unblameable holiness. Need I then detain you, by an attempt to prove, in opposition to a host of controversialists, that he cannot be speaking of a national election, or an election of the mass of the Gentile world; but that he must be speaking of a personal election-of the election of individuals, both of Jewish and of Gentile extraction, to the enjoyment of those blessings which constitute component parts of eternal salvation.

The word rendered "predestinated" denotes simply predetermined, or fore-ordained. Thus, Herod and Pilate and the people of Israel, in conspiring against Christ, are represented as gathered together to do whatsoever the counsel of God "determined before"

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to be done.* In our text, the word denotes the fixed and gracious determination of God, previously to the formation of man,-previously to the creation of the world, to bestow upon a multitude which no man can number, yet consisting of individuals personally chosen, the blessings of everlasting salvation. Whom he did from eternity choose, as the objects of his sovereign and unmerited regard, "he did fore-ordain to be conformed to the image of his Son." Such also is the established order and connexion among the inseparable accompaniments of salvation, that "whom God fore-ordains, them he also calls," by his efficient grace; "whom he calls, them he also justifies; and whom he justifies, them he also glorifies."

"Predestination to life," says the 17th Article of the Church of England, is the everlasting purpose of God, whereby (before the foundations of the world were laid) he hath constantly decreed by his counsel, secret to us, to deliver from curse and damnation, those whom he hath chosen in Christ, out of mankind, and to bring them by Christ to everlasting salvation, as vessels made to honour. Wherefore they which be endued with so excellent a benefit of God, be called according to God's purpose, by his Spirit working in due season; they through grace, obey the calling; they be justified freely; they be made sons of God by adoption; they be made like the image of his only-begotten Son Jesus Christ; they walk religiously in good works, and at length, by God's mercy, they attain to everlasting felicity."

Such is, as I conceive, the sum and substance of the doctrine of scripture. But in order that it may be clearly understood and humbly embraced, let me exhibit, in a series of distinct positions, those facts and truths, which it supposes and involves.

1. It proceeds on the assumption of the fact that, Man is in a state of guilt, condemnation and ruin :-that, in himself considered, he is without any claim on the divine favour, without help and without hope that he might have been abandoned, without an exception in favour of any individual of his entire race, to absolute and merited perdition. Every mouth," says the apostle, "must be stopped," and the whole world must plead guilty before God. If any one deny or doubt this statement, we must leave him, in the very outset of the argument; he is not prepared to accompany us one single step.

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2. In maintaining the doctrine under consideration, it is assumed, that a sufficient, complete, and glorious redemption has been accomplished and revealed.

*Acts iv. 27, 28.

Deity has become incarnate in our cause.

A propitiation for sin
Judge, my brethren,

has been appointed, effected, and accepted. of the value and the virtue of the atoning sacrifice, by considering whose blood it was which flowed on Calvary, after a course of sinless obedience unto death; and when you have duly reflected on the perfection of his righteousness and the completeness of his atonement, say, whether it be possible to ascribe to any deficiency or to any limitation, either in the performance or in the endurance of Immanuel, the non-attainment of salvation by any human being.

3. This salvation is proclaimed to all men, without restriction ; and all are freely invited to receive its blessings.

"and

"Go ye into all the world," said Christ to his apostles, preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth shall be saved." "Him that cometh to me," said the Redeemer, "I will in no wise cast out;" adding, as corroborative of his benignant assurance, "for I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me." What can be more indicative of the mind of Christ, or of the will of God, than the touching invitation which concludes the canon of Scripture:-" The Spirit and the bride say, Come; and let him that heareth say, Come; and let him that is athirst, come; and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." Is not the blessed God sincere, in all the proffers of his mercy? Can there be any secret counsels at variance, in reality, with the overtures of his grace?

4. All men, if left to themselves, disregard the overtures of mercy, and neglect the great salvation.

Make your appeal to any number of persons who have fled for refuge, from the wrath to come, to the hope set before them in the gospel. Interrogate them strictly, as to the agency to which they ascribe their emotions of repentance, their acts of faith, their love to Christ, and their victory over sin; and the substance of the reply of every one of them all will be, "By the grace of God I am what I am:" that grace alone has made me to differ from those around me, who are yet without God and without Christ and without hope; that grace it is, which has made me to differ from my former self. 5. That grace which God now communicates to the hearts of men, he has resolved and decreed, from all eternity, to communicate.

