CARDINAL BAPTIST DOC

CARDINAL BAPTIST DOCTRINES
By Dr. E.A. Huchison
"Those things which are most surely believed among us." – Luke 1:1
"Earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints."
Theology is the product of man. It is but our ideas of truth classified and arranged. Men may, but truth never changes. If our ideas of the design of salvation are correct, they must be parallel with the views of the apostles. As the grave grows nearer our theology is reduced to the central thought: "Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief." I Timothy 1:15.
The two leading schools of theology into which Christianity is divided are Arminians and Calvinists. The former receives their name from a Dutch reformer living in the latter half of the sixteenth century; the latter from John Calvin who lived in the early part of the same century.
James Arminius was not the pioneer advocate of those freewill principles that bear his name; we are all Arminians by nature, and Arminianism was born when Cain came before the Lord offering the works of his hands. Since then Arminianism has had nothing better to offer.
Old School Baptists are not Calvinists.
That is, they do not regard Calvin as the founder of their church or the source of their doctrinal beliefs. The so-called Calvinistic principles to which they adhere were advocated centuries before the birth of Calvin. The renowned historian Moshiem, tells us that their origin is "lost in the remote depth of antiquity." We find in the words of the Pedobaptist historian, that, "Before the rise of Luther and Calvin there lay concealed in almost all the countries of Europe many persons who adhered tenaciously to the doctrines of the Anabaptists."
We love to tread the path beaten out by those who have earnestly contended for the principles so dear to our hearts. As we turn to the pages of history following the paths made red by the blood of martyrs, we find that no period this side of the Apostolic Age was the date of their birth, and the places where the Nazarene walked and taught the scene of their nativity. As we follow the path lit up by the imperishable deeds of others we find that the principles for which these persons contended and for which we contend as we hold aloft the blood stained banner of our Master, are – Election and Predestination, a Particular Redemption, The Total Depravity of Man, Effectual Calling, and the Final Preservation of the Saints.
ELECTION AND PREDESTINATION
In the physical world there is perfect order. Harmony exists in the movements of all heavenly bodies. With precision the stars rise, and set; without variation the earth plows its way through space in that path we call its orbit. The harmony and the precision that thus exists, is indicative of the fact the world is not the product of fate, neither is it controlled by chance. In the beauties of the earth by day, and the glory of the heavens by night, the omniscience and omnipotence of their Designer is presented.
As we look upon nature and observe her unerring laws, noting entire absence of chaos, we are made to marvel at the attributes of the Great Ruler of the universe. The finite has ever failed to comprehend the infinite. In vain have we endeavored to pierce the veil that separates the two, and echoing back to our inquiries comes the answer, "Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10.)
The foreknowledge of God, consisting of His knowledge of approbation and prescience, is an attribute; His predestination an act. Deny the existence of the former and we make Him an ignoramus. Remove the latter and we leave Him a God without a purpose. The foreknowledge of God comes first in order. His predestination follows. It at once becomes necessary that we avoid making the terms synonymous, and draw the proper line of distinction between them. Yet, they always go together.
There is no ground that will bear the weight of the doctrine of unconditional election but that of God’s sovereignty and predestination, and there it is as fixed as on a rock. This foreknowledge brings comfort and cheer to the child of grace here. "The foundation of God standeth sure having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are His" (II Timothy 2:19.)
The temple of Solomon was the grandest structure ever built by human hands. In the Architect who devised it, in the materials employed in the labor bestowed, in the costliness of the work, and in the grandeur of its whole design, it surpassed the proudest edifices of the world. There is much in the construction of the temple that is analogous with the Church of God. "And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither: so that there was neither hammer, nor axe, nor any tool of iron, heard in the house while it was in building" (I Kings 6:7.)
Planning the construction of the temple was Predestination. The choosing of the material that entered therein, was Election. In the New Testament the church is termed, "God’s building;" "the temple of God;" "the temple of the Holy Ghost;" "the temple of the living God;" "an holy temple of the Lord;" "an habitation of God through the Spirit;" "the house of Christ." These terms denote that as God by the bright symbol of His glory manifested His presence in the movable tabernacle erected by Moses, and the stately temple built by Solomon, so does He by His Spirit dwell in the hearts of Christians, as individuals, and in the church collectively. In looking, then, at this Christian temple, let us observe:
First, the stones of which it is composed.
Secondly, the preparation of them.
Thirdly, their destination.
Peter says of Christians, that as lively stones they are built up a spiritual house. A stone is a shapeless mass of rock. It is inert – lifeless- could never split itself from its native quarry- could never fashion itself into classic shape and beauty, and could never set itself up as a lintel or column in any edifice of man. And such by nature is the spiritual state of all men, having no power to move, hear, see, feel, believe, because the moral inertia makes them as passive, hard and insensible as the stones of the earth. Hence when God would express the hardened condition of a person or people, He speaks of such as having "hearts of stone."
