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evil, and suffering, and darkness shall still prevail? Is this a God-worthy idea of the Purpose of Deity in creation ?Not if that Being is a God of universal Love and Goodness. Which of these views, then, of this important subject, bears most the semblance of truth? for beyond these several conclusions men have searched in vain for alternatives. For our own part, we can rest in no other but that which we have briefly developed above from the Scriptures, the same which a distinguished poet conceived and sung in the following lofty strain:

"From the wide complex
Of co-existent natures, there shall rise
One ORDER, All-involving and entire ;
For He, beholding in the sacred light
Of His essential Reason, all the shapes
Of swift Contingence, all successive ties
Of action propagated through the sum
Of possible existence,-He, at once,
Down the long series of eventful time,
So fix'd the dates of being, so dispos'd
To every living soul of every kind
The field of motion and the hour of rest,
That all conspired to His Supreme Design,-
TO UNIVERSAL GOOD."-AKENSIDE.

COMPLETION OF THE ARGUMENT.

Shall this Great PURPOSE of the Almighty be Accomplished? "The Lord of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have Thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have PURPOSED, SO shall it stand.'—Is. xiv. 24. Yet, although 'He hath Purposed in Himself to Gather together in One All Things,' some Christians earnestly deny that God ever Purposed any thing of the kind, while others insist that such a Purpose can never be accomplished if it were made.

'I am God, and there is none else! I am God, and there is none like Me! Declaring [Decreeing] the End from the Beginning, and from Ancient times the things that are not yet done, [and] saying, My Counsel shall Stand, and I will Do All My Pleasure !'---Is. xlvi. 9, 10.

'Yea, I have spoken it, I will also Bring it to Pass. I have PURPOSED IT,---I will also DO IT! [Do what? Procure the Salvation of the wicked. Listen:] 'Hearken unto Me ye stubborn-hearted, that are far from righteousness I will bring near My Righteousness; it shall not be far off, and My Salvation shall not tarry: and I will place Salvation in Zion for Israel, My glory.'---Is. xlvi. 10--13. It is never, in fact, intimated in the Scriptures that men must convert and save themselves, in order to fulfil the Great Purposes of Jehovah; that the Salvation of God tarrieth or 'waiteth upon man's weak will or ministry.' But the general tone of all the Bible is, in this respect, I, the Lord have Purposed, and I will also Fulfil. 'I have spoken it, I have PURPOSED it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it.'---Jer. iv. 28. Ye shall be My people, and I will be your God. behold, the whirlwind of the Lord goeth forth with fury, a continuing whirlwind; it shall fall with pain upon the head of the wicked. The fierce anger of the Lord shall not return until He hath DONE IT, [such is the florid, poetic style in which the Prophets describe the punitive and disciplinary means by which the King and Father of men will bring 'the wicked' to become 'His People.'] and until He have Performed THE INTENTS [the Purposes] of His heart. In the Latter Days ye shall consider it.'—Jer.

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xxx. 22--24.

For

'That that is Determined [Decreed, Purposed,] SHALL BE DONE!'-Dan xi. 36.

'The Lord Jehovah hath PURPOSED, and who shall disannul it? His hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?'-Is. xiv. 27.

'I will work, and who shall let [prevent] it?'-Is. xliii. 13.

Arminianism answers, The mighty Spirit of Evil and his angels, and the rebelling self-power of millions of unregenerate hearts.

'I know, O Lord, that Thou canst do Everything.'-Job xlii. 2.

'If He form such a Purpose concerning Man, the spirit and the breath He WILL Gather to Himself: All Flesh

should expire together, and Man return to the dust.'-Job, xxxiv. 14. 15, Noyes' translation. For, 'Every PURPOSE of the Lord shall be Performed.'-Jer. li. 29.

The immense array of passages which the Scriptures contain to this same purpose, in discountenance of the idea of the existence of counter powers and metaphysical phenomena in the universe which shall operate to defeat the will or Purposes of the Almighty, are not to be slightly regarded, or at once set aside and exchanged for the weak, unsafe deductions of ill-grounded human philosophy upon this subject. Our amassments of the text-proofs of this particular proposition, which is only subordinate yet tributary to our general argument, are distributed, it ought to be observed, all along under a variety of aspects throughout the course of our book. We should wish to have the full force of all the passages of this class, especially and constantly awakened in the reader's mind; for we deem it, in the aggregate, the most complete and satisfactory argument against the doctrine of Contingency, and the popular notions in regard to 'Free Agency,' that can possibly be preferred on the negative of those questions. This idea of the intervention of obstacles between God and His Purposes, this morbid doubt and unbelief of the Divine Ability to work out to the uttermost all the good counsel of infinite Love, on the fallacious ground that the mighty Will of God is actually wrought against by the human will in this world,-we like it not, we cannot find place for such a belief. Nothing so much undeifies the Everlasting Sovereign in our imagi nation as conceptions of this nature. If the Power and

Wisdom of God were insufficient to overrule and direct every possible flit of circumstance, of great and small degree, all into the constant current of the Vast Original and Beneficent Purpose, rolling onward to completion,—or, "Did He o'erlook the least of His concerns, (Since from the least, the Greatest oft originate,) Then unforseen Contingence might alarm Him, And disturb the smooth and even course of His Affairs."-CoWPER.