Do you not admit the foreknowledge of God? Can any event then occur to-day in your history which he did not foresee yesterday, which he did not foresee at your birth, and before your birth, and even before the world was in existence? Unless you refuse to ascribe to the blessed God one of the essential attributes of his nature, must you not admit, that he distinctly foresees, who

will embrace, and who will neglect the gospel of his salvation? Does he not foresee that all will neglect it, except those whose minds he himself will influence? Does he not then foresee his own act? Is it not said expressly, "Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world?" Does he not pre-determine his own act? Would it be possible for him to foresee who would be saved, or to foresee that any would be saved, unless he had pre-determined to put forth that energy of grace, without which they would not seek salvation, but by which their salvation is rendered certain?

"If God ever determined in the general," says President Edwards, "that some of mankind should certainly be saved, and did not leave it altogether undetermined, whether ever so much as one soul of all mankind should believe in Christ, it must be that he determined, that some particular persons should certainly believe in him. For it is certain, that if he has left it undetermined concerning this, and that, and the other person, whether ever he should believe or not, and so of every particular person in the world, then there is no necessity at all, that this, or that, or any particular person in the world, should ever be saved by Christ. So that though God sent his Son into the world, yet the matter was left altogether undetermined by God, whether ever any person should be saved by him. And there was all this arrangement about Christ's birth, death, resurrection, ascension, and sitting at God's right hand, when it was not as yet determined, whether he should ever save one soul, or have any mediatorial kingdom at all."* If then the supposition of this be palpably absurd, as well as most derogatory to the glory of God, must we not, of necessity, admit the scripture doctrine of an "Election of Grace?" Are we not prepared to say, with the apostle, as the expression of admiring and adoring praise: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ, according as he hath chosen us in him, before the foundation of the world;-having predestinated us unto the adoption of children, by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved."

But as many incorrect notions on this subject have been propagated, both from the pulpit and the press, and have given origin to many stubborn and inveterate prejudices, let me attempt,

II. To obviate some injurious misconceptions. Let it be observed, 1. That the leading object of our present inquiry regards not an

Miscellaneous Remarks, chap. iii. 28.

abstract truth, involved in metaphysical obscurity, but a matter of fact, to be determined by scripture testimony.

The question simply is-Has God, or has he not, chosen and fore-ordained a countless multitude of human beings, to the enjoyment of everlasting happiness? Now it has been well remarked by Mr. Fuller, that, "whatever objections may be alleged against an hypothesis, on the ground of its inconsistency with the divine perfections; yet in matters of acknowledged fact, they are inadmissible. If God hath done thus and thus, it is not for us to object, that it is inconsistent with his character; but to suspect our own understanding, and to conclude that if we knew the whole, we should see it to be right. Paul invariably takes it for granted that whatever God doth is right; nor will he dispute with any man on a contrary principle, but cuts him short in this manner: "Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid!" It was enough for him that God had said to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy." He knew what would be the heart-risings of the infidel-“Thou wilt say unto me, why doth he yet find fault; for who hath resisted his will?" But doth he attempt to answer this objection? No; he repels it as Job did :-" He that reproveth God, let him answer it." "Nay, but O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus ?" +

Let me also ask, May not God display his sovereignty, without being either unjust, or capricious, or unamiable? Must he act without a reason, because he has not assigned a reason to us? Dare we inveigh against his sovereignty in the allotments of his providential favours? And yet is not the very same course of procedure apparent in his government of the world, which is pursued in "the election of grace?" "Who maketh thee to differ from another " in regard of talent, or education, or health, or property, or any of the external advantages of religion? That innumerable diversities exist among men, in all these respects, is a fact which every where presents itself to your observation. The admission then of a fact must not be dependant on the solution of a difficulty. The full explanation of a difficulty may require an energy of intellect, or an extent of information, at present beyond our attainment; but the full admission of a fact may be required by the laws of evidence,— a testimony being adduced which it would be unreasonable and even culpable to reject.

* Fuller's Essays, p. 255.

+ Rom. ix. 14, 15, 19, 20.