God possesses foreknowledge according to approbation only in comparison with His creature man. Since He is the great "I Am," everything with God is as an eternal "now." His omniscience enabled Him to look down through that which we call time and comprehend all of the acts of men: "Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure" (Isaiah 44:10.) The omniscience of God comprehended man in His lost and ruined state as the result of the transgression of our federal head, Adam. It was there
"Grace contrived a way, to save
rebellious man,
And all the steps that grace displays,
Which drew the wondrous plan."
Why God permitted the transgression of Adam and the arising and continuation of sin when He is infinitely wise, righteous, merciful and powerful is beyond the comprehension of the finite. It is in our not knowing that we recognize His Sovereignty. He has a "right to do what He will with His own." The sovereignty of God in the dispensation of His grace shines throughout the history of the human race and is evidenced in the regeneration of every soul born into that kingdom which is above. To the one in whose heart the star of hope shines it seems that grace reigns; not that sovereignty has ceased, but is transferred. Grace is the attribute that God delights to honor, and all other attributes are, as it were, subservient to it. Through the predestination of God even Christ Himself was made a servant, to perform the pleasure of His grace: "Behold My Servant, whom I uphold; My Elect, in whom My soul delighteth; I have put My Spirit upon Him: He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles" (Isaiah 42:1.)
The sovereignty of God does not make Him the author of sin. The sun is not the cause of darkness, yet darkness is the absence of light. The Lord’s rejecting, or reprobating, men puts nothing of evil into them, nor necessitates the will; it only leaves them to their own ways which they freely according to their nature choose; yet banking them in, and stopping them up, as He did the fountains of the great deep, lest they deluge the world with sin. He sovereignly controls their evil actions to achieve His own eternal end.
Since the sovereignty of God is toned with a love beyond our comprehension, ye weary pilgrims, lift up your heads and rejoice! The election of God is the greatest possible encouragement to seeking souls. It declares that every one who has learned "the plague of his own heart" and depravity of his nature, and who longs for the touch of that Great Physician, is already alive! The apostle has said, "Knowing brethren, beloved, your election of God." Therefore, that which you are to submit unto, is the good pleasure of God’s will, as held forth in the covenant of grace, undertaking for and perfectly able to save you; and have His sovereign power engaged to make it good.
‘Tis not that I did choose Thee,
For, Lord, that could not be;
This heart would still refuse Thee,
Hadst Thou not chosen me.
Thou from the sin that stained me
Hast cleansed and set me free;
Of old Thou hast ordained me,
That I should live to Thee.
______
PARTICULAR REDEMPTION
"All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me; and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out." – John 6:37.
The paramount question in the discussion of redemption is not whether our Lord Jesus Christ has a body or church, to whom He is Head and Savior, but who are they who make up His body? Whether the whole of mankind universally, or some particular persons? Whether He had in His death the same respect tp all as to some?
Redemption denotes previous ownership. The use of the term leads us to the distant past, when as yet the stars did not twinkle in the heavens; neither was the highest dust of the earth formed, - where, based upon the decree of everlasting love, or foreknowledge, of God, a covenant was made with His Son, "ordered in all things and sure" (II Sam. 23:5.) Through that covenant the church rested in Christ, in a prospective sense, as truly as mankind in Adam when he fell; or Levi, in Abraham’s loins when he met Melchisedec.
The church of Jesus Christ is spoken of as the "bride" of Christ. The king’s daughter, elect to be suitable for His Son, must be "all glorious within" (Psalm 45:13.) To purge her from all iniquity and present her spotless in glory, was His purpose to this world. In the Mosaic economy, when a man became espoused to a virgin, He became responsible for her debts. So Christ, as the Head of the church, became responsible for her debts. Through the transgression of our federal head, Adam, we had "sold ourselves for naught. Human volition, or the works of our hands, could not bridge the gulf of God’s offended wrath. The justice of God must be satisfied, and nothing could satisfy it, save the blood of Christ. The chasm that must have forever separated us from the glories of God, has been bridged by the cross of Calvary. By "giving Himself a ransom;" by the whole of His humiliation; by whatever He did or suffered as Mediator, from His incarnation to His resurrection; by what is summarily expressed in the "blood of the cross," He secured, as the precious fruits of His death, the "forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with God." This is what redemption means to us.
As we review the life of the Man of Galilee touched at times by the pathos with which we see it blended; when we, in our imagination, follow that procession up Golgotha’s Hill; when we see the Friend of sinners bending beneath the weight of the cross, His brow pricked by the crown of thorns, and hear the dull thud, thud, of the nails as they pierced His hands and feet, and come to the climax of that scene, reached when He said, "It is finished," we ask, "Was that glorious achievement to bring men into a mere possibility of being saved?"