OBJECTION.

The gracious Purposes of God do not extend towards the wicked; the original vast Design of the Deity could not have comprised the salvation of those who should wilfully and effectually persevere against the striving of the Holy Spirit. For, a Purpose that should thus includethe redemption ofthe sinful and the righteous indefinitely, would not only be opposed to the demar.ds of Justice, but interfere with the freedom of human volition; for all men could not be saved unless millions were forced into salvation, against their inclination, which God never would do. Thus, all men being left free to their choice of endless perdition or happiness, the wicked must forever frustrate the benevolent Intentions which God would otherwise cherish in their behalf.

ANSWER.

First, it is assumed that the Eternal Purpose of the Lord only comprised the salvation of the righteous. How does this compare with the Bible? Let us see. 'And you that were sometimes alienated, and enemies in your minds by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled.—Col. i. 21. 'He shall have put down all rule, and all authority and power, for he must reign till he hath put ALL ENEMIES under his feet, until the last enemy, Death, [evil, corruption,] shall be destroyed, when ALL THINGS shall be Subdued unto him, and God shall be All in All.'-1 Cor. xv. 24--28. The Son of Man came not to call the Righteous, BUT SINNERS to Repentance.'-Mark ii. 17. He was sent 'To seek and to save that which was Lost.'-Luke xix. 10. To save SINNERS,' yea, even 'THE CHIEF.'-1 Tim. i. 15. To bring the wicked, which were not God's people, to become His ple.-Hos. ii. 23; John x. 16, &c. Do not these convince the objector that the Purpose of the Lord in His salvation, extends alike towards the Alienated and the Subjugated, the Evil and the Good? Yet the objection was indeed sufficiently covered by the evidences of the Universality of the Divine Purpose in the scheme of redemption, exhibited in the former part of the present argument.

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But here is another point. None but the righteous can be saved, you say. Now the Bible affirms, Righteous, no, Not One.'-Rom. iii. 10. have concluded ALL under sin.'—Gal. iii. 22.

"There is NONE The Scriptures

'God hath

concluded ALL in unbelief, [why ?] that he might have Mercy upon All.'—Rom. xi. 32.

And here is another scriptural reason why the Purpose of God for salvation is Universal, and embraces all distinctions of men. 'By GRACE ye are saved,-not of works.' We cannot save ourselves, for 'No man can come unto me,' said Jesus, 'except it were given him of my Father.'-John vi. 65. And it is expressly written, that this 'GRACE of God bringeth Salvation to All Men.'-Titus ii. 11.

Besides, it is impossible for any man to earn or merit the immortal inheritance, consequently 'eternal life' must be 'THE GIFT of God.'-Rom. vi. 23. And God is an Impartial Giver, for 'He is not a Respecter of any.'-2 Sam. xiv. 14. And it is declared, in fact, that, 'through the righteousness of one, THE FREE GIFT [not Offer, mind,] has passed unto All Men.'-Rom. v. 18.

The objection under review likewise speaks of effectual strivance on the part of the wicked, against the operations of the mighty Spirit of God, in the manifestations of His Grace. Is this a doctrine of the Scriptures? 'Is the Spirit of the Lord straitened?'-Micah ii. 7. 'None can stay His hand, or say unto Him, What doest Thou?'-Dan. iv. 35. 'Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord ?'—Is. xl. 13. 'He is Great in Counsel, and Mighty in work,' and 'Nothing shall be impossible with Him.'

It is asserted by the objector that the salvation of the wicked is opposed to the demands of Justice. This is an unscriptural principle, for 'God is of one mind,' and 'God is Love; therefore the divine Justice has no claim that is opposite to the impulses of the Divine Love, or Mercy, or Goodness, which are infinite, and desire the salvation of All; else God would be 'divided against himself,' and 'a kingdom that is divided against itself cannot stand.' But the attributes of Deity are all alike centred in the fulfilment of His great Purpose of the ultimate Ingathering of All Things through Christ. Such a passage as this, (and the Bible abounds with strong parallels, as will be exhibited hereafter,) 'The Judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More TO BE DESIRED are they than gold,

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