the Holy Spirit, such humble fear, such trembling anxiety for pardon and help, will never fail to receive that aid, we so indispensably require, and so earnestly implore.

This humble reliance on the divine aid will receive powerful confirmation when, in addition to these repeated calls, encouragements and commands to pray, thus universally addressed to all, to whom the Scriptures are made known, we consider the equally clear declarations of the indispensable necessity of divine influence to ENABLE US TO PRAY ACCEPTABLY to God. Lord," says the inspired psalmist, "thou hast heard the desire of the humble; thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear."* And again, "quicken us, and we will call upon thy name."+ And Zechariah declares, that the same divine influence alone, could prepare for acknowledging and adoring the crucified Redeemer, for thus speaks the prophet, in the name of that God who inspired him, "I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications, and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son."+

In fair reasoning we should unite these declarations, that God will hear all who sincerely pray unto him, these calls and commands to all," Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God,"§ with the promise, “That thus the peace of God which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus," and the equally gracious promise of our divine Lord, "When two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them;" with that "When thou prayest in secret, thy Father which seeth in secret will reward thee openly."¶ We should combine all these with the representations, which it has been proved Scripture gives us, "of the tender mercy of God, over all his works," of his impartial justice which is "no respecter of persons," but which requireth of every man according to what he hath, and not "according to what he

Psalm, x. 17. + Psalm, lxxx. 18.
Matt. xviii. 20.

Zech. xii. 10.

§ Phil. iv. 6. Matt. vi. 6.

hath not." And having thus considered them, surely we cannot believe, that these calls are addressed to those who, from an eternal decree, are fore-ordained not to hear; that these commands are imposed on agents who have no power to obey them; that these encouragements are held out where it is impossible they can produce any effect. It follows, therefore,

THAT SUCH PREVENTING AND ASSISTING GRACE AS WOULD ENABLE MEN IN ALL THESE INSTANCES, "TO WILL AND TO DO AFTER GOD'S GOOD PLEASURE," ALWAYS ACCOMPANIES THE DECLARATIONS OF THAT PLEASURE SO FAR, THAT THE MORAL AGENTS TO WHOM IT IS DECLARED, MAY BE ENABLED SO TO WILL AND DO IF IT BE NOT THEIR OWN FAULT. But

the gracious influence of this Holy Spirit is not irresistible. It may be obstinately rejected; it may be contumaciously despised; it may be quenched and grieved, forfeited and withdrawn, and thus we may irretrievably perish.

Such seems to me the clear language and tenor of Scripture as to the divine conduct towards the repenting sinner; equally contrary to predestinarian exclusion and Pelagian presumption. This system appears not to attribute to God any thing repugnant to his attributes, or inconsistent with his character as moral Governor of the world. It requires not any thing from man impossible for him to achieve. It rouses the exertions, calms the terrors, assists the weakness, checks the presumption, and encourages the perseverance of the sincere though inperfect Christian. It does not, indeed, attempt to define the exact limits between the effects of human exertion, and of divine influence. It does not attempt to state, "so much is the work of man, so much is the gift of God." It represents the efforts of the penitent soul, as sincerely turning to God, imploring his aid, and acknowledging its own unworthiness in the humble supplication, "God be merciful to me a sinner," appealing to the mediation of Christ, looking up to his example, relying on his propitiation-its repentance accepted and its offences pardoned by virtue of this propitiation; and finally, its faith and obedience crowned with an eternal weight of glory. But, as well at the commencement as at every step of this progress from sin and misery to righte

ousness and happiness, the divine aid sustains, the divine wisdom guides, the divine mercy encourages, and accepts the returning sinner. Thus humility and exertion, vigilance and self-distrust, and a constant looking up to our Redeemer and our God for his merciful aid, are perpetually cherished in the Christian's soul, which, thus daily imploring and receiving additional assistance from the ever-present Spirit of truth and holiness, is daily enlightened, strengthened, purified; until it becomes rooted in faith, joyful in hope, fruitful in charity, and prepared for heaven; where He, who is at once its Redeemer and its Judge, receives it with mercy and acceptance, ranking it among his faithful followers to whom he shall address the happy call-" Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."* Into which, that we all, my fellow-Christians, may be admitted, God of his infinite mercy grant, through the merits, atonement, and mediation of Christ Jesus, our Lord and our God, our Saviour and our King; to whom with the Father, and the Holy Ghost, be all honour and glory, now and for ever. Amen Amen.

* Matt. xxv. 34.

DISCOURSE IX.

THE REAL NATURE OF ELECTION, AS DESCRIBED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, CONSIDERED.

ROMANS, IX. 13, 14.

"It is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid."

In the series of the preceding discourses, I have endeavoured to show that the doctrine of absolute predestination is repugnant to the general tenor of Scripture. I have appealed to the law and the prophets, to the declarations of the apostles and evangelists, nay, even of our Lord himself, against the supposition, that all human beings are either elected to immortal life, or reprobated to endless misery, by an unconditional and irrespective divine decree fixed before the existence, and unalterable by any exertion in the power of the individuals whose doom it seals.

I am, however, aware, that the Scriptures speak of choice or election, of rejection, exclusion, or reprobation, and apply them frequently to nations and collective bodies of men, and sometimes to individuals, in a manner which has been mistaken as implying the irrespective reprobation of certain individuals to future misery, and the election of others to future glory, which absolute predestination supposes. I shall, in this and the subsequent discourses, endeavour to consider the principal passages of Scripture in which such election or reprobation is described; and mark the distinction between their result, and the doctrine of the predestinarian scheme.

First, then, with respect to election, as it regards nations or collective bodies of men, I am very far from denying, that

many passages of Scripture show that the supreme God, the moral Governor of the world, following the dictates of his own free choice and the counsels of his unfathomable wisdom, justice, and mercy, has conferred and still confers on different nations or collective bodies of men, and consequently on the individuals of which they are composed, greater degrees of moral and religious advantages than those which he has conferred upon others; advantages which, if improved aright, are calculated to lead the individuals possessed of them to higher exaltation in a future world than those who are not possessed of them. And in this sense such individuals may truly be said to be called or elected; while others, to whom these advantages are not extended, may be said to be comparatively excluded or rejected. And as this admission or exclusion, must take place according to the pre-determination of God and the fixed order of his providential dispensations, they may be said to be predestined and decreed. But due attention to the doctrine of the Scripture on this subject will prove that this election implies no security of unconditional salvation to the elect; this exclusion of the rest of mankind supposes no such reprobation as condemns them to eternal misery; and that both are consistent with the clearest equity and most extended mercy in the moral government of God, and perfectly reconcilable with the free will and moral agency of man.

To compare this principle with the history of the divine dispensations, it is necessary, in the first instance, to consider that remarkable example of election to religious distinctions exhibited in the selection of the Jews as the peculiar people of God, and in the circumstances of the rest of mankind in this respect, compared with this chosen race. Undoubtedly the rest of mankind enjoyed very inferior religious advantages; they were left to the light of reason unassisted by revelation; except so far as the indistinct traditions of patriarchal antiquity, or the indirect communications of the Jewish history and religion served to enlighten or direct them. Idolatry with its attendant vices and corruptions overspread the world; and the progress of refinement and philosophy proved totally inadequate to check their spread, or counteract their baneful