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certain, that some will comply with the terms of salvation. With regard to the rest, it does not affect their situation at all. Their condition is the same that it would have been, if there had been no decree of election. They are still free agents-an atonement has been made-salvation is freely offered the Spirit and the bride, say, come-the door of heaven stands open, and they may all enter, if they will. There is nothing to exclude them from the celestial paradise, but their own voluntary obstinacy. The doctrine of election, therefore, alters the condition of no man for the worse, although it alters the condition of many for the better. It is simply an exhibition of mercy. ""Twas mercy filled the throne," when the purpose of election was conceived. Why, then, is this doctrine viewed with such terror and alarm? Why does it awaken such enmity in the sinner's bosom, and sometimes fill him even with horror? Is it a dreadful thought, that God has looked with an eye of mercy on this apostate world, and that when he saw the whole human race plunging into irrevocable ruin, he determined to rescue some, and make them trophies of his redeeming grace? Is it a dreadful thought, that God has rendered it certain, that some of our wretched, guilty race, shall ascend to the mansions of the blessed, and join the society of Cherubim and Seraphim? Shall his holy name be blasphemed for this wondrous display of his love and mercy? Does this doctrine trouble you, my hearers? Of what are you afraid? Are you afraid that your names are in the book of life? If not, there is nothing in this doctrine, which need awaken your fears; for if you are not elected, your condition is cer tainly no worse than it would be if the doctrine were not true. If it has altered your circumstances at all, it has altered them for the better. If it has not rendered your salvation certain, you are just where you would have been, and where all would have been, had no decree of election ever existed.

But there is another doctrine, which it may be thought cannot be so explained as not to imply an insuperable obstacle in the way of man's salvation. The doctrine to which I allude, is the doctrine of Reprobation. But what are we to understand by this doctrine? Not that a part of mankind are doomed to hopeless misery, without respect to character, and without enjoying an opportunity to secure eternal life; but simply, that God has determined to leave a part of mankind to their own choice. He has determined not to exert his power in subduing their hearts, and making them willing to come to Christ, but to suffer them to take the course which they naturally choose. In short, according to this doctrine, God has reprobated a part of the human race, in the same sense, in which those who deny elec tion, suppose he has reprobated the whole: that is, he has determined to leave them to themselves. There is no reprobation taught in the scriptures, which destroys human liberty, or which impairs the sinner's natural power. Every man is a free, moral agent. Life and death are set before him, and he is capable of choosing between them. There is no reprobation which limits the offers of mercy, or which bars the gates of heaven against any man, who is disposed to enter. Reprobation, therefore, implies no obstacle in the way of man's salvation, but the one which has been supposed.

That this point may appear perfectly plain, let me appeal directly to the consciences of impenitent hearers. Why have you lived to this day without

hope, and without God in the world? Can you lay your hands on your hearts, and look up to heaven, and say, that the fault is in God? Do you feel that you have been bound hand and foot in adamantine chains of God's decrees? Has God compelled you to sin, or restrained you from obeying his commands? Has he hedged up the path of life, that you could not walk in it, if you chose? Have you done your utmost to obtain eternal life, and found obstacles in your way, which you could not surmount? Or are you not conscious, that the fault is entirely your own? Do you not know, that you are free moral agents; that you have walked in the way of your own hearts; that you have chosen the course of disobedience; that you have voluntarily listened to temptation, and turned a deaf ear to the voice of conscience, and the voice of God? Are you not conscious, that you might long since have broken off your sins by righteousness, and submitted to God? Have you not voluntarily postponed repentance from week to week, and from year to year? Have you not put far off the evil day, and flattered yourselves with the prospect of a more convenient season? Have you not, again, and again, resolved to venture on, a little farther, in the way to ruin, presuming that you should retrace your steps before the season of probation closed?

on your ears.

