and his tender mercies are over all his works, Psa. cxlv, 9. If one died for all, then were all dead. He died for all, that they which live, should, &c, live to him who died for them, 2 Cor. v, 14, 15. He is despised and rejected of men, &c. We [men] esteemed him not, &c. Surely he was wounded for our transgressions, &c, and with his stripes we are [initally, and his seed, persevering believers, completely] healed. All we [men] like sheep have gone astray: we have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all, &c. He poured out his soul unto death, &c; he bore the sin [2] of the* multitudes, and made intercession for the transgressors, Isa, hiii, 3-6, 12. If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world, 1 John ii, 1, 2. Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons, Acts x, 34. If ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, James ii, 9. It is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy. And if ye call on the Father, who, without respect of persons, judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear; forasmuch as ye know that ye were redeemed, &c, with the precious blood of Christ, 1 Pet. i, 17, 18. [How different is this Gospel from the Gospel of the day! And if to elect and to reprobate is to judge that myriads of unborn people shall be eternally loved or hated without any respect to their tempers and actions, what can we say of doctrines, which fix upon God the spot that Solomon describes in the following words? It is not good to have respect of persons in judgment. He that says to the wicked, Thou art righteous, [or he that says to what is not, Thou art wicked, and I unconditionally appoint thee for eternal destruction,] him shall the people curse: nations shall abhor him, Prov. xxiv, 23, 24. Through the LIBERTY OF OUR WILL we may IMPROVE or NEGLECT so great redemption; we may make, or refuse to make our sincere election and rational calling sure; as appears from the following scrip The first signification of the Hebrew word 2 (BR) is a multitude; and as Isaiah uses it in the plural number, I hope Zelotes will not think that I take an undue liberty, when I render it the multitudes: namely, the multitudes of "transgressors" mentioned in the same verse; or the multitudes of men that "have turned every one to his own ways." See verses 3, 6. . I. self by Jesus Christ, 2 Cor. v, 18. Him [Christ] God hath exalted to give repentance to Israel-[and] to the Gentiles, [i. e. to all mankind, who are made up of Jews and Gentiles,] Acts v, 31; xi, 18. [Hence it is that] God now commandeth all men every where to repent; because he will judge the world in righteousness, Acts xvii, 30, 31. Thou [Paul] shalt be his [Christ's] witness unto all men. To make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery [of redeeming and sanctifying love,] Acts xxii, 15; Eph. iii, 9. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, Isa. xlv, 22. Come unto me, all ye that travel [with sin] and are heavy laden [with troubles] and I will give you rest, Matt. xi, 28. Jesus spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven, and in earth: go ye therefore and teach [proselyte] all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. [A sure proof this that the Son has redeemed all nations, and purchased for them the influences of the Holy Ghost, Matt. xxviii, 18, 19.] Go into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature, &c, and they went forth preaching every where, Mark xvi, 15, 20. Whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely, Rev. xxii, 17. The Lord is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance, 2 Pet. iii, 9. Come now [ye rulers of Sodom, ye people of Gomorrah] and let us reason together, saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow, &c. Ye shall eat the good of the land, Isa. i, 10, 18, 19. II. ye reconciled to God, 2 Cor. v, 20. And they all, with one consent, began to make excuse, &c. I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come, &c. Then the master of the house being angry said, &c, None of those men, who were bidden [or called, and refused to make their calling and election sure] shall taste of my supper, Luke xvii, 18. How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in scorning? and fools hate knowledge! Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my Spirit unto you, Prov. i, 22, 23. I am the Lord thy God, &c, open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it. But my people would not hearken to my voice, and Israel would none of me, Psa. lxxxi, 10, 11. I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that thou mayest live, Deut. xxx, 19. Mary hath chosen the good part, Luke x, 42. Choose you this day whom ye will serve, &c, but as for me, and my house, [we have made our choice] we will serve the Lord, Josh. xxiv, 15. He that rejecteth me, &c, hath one that judgeth him. The word [of the Gospel] that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day, John xii, 48. We will not have this man to reign over us. Those, &c, who would not that I should reign over them, slay them before me, Luke xix, 14, 27. If ye be willing and obedient, &c. But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it, verses 19, 20. ye the Lord while he may be found; and call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, &c, and return unto the Lord, for he will abundantly pardon, Isa. lv, 1-7. Wisdom standeth in the top of high places: she crieth at the gates, at the entry of the city, &c, Unto you, O men, I call, and my voice is to the sons of men, &c. Hear, for I will speak excellent things, &c. Receive my instruction, rather than choice gold, &c. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls; for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light, Prov. viii, 2, &c; Matt. xi, 29, 30. All the people [of bloody devoted Jerusalem] ran together unto them [Peter and John:] and when Peter saw it, he answered, Ye [all the people] are the children of the cove. nant, which God made, saying to Abraham, "And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed." Unto you [all the people] first [as being Jews] God, &c, sent his Son Jesus to bless you [all the people] by turning away every one of you from his iniquities, Acts iii, 9, 11, 12, 25, 26. II. Thus spake the Lord of hosts, &c. But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder and stopped their cars, that they should not hear. Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the Lord of hosts hath sent in his Spirit, &c. Therefore it is come to pass, that as he cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the Lord of hosts, Zech. vii, 8, 13. I also will choose their delusions, &c, because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear; but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not, Isa. lxvi, 4. The Jews were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul; contradicting and blaspheming. Then Paul waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God [the Gospel of Christ] should first have been spoken to you: but, seeing ye put it from you, and judge your. selves unworthy of eternal life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles: for so hath the Lord commanded, Acts xiii, 45, 46. [Query. How could it be necessary" that the Gospel should first be spoken to those Jews," if God had eternally fixed, that there should be no Gospel,-no Saviour, for them?] * Zelotes represents the "sure mercies of David," and "the everlasting covenant," as absolutely unconditional. But I appeal to Candidus: does not this passage mention four requisites on our part? Inclining our ear: hearing: seeking the Lord: and forsaking our wicked way? And do not we accordingly find, Acts xiii, 34, that many of those to whom St. Paul offered those "sure mercies," missed them by " contradicting," instead of “inclining their ear?" I. To whom [the Gentiles] I send thee to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God; that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and an inheritance among them who are sanctified by faith that is in me, Acts xxvi, 17, 18. Behold, Now is the accepted time! behold, Now is the day of salvation, 2 Cor. vi, 2. Where. fore, beloved, account that the long suffering of the Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also hath written to you [in the next passage,] 2 Pet, iii, 9, 15. De. spisest thou the riches of God's goodness, and forbearance, and long suffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance, and of consequence to eternal salvation? Rom. ii, 4. Them that perish because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusions, &c, that they all might be damned, who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in un. righteousness, 2 Thess. ii, 10, &c. O Jerusalem, &c, how often would I have gathered together thy children [among whom were the chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees] as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not? Luke xiii, 34. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, I will bring upon this city, &c, all the evil that I have pronounced against it; because they have hardened their necks that they might not hear my words, Jer. xix, 15. The Lord is our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. To-day, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts as in the provocation, &c, when your fathers saw my works. Forty years long I was grieved with that generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their hearts, &c.— To whom I sware in my wrath, that they should not enter into my rest, Psa. xlv, 7, &c. This is one of the "clouds of Scripture witnesses," which we produce in favour of redeeming free grace and electing free will. To some people this cloud appears so big with evidence, and so luminous, that they think Honestus and Zelotes, with all the admirers of Socinus and Calvin, can never raise dust enough to involve it in darkness, at least before those who have not yet permitted prejudice to put out both their eyes. It is worth notice, that Honestus has not one Scripture to prove that any man can be saved without the Redeemer's atonement. On the contrary, we read that there is salvation "in no other;" that there is "no other name,' or person, "whereby we must be saved;" and that "no man cometh to the Father but by him-the light of the world, and the light of men." And it is remarkable, that although the peculiar gospel of Zelotes is founded upon the doctrine of a partial atonement, there is not in all the Bible one passage that represents "the world” as being made up of the elect only; not one text which asserts that Christ made an atonement for one part of the world exclusively of the other; no, nor one word which, being candidly understood according to the con text, cuts off either man, woman, or child from the benefit of Christ's redemption; at least so long as the day of grace and initial salvation lasteth. Nay, the very reverse is directly or indirectly asserted: for our Lord threatened his very apostles with a hell, "where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched," if they did not "pluck out the offending eye." St. Peter speaks of those who "bring swift destruction upon themselves by denying the Lord that bought them." And St. Paul mentions "destruction of a brother for whom Christ died;" yea, and the "much sorer punishment of him who had trodden under foot the Son of God, had counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, [and consequently redeemed,] an unholy thing, and had done despite to the Spirit of grace," by which Spirit ho and other apostates "were once enlightened, and had tasted the heavenly gift-the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come," Heb. x, 29; vi, 4. Hence it appears, that of all the unscriptural doctrines which prejudiced divines have imposed upon the simple, none is more directly contrary to Scripture than the doctrine of Christ's particular atonement.An Arian can produce, "My Father is greater than I;" and a Papist, "This is my body," in support of their error; but a Calvinist cannot produce one word that excludes even Cain and Judas from the temporary interest in Christ's atonement, whereby they had "the day of initial salvation," which they once enjoyed and abused. 29 The tide of Scripture evidence in favour of general redemption is so strong, that at times it carries away both St. Augustine and Calvin, notwithstanding their particular resistance. The former says, Egrotat humanum genus, non morbis corporis, sed peccatis. Jacet toto orbe terrarum ab oriente usque ad occidentem grandis ægrotus. Ad sanandum grandem ægrotum descendit omnipotens Medicus. (AUG. De Verbis Domini, Sermon 59.) "MANKIND is sick, not with bodily diseases, but with sins. The HUGE PATIENT les ALL THE WORLD over, stretched from east to west. To heal the huge patient, the omnipotent Physician descends from heaven.' As for Calvin, in a happy moment, he does not scruple to say: Se TOTI MUNDO propitium ostendit, cum sine exceptione omnes ad Christi fidem vocat, quæ nihil aliud est quam ingressus in vitam. (CAL. in Job, iii, 15, 16.) "God shows himself propitious to ALL THE WORLD, when he, without exception, invites ALL MEN to believe in Christ; faith being the entrance into life." Agreeable to this, when he comments upon these words of St. Paul, "There is one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ," he says with great truth: Cum itaque COMMUNE mortis suæ beneficium OMNIBUS esse velit, injuriam illi faciunt, qui opinione sua quempiam arcent a spe salutis. (CALV. in 1 Tim. ii, 5.) "Since therefore Christ is willing that the benefit of his death should be COMMON TO ALL MEN; they do him an injury, who, by their opinion, debar any one from the hope of salvation." If, Calvin himself being judge, "they do Christ an injury, who by their opinion debar ANY ONE from the hope of salvation," how great, how multiplied an injury does Zelotes do to the Redeemer, by his opinion of particular redemption; an opinion this, which effectually debars all the unre. deemed from the least well grounded hope of ever escaping the dam. nation of hell, be their endeavours after salvation ever so strong and ever so many. |