The life of the Son of God was infinitely too precious to be given for perishing things; neither would it be consistent with divine wisdom to venture it for an uncertainty. It would have been a light thing for Christ, and not worthy of His sufferings, to raise up the ruins made by Adam to such a degree of restoration as would have only set Him in His former state, and that upon terms in which He was not likely to succeed. It was necessary that redemption should have a further reach than to bring men into a mere savable state, and that could not be less than a state of certain salvation.
To make redemption larger than electing love, is to overlay the foundation, which is, as all of you know, a momentous error in building; especially of such a tower whose top must reach to Heaven. "For I came down from Heaven, not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me. And this is the Father’s will which hath sent Me, that of all which He hath given Me I should lose nothing, but raise it up again at the last day;" John 6:38,39.
The Levitical sacrifices were a type of the redemption of Christ. When once a year the high priest entered into the holy of holies with blood, he entered to make atonement, "not for the Jebusites, nor the Hittites, nor the Ammonites, but the Israelites." When the offering was made for personal atonement, whether it was the one who offered the bullock, the ram, or the almost valueless dove, it was specific in its application. When the two goats were brought, the one slain and its blood sprinkled upon the other, and the other to be loosed to go into the wilderness, it bore away the sins of Israel, all of which stands for particular redemption. Aaron making atonement for his household, and bearing the names of the twelve tribes on his breastplate, were typical of our great High Priest bearing the names and sustaining the persons of those for whom He offered Himself on the cross.
The right of redemption among the Jews (which shadowed this), was founded on brotherhood; from this I infer that relation was both the ground and limit of Christ’s office as a Redeemer. The apostle Paul seems to point to this when He says, "they were brethren, children and sons, whom Christ should deliver from bondage, make reconciliation for their sins, and bring to glory." Why is it they are to be God’s children, and the brethren of Christ above others? It was by predestination; and it was predestination that entitled them to redemption. "Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself; in whom we have redemption through His blood" (Ephesians 1:5-7.) Under the law of redemption, a stranger (one who is not of the brotherhood) might not be redeemed; but one who was of the brotherhood, though not redeemed, must go free in the year of jubilee (Lev. 25: 46-48; and 54.) This shows the peculiar respect the Lord has for His particular people.
We are obligated to confine redemption to elect persons, because intercession, which is parallel with redemption, is limited to them, exclusive of others. The priests, under the law, were to pray for those whose sacrifice they offered. This was a pattern of our Savior’s Priestly office, whom likewise we find to sacrifice and pray only for the same persons. Christ, as our great High Priest, having offered Himself, is an Advocate for those for whose sins He is a propitiation (I John 2:2,) and makes intercession for those for whose transgressions He was smitten (Isa. 53:8,12.) For their sakes He sanctified Himself; and it was for them He offered that solemn prayer, as recorded in the seventeenth chapter of John. In the prayer just referred to, He is just to enter upon offering their sacrifice. The world is excluded from any benefits of it: "I pray not for the world, but for them which Thou hast given Me" (John 17: 9,) Christ gives as a reason for this prayer, the words, "for they are Thine;" that is, they were the Father’s by election.
In conclusion, the motive for Christ’s dying especially for the elect, is that they are His designed spouse. As we have shown by previous references, this relationship brought upon Him peculiar obligations to die for them. Since the church, or elect, was His spouse, He was chargeable with their debts. They, through their federal head, were made under law, and Christ, through the relationship shown, made Himself one with them and answerable for them. It was for the satisfaction of the law’s account, as well as His original intent, that He made Himself their Surety (Isaiah 53: 8-11.) Consequently, in case of forfeiture, His life must go for theirs.
Christ was, therefore, "made under the law" (Gal. 4: 4,5,) as they were, and was "made sin for them" (II Cor. 5:21.) Being made sin for them, "it behooved Him to suffer" (Luke 24: 46;) and His suffering could not be avoided (Acts 17:3.) The law was just and holy; its violation must be answered for, either by principles or surety. It is here that mercy and truth, grace and justice are blended together. Grace takes hold on Christ as Surety that the sinner might go free, and Justice lays hold on Him, as the most responsible party, for none else could answer the law’s demands. As He readily yields to this satisfaction of the law, He said to the mob that sought Him on the eve of His being offered, "If therefore ye seek Me, let these go their way" (John 18:8.) Let us believe that, since divine Justice has sought Him, Grace has left His subjects untouched.
On the eve of His crucifixion, our Lord sets forth clearly the scope of His own conception of the radius of the atonement, as He prayed, saying: "Father, the hour is come; glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son may also 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 . . . . I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which Thou hast given Me; for they are Thine. And all Mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine; and I am glorified in them . . . . Holy Father, keep through Thine own name those whom Thou hast given Me, that they may be one, as we are one . . . . I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me before the foundation of the world" (John 17: 1,2,9-11,24.)
It has been said that if we were to lie motionless in the water, we would not sink. Permit me to close, exhorting that you lash yourselves to the mast of grace, with the assurance that when the storms of life have passed, you will find yourselves safe in the haven of rest.