Now, if you are reprobated, you will continue to pursue the same course, which you have hitherto pursued. God will throw no obstacles in the way of your salvation. He never has compelled you to sin, and he never will compel you. He will lay you under no restraint. He will leave you in the full possession of your moral freedom, with perfect liberty to obey the gospel, and to make sure of the eternal reward. So long as the season of your probation shall continue, salvation will be within your reach. Life and death will still be set before you. The sounds of mercy will still light Wisdom will continue to cry without, and to utter her voice in the streets. The door of heaven will still stand open. The sceptre of mercy will still be extended. The Spirit and the bride, will still say, come; and a voice from heaven will continue to cry, Look unto me and be ye saved. But you will continue to stop your ears to every kind invitation, and will not listen to the voice of the charmer, charming never so wisely. When God calls, you will continue to refuse; when he stretches out his hand, you will continue to disregard it. When the Holy Spirit strives, you will continue to resist. You will still presume on future days, and put death and judgment at a distance. You will still plead for a little longer indulgence in sin, and continue to cry, Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep. You will continue to be fascinated with the prospect of a more convenient season; and you will follow it, and follow it, while, like an ignis fatuus, it will constantly recede from you; till you drop into your graves, and lose sight of it for ever. Thus it is that the reprobate go down to perdition. And when they shall lift up their eyes in torment, and look back to that season of probation, which has closed for ever; they will feel that their ruin is the fruit of their own folly of their own guilt.

REFLECTIONS.

1. How easy are the terms of salvation. Let me request you, my hearers,

when you retire from this place, to take your Bibles and read the words of the text. Read them candidly, and attentively; and ask yourselves, whether salvation could have been offered to guilty man on easier or more reasonable terms. If you were about to provide a rich entertainment, and wished to invite all your acquaintance to come and partake; could you form an invitation more general, more full, and more free, than the one contained in the text? And are you dissatisfied with the terms of salvation? What alteration could you wish to have made in them? Look at this invitation of Christ, and see if you can suggest any alteration that would render it more favourable; that would make it more expressive of his willingness to save you; or that would render the terms of pardon more easy. Salvation is here offered to you freely. You are invited to accept it as a gift. No recompense is demanded. God asks you not to make atonement for your

sins.

He asks you not to submit to any grievous austerities, or to perform any tedious pilgrimage, to purchase his favour. He asks you not to ascend to heaven, to bring Christ down from above; or to descend into the deep, to bring him up from the dead. No; the word is nigh you, even in your mouth and in your heart. If you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God hath raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. Salvation is brought to your door; and it is not only offered to your acceptance, but it is urged upon you by all the motives which the universe can furnish, and with all the powers of persuasion which God can use. What more could God do for you, than he has done? What more could you wish him to do? Do you wish to be saved against your will? What! choose to be saved against your choice! This is a contradiction. Do you wish to purchase salvation? This you cannot do. You have already contracted a debt which subjects you to everlasting imprisonment; and you cannot discharge one iota of this debt. How then can you purchase eternal life? But the blessing has been purchased. The ransom has been paid. The blood of the Son of God has been shed. And now this salvation, bought with blood, is freely offered to a guilty world; and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

2. How great the delusion of those impenitent sinners, who flatter themselves, that they should be glad to be Christians, if they could. If it be true, that nothing but their own unwillingness prevents them from becoming the disciples of Christ; then it cannot be true, that they really desire to be Christians for if this were their desire, they would not continue impenitent, There is certainly an unwillingness somewhere; and it must be either on the part of the sinner, or on the part of God. The reason that the sinner is not a saint, is either, that he is unwilling to be one, or, that God is unwilling that he should be one.. We cannot make a third supposition. But God has sworn by his own life, that the unwillingness is not on his part: -As I LIVE, SAITH THE LORD GOD, I HAVE NO PLEASURE IN THE DEATH OF THE WICKED, BUT THAT HE TURN AND LIVE. TURN YE, TURN YE, FOR WHY WILL YE DIE. And in the text, WHOSOEVER WILL, LET HIM TAKE THE WATER OF LIFE FREELY.

I am aware, that sinners often really believe, that they desire to be Chris

tians. But they deceive themselves; and I will endeavour to explain the ground of their delusion. They doubtless desire to escape future punishment, and to be made eternally happy; and as they are convinced that religion is necessary to the attainment of future happiness, they flatter themselves that they desire to possess it. But observe-religion itself is not the object of their desire; but its future rewards. The drunkard may sincerely desire the blessing of temperance, while he has no desire to abandon his cups. So sinners may desire the rewards of piety, while they have no desire for piety itself. They see no beauty in holiness. It is the object of their aversion; and all their desire for it, is like the desire of a sick man for a loathsome medicine, which, he knows, he must take, or die. Do any of you, my hearers, flatter yourselves that you desire to be Christians ?-Have you seriously thought, what it is to be a Christian? The Christian hates sin, and loves holiness. He hungers and thirsts after righteousness. He delights in the service of God. It is his meat and drink to do the will of his heavenly Father. Do you desire to possess such a character? No man truly desires to be a Christian, who is not willing to forsake his sins, and to walk in newness of life. Are you willing to do this? Call up to view the sins which you habitually indulge. Are you willing to forsake them? If you are, you will forsake them immediately. Look at the duties of religion. Are you willing to perform them? If you are, you will commence a life of obedience without delay. If you are not willing to do these things, you are not willing to be Christians; for these things are essential to the Christian character. Cast away, then, this vain delusion. Be willing to see your own hearts, and to acknowledge your true character. No longer attempt to exculpate yourselves, and to impute unrighteousness to Jehovah When you say, that you should be glad to be Christians, if you could, you virtually say, that it is not your fault that you remain in impenitence. And whose fault is it, my hearers? It is either your fault or the fault of God. While therefore you exculpate yourselves, you cast all the blame of your impenitence upon your Maker. And is not this impiety?

