the connexion which it has with the will and the purpose of God. For the counsel of the Lord standeth for ever, and the thoughts of his heart to all generations.

CHAPTER XV.

THE FOREKNOWLEDGE AND ETERNAL PURPOSE OF GOD PROVED TO BE CONSISTENT WITH THE FREE AGENCY OF MAN.

I SHALL attempt to prove the doctrine, that all things exist, and are brought into being, according to the purpose or counsel of God, and which purpose or counsel is eternal and unchangeable as God himself. I own I regard it as highly desirable that this doctrine should be found true. Is it not most encouraging to a weak and dependent creature, to know that he himself, and all events regarding him, whether they have already taken place, or shall hereafter exist, do exist in virtue of the eternal purpose of God? Nothing can proceed from him but what is worthy of the perfection of his nature. The purpose in accordance with which I have my being, which has fixed the bounds of my habitation, which has ordered all the events of my lot, and which extends to all that can possibly befal me in the range of an endless existence, is the purpose of infinite holiness, wisdom, and goodness. Its having been formed from eternity cannot surely diminish its characters of wisdom and beneficence. Nor can I for a moment doubt, whether it is better that this plan which embraces me and all the minutest of my concernments should have been formed

by the God of infinite understanding and love, or that I should be introduced into being without any plan, and entirely abandoned to the guidance of my own limited judgment and discretion. How desirable is it to be so fully the object of the divine counsel, as to have all things respecting me, even the outward circumstances of my lot, ordered by it!

Such must be our feelings and convictions regarding the purposes of the God of goodness and of wisdom, even on the supposition that these purposes had not been made known to us. But how greatly ought these convictions to be strengthened by the fact, that the counsels of God, in so far as they are revealed, recommend themselves to the understanding and conscience of every man. The sum of this counsel is, that God in infinite mercy has provided a Saviour for mankind, that he commands all men everywhere to repent, and to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, that they may be saved. And to give them strength to repent, and be lieve, and return to God, he sends down the influences of the Holy Spirit on all who ask them. He makes this offer of pardon and of reconciliation, without restriction or limitation, to every creature. He has given the promise, that "whosoever believeth on Christ should not perish, but have everlasting life:" while he has as expressly declared, that "he who believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." Is not all this in the highest degree worthy of infinite wisdom and goodness? Or is it less worthy of his wisdom and goodness, or of our entire approval, because of its having been planned from eternity?

But I would further maintain the doctrine, that all things exist according to the divine counsel and foreordination, from the uniformity and certainty which characterise all things. In the natural world, this uniformity has always been observed. It may be seen amidst the greatest variety in the regular return of day and night, of cold and heat, of summer and winter, of seed-time and harvest. It is also to be seen in the conduct of free agents as well as in that of the inferior animals. The liberty which consists in acting without rule, and without end, would be no privilege to a rational creature. The ever-blessed God, who is most free, has the glory of his nature and attributes as his end. We may confidently pronounce that the acts of his government will be hereafter what they have always been, holy, just, and good. It is impossible that he can ever do any thing but what accords with the boundless perfection of his nature. He cannot lie, he cannot deny himself;-he cannot but support the authority of his government and laws, because his throne is founded in justice and in judgment. Now, in proportion as any creature resembles the Creator in his moral attributes, will be the resemblance in his moral conduct.

The angels of light, because they are holy, are not at liberty to do evil, and are incapable of committing it. If we heard a deed of atrocity imputed to them, we should at once pronounce the imputation false, just because the high excellency of their nature gives us an unlimited confidence and an absolute certainty, that their conduct will be invariably holy and beneficent. We know that the fallen angels, on the other

hand, from the depravity of their nature, are predisposed to what is evil, and so strong is our conviction of their moral incapacity to do good, that we could not credit any testimony that would go to ascribe goodness to them. Mankind may be considered as holding an intermediate state between angels of light and those of darkness. They have fallen from their original state of holiness and innocency, but they have been placed under an economy of mercy, under which pardon and reconciliation are offered to the penitent through a Mediator. There is less uniformity in their conduct, especially in the earlier stages of the Christian life, just because there are opposite principles contending in their nature, and rendering them more variable as the one or the other predominates. But this variability is diminished in the aged saint, who has, during sixty or seventy years, been making progress in the graces and attainments of the heavenly life. We cannot suspect him guilty of the deed of atrocity committed in his neighbourhood, because we know that his habits of piety and virtue have been fully formed and confirmed. And the general surprise which is felt when any such person falls into open sin, is a proof how closely and inseparably, according to universal belief, the conduct of the life accords with the state of the heart. On the other hand, what is our conviction regarding the man who has been profligate in youth, hardened in wickedness in mature years, and remains under the unsubdued dominion of sin in old age? It is, that he is incapable of doing good, and will readily and most certainly commit evil. When this individual has reached the point of

hopeless and confirmed depravity, we can pronounce with absolute certainty beforehand, what will be the line of conduct he will follow.

Now, the conclusion I would deduce from all this is, that if we, whose powers and experience are so limited, can speak with so much certainty of the line of conduct which free agents will pursue, with what absolute precision does He foresee this conduct who knows perfectly the state of the heart, who can most accurately estimate the nature and the force of its desires, and whose judgment is according to truth. If we can say of a thousand individuals perfectly holy, or of a thousand individuals perfectly depraved, that they will yield to a certain motive when presented to them, just because the state of their hearts is alike, must not the all-seeing God, before whom all things are naked and open, have the most absolute foreknowledge of the conduct of his accountable creatures, and consequently have been capable from eternity of forming his purposes without any interference with their free agency? If our knowing, with undoubted certainty, that a man confirmed in wickedness will continue to do wickedly does in no way influence him, why should it be supposed that the perfect knowledge which God has of the conduct he will exhibit through an endless existence should in any way affect his moral agency?

But that the knowledge of God of all beings and events is most perfect, and that they exist in exact accordance with his pleasure, is further evident, from the consideration of the perfections of his nature. We have already seen that, as the being and presence of