Not Knowing

Not Knowing
by Moses Denman

'NOT KNOWING THE THINGS THAT SHALL BEFALL ME. '--Paul Leaving Brother Newman at Itasca, I went as quickly as possible on horseback, to see my brother at Bowie who was sick, but is now recovered. God is so good and forgiving. May we ever strive to imitate His benevolence and loving kindness. To my increased joy I was once more permitted to engage with the dear brethren at Bowie in the blessed worship of God. Providentially this was their regular meeting time. There were two services each day. Those whose lot it was to speak, and those who heard, bearing the image of Jesus, were made glad. Let us humbly thank the Lord for the privilege to meet His dear people and hear them sing, and pray, and lovingly preach a free salvation. I love to hear the scriptural truth that man--soul and body--is saved by God's unmerited grace, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Praise the Lord, from time to time, Jesus prepares our ministers to preach, and also works in us to hear and obey. Jesus has assumed and atoned for our sins and imputes to us His obedience, and still leads us in paths of righteousness. Let us praise and give all glory to Him. On leaving Bowie, Denman ' Sons kindly supplied me with a buggy. As some thus furnished think themselves better than others, let us beware lest by costly style we cause some to stay away from church. For many dear unfortunate ones think they are too poor to attend church, and so lose their desire for the 'sincere milk of the word.' Oh, brethren, let us take heed that we do not disobey God, feed our pride, and keep others from coming to meeting, by 'wearing gold and costly array,' etc. I Tim. ii. 9. Rather let us be more self-sacrificing, esteeming others better than ourselves, helping one another and preferring one another in love. May the Lord direct your hearts to love God and His dear people. Continue in prayer and pray for your unworthy brother in tribulation. Marysville, Tex. M.D. DENMAN.