3. How utterly inexcusable are those who reject the gospel. If there is nothing but their own unwillingness to prevent them from receiving pardon, what excuse can they plead in their justification? There is one excuse, however, which the sinner sometimes pleads, when the subject is thus presented, which it may be important to notice. He says, Granting it to be so-granting that there is nothing but my own unwillingness to prevent me from complying with the terms of salvation: still, I cannot change my own will, and if God does not make me willing, how can I be culpable? When the sinner pleads this excuse, he always takes it for granted, that he really desires to change his own will; that is, that he really has a will, to have a different will from that which he has in other words, that he really chooses to choose differently from what he actually does choose. But is not this absurd? The truth is, the sinner has no desire to change his will; for such a desire would itself be a change of the will. He chooses not to come to Christ: and while he thus chooses, he has no desire to choose otherwise; for he may as well choose to come to Christ, as to desire to make such a choice.

But the sinner goes farther. He says, If God does not change my will, how can I be blameable? That is, it is my fixed purpose to persist in rebellion against Heaven; and if God does not stop me in my career, and change my purpose, how can he consistently blame me? If this excuse is valid, it will annihilate at once all the sin in the universe. But let us put this excuse to the test. A man refuses to pay his honest debts, and says, I am unwilling to pay, and if God does not change my will, how can I be blamed? A child refuses to obey his parent, and says, I am unwilling to obey, and if God does not change my will, how can I be blamed? A drunkard refuses to abandon his cups, and says, I am unwilling to abandon them, and if God does not change my will, how can I be blamed? A man murders his neighbour, and says, I had an inclination to murder him, and as God did not change my will, how can I be blamed? Are these pleas valid? Are they not impious? Will they be admitted at the bar of conscience? If not, neither will the sinner's plea be admitted at the bar of God.

And what excuse have you, my fellow-sinners, which you will dare plead at the judgment seat of Christ? What can you say, when God shall deal with you? Will you not be speechless? If you persist in unbelief, will not the throne of God be guiltless in your condemnation? If a man, who has reduced himself to beggary by his vices, now spurns from him the hand that offers to feed him; whose fault is it, if he perish with hunger? If a criminal who is justly sentenced to death, refuses a pardon which is freely offered him, whose fault is it, if he is executed? If a prisoner refuses to leave his dungeon, when the doors are thrown open, and he is offered his liberty, whose fault is it, if he perish in his dungeon? And if sinners who have deserved eternal banishment from God, now despise the riches of his goodness, and set at nought the blood-bought salvation, which he freely offers them, whose fault will it be, if they perish? Fellow-sinner, are you slumbering in impenitence? Do you know that you are slumbering on the verge of eternity? Do you know that there is but a step between you and death? Do you know that the momentous question is soon to be decided, whether you are to be saved or lost? Awake, I beseech you, from this guilty repose! Look around you, and survey your prospects. Think of your condition. Think what God has done for you. Think how long you have abused his mercy, and wearied his patience. Look forward to the judgment, and to that state of retribution to which you are hastening. How must you feel, if you should lift up your eyes in torment, and see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, and all the saints rejoicing in the paradise above? All this glory, you may then say, I have lost by my own folly. Once it was offered to me, but I despised it, and spurned it from me; and now I must eat of the fruit of my own way, and be filled with my own devices. O, for another season of probation! But it is too late. My day of grace is past. Heaven is lost-lost for ever.

My hearers, it is not yet too late to secure eternal life. There is yet a mercy-seat. God is still waiting to be gracious. The Spirit and the bride still say, come; and let him that heareth, say, come; and let him that is athirst, come; and WHOSOEVER WILL, LET HIM TAKE THE WATER OF LIFE FREELY.

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