the Lord Jehovah; wherefore turn yourselves and live ye.' xxxiii. 11. 'say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways, for why will ye die, O house of Israel?' Luke xiii. 5. except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish:' therefore, if ye repent, ye shall not perish. If then there be no repentance, of what advantage is election; or if there be repentance, of what injury is reprobation? Accordingly St. Paul, in speaking of those whom he describes as blinded, and whom he opposes to the elect, Rom. xi. 7. 'the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded,' subjoins immediately, v. 11. ' have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid;' and v. 23, &c. and they also, if they abide not in unbelief, shall be graffed in; for God is able to graff them in again,' &c. lastly, he adds, v. 32. 'God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.' If then God reject none but the disobedient and unbelieving, he undoubtedly gives grace to all, though not in equal measure,* yet sufficient for attaining knowledge of the truth and final salvation;-I have said, not in equal measure, because not even to the reprobate, as they are called, has he imparted uni *Some I have chosen of peculiar grace, The rest shall hear me call, and oft be warn'd Paradise Lost, III. 183. 6 formly the same degree of grace. 6 Matt. xi. 21, 23. woe unto thee, Chorazin,' &c. for if the mighty works which have been done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon,'-&c. See also Luke x. 13. For God, as any other proprietor might do with regard to his private possessions, claims to himself the right of determining concerning his own creatures according to his pleasure, nor can he be called to account for his decision, though, if he chose, he could give the best reasons for it. Rom. ix. 20, 21. 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? hath not the potter power over the clay?' It is owing, therefore, to his supreme will that God does not vouchsafe equal grace to all; but it is owing to his justice that there are none to whom he does not vouchsafe grace sufficient for their salvation. Isai. v. 4. what could have been done more in my vineyard, that I have not done in it?' which words are spoken of the whole nation of the Jews, not of the elect only. xxvi. 10. 'let favour be showed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness.' Ezek. xii. 2. which have eyes to see, and see not, they have ears to hear, and hear not; for they are a rebellious house.' 2 Kings xvii. 13. 'Jehovah testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways,' &c.....' notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their necks.' See also 2 Chron. xxxvi. 15, 16. John i. 9. 'that was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.' ix. 41. if ye were blind, ye should have no sin; but now ye say, We see, therefore your sin had sin: but remaineth,' namely, because your sin is the fruit of pride, not of ignorance. xv. 22. if I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not now they have no cloak for their sin.' xii. 34-41. ' yet a little while is the light with you walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you,' &c. ' while ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light.' Acts xiii. 46. 'it was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you, but seeing you put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.' xiv. 16, 17. who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways: nevertheless he left not himself without witness.' Rom. x. 20, 21. I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me but to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.' 2 Cor. vi. 1, 2. behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.' Heb. iii. 7, 8. compared with Psal. xcv. 7, 9. 'to-day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.' Undoubtedly if he desire that the wicked should turn from their way and live, Ezek. xxxiii. 11.-if he would have all men to be saved, 1 Tim. ii. 4.-if he be unwilling that any should perish, 2 Pet. iii. 9. he must also will that an adequate proportion of saving grace shall be withholden from no man; for if otherwise, it does not appear how his truth towards mankind can be justified. Nor is it enough that only so much grace shall be bestowed as will suffice to take away all excuse; for our condemnation would have been reasonable, even had no 12 VOL. I. grace at all been bestowed.* But the offer of grace having been once proclaimed, those who perish will always have some excuse, and will perish unjustly, unless it be evident that it is actually sufficient for salvation. So that what Moses said in his address to the Israelites,, Deut. xxix. 4. Jehovah hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day,' must be understood as having been dictated by the kindness and tenderness of his feelings, lest he should have been accused of harshness and asperity towards so large an assembly of the people, who were then on the point of entering into covenant with God, if he had chosen that particular time for openly reproving the hardness of their hearts. When, therefore, there were two causes to which their impenitence was capable of being ascribed,-either, that a heart had not yet been given by God, who was at liberty to give it when he pleased, or, that they had not yielded obedience to God,-he made mention only of the freedom of God's will, and left their hardness of heart to be suggested silently by their own consciences; for no one could be at a loss to perceive, that if God to that day had not given them an understanding heart, their own stubbornness must have been the principal cause; or else that God, who had wrought so many miracles for their sakes, had abundantly given them a heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, but that they had refused to make use of these gifts. *God made thee of choice his own, and of his own Thy punishment then justly is at his will. Paradise Lost, X. 766. Thus much, therefore, may be considered as certain and irrefragable truth-that God excludes no one from the pale of repentance and eternal salvation, till he has despised and rejected the propositions of sufficient grace, offered even to a late hour, for the sake of manifesting the glory of his long-suffering and justice. Nor has God anywhere declared in direct. and precise terms that his will is the cause of reprobation, but the reasons which influence his will in the case at issue are frequently propounded,—namely, the grievous sins of the reprobate previously committed, or foreseen before actual commission,-want of repentance,contempt of grace,-deafness to the repeated calls of God. For reprobation must not be attributed, like the election of grace, to the divine will alone. Deut. ix. 5. not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to possess their land; but for the wickedness of these nations Jehovah thy God doth drive them out before thee.' For the exercise of mercy requires no vindication; it is unnecessary to assign any cause for it, except God's own merciful will; but, that reprobation, the consequence of which is punishment, may be reconciled with justice, it must be owing to man's sin alone, and not to the arbitrary will of God-to sin either committed or foreseen, after the constant rejection of grace, or after it has been sought at length too late, and only through fear of punishment, when the appointed day of grace is past. For God does not reprobate for one cause, and condemn or assign to death for another, according to the distinction commonly made; but those whom he has condemned on account of sin, he has also reprobated on account of |