out into the open field weltering in their blood, to the loathing of their persons; it follows that they must have been viewed as objects of redemption.

This is all I shall determine for the present; that the Son of God having been, from all eternity, anointed a covenant head, a Redeemer of men, delighted in the objects of that redemption. But I do not inquire, at this stage of investigation, whether these objects comprehend all mankind, or only a part of them; nor under what formal consideration they were viewed. But it is highly probable that the reader will, as usual, have shot ahead of the writer, and concluded, that those who were the objects of the Redeemer's delight from all eternity, are the very same who shall be the objects of his ineffable delight to all eternity-and that it is not very likely, that the Son of God delighted from all eternity in those, to whom he will say in the day of judgment, Depart from me ye workers of iniquity, I never knew you.

The next passage I shall produce, is found 2d Tim. i. 8, &c. "Be not thou, therefore, ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner; but be thou a partaker of the afflictions of the gospel, according to the power of God; who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose; and THE GRACE which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, but is now made manifest by the appearance of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel."

I have made a small alteration in the translation, because our present version is neither a correct translation, nor correct English; the sense, however, is not

God's eternal purpose, and according to that grace which was given them in Christ Jesus before the world began. Now, what was true in respect to Paul and Ti mothy, purely as saints, or converted persons, is true respecting all saints; and will be true respecting all saints in the judgment day, namely, that they were called with a holy calling, and made living Christians, according to the purpose of God, and the grace which was given them in Christ Jesus before the world be gan.

But how was grace given them in Christ Jesus before the world began? Look back to the foregoing ar ticle, and compare the Old Testament scriptures with those of the New. Jesus Christ was anointed a covenant head from everlasting; and in that very anointing, grace was given in him to all who ever shall be lieve in his name, and they shall be called with a holy calling, according to the purpose of him who gave them grace in his own Son before the world began.

I might go on to reason on these data, and, placing before my imagination the doleful throng on the lef hand of the Redeemer, in the judgment day, and the glorious throng on his right; I might say grace was given to all these in the Son of God before the world began; and they were all called with a holy calling according to the purpose of him who gave the gracebut was grace given in Christ Jesus before the world began, to those to whom neither he nor his Father

have given grace in time? Did God purpose to call with a holy calling, those whom he has not called, and never will call? I can well believe that the delights of the Son of God were with you, ye glorious saints of his, before the foundation of the world; but, can I believe that his delights were then with those abandoned rebels, whom he abhors and dooms to everlasting burnings? But, although it is impossible not to spare a passing glance to these trains of argumentation, it is not our intention to forsake our present purpose, which is merely to establish elements for a system and the reader is forewarned to keep the rein on his impatience, as a great deal remains still to be done, before we shall be prepared for systematizing. The hewers are in the mountains, and the quarrymen are in the quarries; every beam must be squared, every joint and tenon must be fitted; every stone must be chiselled to its exact form and dimensions; and, should we succeed in all this, according to the draft and plan which' the Divine Architect has furnished us, you shall soon see stone come to its stone, and beam to its beam, till the temple of the Lord shall tower towards the heavens, without the sound of a hammer.

The next passage I produce, is found Isa. liii. 10th, &c.-"When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied and by the knowledge of himself shall my righteous servant justify many: for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he shall pour out his soul unto death: and he

was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sins of many, and made intercession for the transgres

The only critical remark which it is necessary to make on this passage is, that I have changed his knowledge into the knowledge of himself, and for this reason; the phrase his knowledge, according to the usual English idiom, means the knowledge of which he is the subject, or the knowledge which he possesses. Now, the knowledge which Jesus Christ possesses cannot justify any person; or, if it did justify any, it must justify all. But the knowledge of which Jesus is the object, or the knowledge which men have of him as the mediator between God and man, is the justification of all who are justified, according to the Scriptures. "This is life eternal, to know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." But to cut off all possibility of mistake, I would remark, that the knowledge of Christ in question is not a naked, metaphysical, speculative knowledge-for even a devil could say, "I know thee who thou art, the holy one of God ;"* but it is that knowledge which the Holy Ghost giveth when he taketh of the things that are Christ's and sheweth them unto us-it is a knowledge which issues in faith, love, and obedience.

The points which I wish to establish by the above passage, are the following:

1. That the Son of God engaged to make his soul an offering for sin, and to bear the sins of many; and that this engagement took place when he was anointed a covenant head; that is, " from everlasting," or "ever the earth was."

* Mark i. 24.

2. That his Heavenly Father engaged, that, in consequence of his making his soul an offering for the sins of many, he should have them as his reward,-he should justify many, he should travail in sore travail, but not without effect, he should see his offspring : and the pleasure of the Lord, the salvation of sinners, should prosper in his hand.

3. From the two foregoing principles I deduce a third, that, so sure as the faithful Son of God should fulfil his part of the covenant, by bearing the sins of many, and making his soul an offering for sin,—so surely would his Heavenly Father give him the travail of his soul; and that, of consequence, some men must be saved by the mediation of Jesus, in order to vindicate the faithfulness of God the Father. But who? How many? Was the number definite or indefinite?

Two or three passages more from the sacred page, and I am done on this subject. John xvii. 1, &c.— "These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour is come, glorify thy son that thy son also may glorify thee: as thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him." John vi. 37. "All that the Father giveth me shall come to and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast

me,

out."

As I established from the 53d of Isaiah, that a seed was pledged to Messiah as the travail of his soul, and of consequence, that some men must be saved, in order to preserve inviolate the fidelity of the eternal Father; so I infer from these passages, that the number was fixed and definite; that Jesus Christ received power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as the Father hath given him; that all who