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Lost By Water

Lost By Water
by Moses Denman

Lost By Water LOST BY WATER J. J. Johnson, a young man of this country, while trying to cross a rising stream here, placed himself in a lost and helpless condition. Upon reaching an eminence in the river-bed surrounded, by the swelling waters, he realized that heed should have been paid to the warning given a short time before. He now worked to save himself by climbing a small tree. For awhile this effort gave a false hope of safety. Someone proposed to bring a horse for his rescue but the frenzied man either did not hear or was powerless in will to heed this doubtful proposi­tion. Again he was urged to meet another halfway to help him over; but being helpless in water he preferred his present refugee, still hop­ing the water would not reach him. Thus he indulged the false hope that he would be saved after awhile; but the water continued to rise. Now in great alarm he was calling upon God to have mercy on his soul. Then he was begging his fellow-beings to aid him if possible without risking their own lives too much. Among his last words were, 'If you can help me do so now, for I can't stay here much longer.' Several times the tree was borne down by the forcible current carrying the gasping victim beneath the increasing wave. Finally an additional rise swept over the tree, the man's hold was broken and all was hushed save the voice of the wind and the lashing of the waves. We hope his prayer was the result not of fear simply, but the voice of loving trust in God. If so, evidence is thereby given that he will finally be among the highly favored ones at God's right hand; for the promise is, 'Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.' We regret that no one present was able to save him, or was given the courage and benevolence to risk his own life for the man, in the hour of his extreme peril and great need. We have desired that, like our Saviour, some able loving one should have not merely offered to save but should have gone to the man and saved him. Christ the Lord, our great exampler, does not make mere propositions to save; but Jesus, our Good Samaritan, comes to the helpless sinner wounded by sin, and saves him, and pays all his dues. And we likewise should deny ourselves to save our fellow men from physical harm. Much more should we be willing to sacrifice all to save loving believers from the destructive waves of wrong doctrine and the ruin of sinful practice. 'Our dear Redeemer was ready, not only to risk his life for his friends but to die for his enemies. God commendeth his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.' What amazing love! While we were yet sinful rebels against him, Jesus loving­ly died for us here that we should live with him hereafter. He suffered the extreme agonies of the cross, that we should enjoy the sweet and perfect bliss of heaven. Poor distressed sinners and humble lovers of Jesus, wounded and sick of sin, remember the believer's debts were all fully paid by the suffering Saviour of lost, helpless sin­ners. So be of good cheer. Jesus came to seek and to save the lost, and he is the only way of salvation. Do you believe this, oh, my friends? Then heed his loving words. 'If you love me keep my commandments.' Oh, come to the Saviour in humble, trusting love and drink of the water of life freely. Yes, the dear Redeemer's gift is free, without money and with­out price. Jesus suffered for our disobedience; let us then turn from sin, and love and obey him always, and enjoy his gracious presence and cheering love. May the love of Christ constrain you to come, obey, and be blessed in the deed.
Let not conscience make you linger, Nor of fitness fondly dream; All the fitness He requireth, Is to feel your need of Him; This He gives you, 'Tis the Spirit's rising beam.
Sparta Tex.
M.D. DENMAN


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The Hid Treasure and

The Hid Treasure and The Pearl of Great Price
by Sylvester Hassell

THE GOSPEL MESSENGER
Devoted to the Primitive Baptist Cause
Sylvester Hassell, Editor ---- J.E.W. Henderson, Associate Editor


Williamston, N.C., April 1904

THE HID TREASURE AND THE PEARL OF GREAT PRICE
In the beautiful and instructive cluster of seven parables, or natural similitudes of spiritual truth, spoken by Christ, and given in the thirteenth chapter of Matthew, the fifth and sixth, in which the kingdom of heaven is compared to a treasure hid in a field and to a pearl of great price, form a similar and inseparable pair, showing the characteristics of the two classes of the people of God, who are really one after all, though their early experiences may seem to differ. These two parables were spoken, not to the multitude, but to Christ's disciples, not by the seashore but in the house (Matt.xiii. 36,44-46).
'The kingdom of heaven,' says our Lord, 'is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant-man, seeking goodly pearls; who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.' In the first parable, a farmer or hired laborer seems to be working in a field, and to unexpectedly plough up a great buried treasure,, and hiding it again, and in joyful anticipation of possessing it, he goes and sells all his property, and buys the field, and thus secures the treasure. In the second parable, a merchant, seeking to buy valuable pearls, finds one pearl of such surpassing value that he sells all he has and buys it. The treasure and the pearl are Christ, the Salvation of God, in who are the unsearchable riches of grace and glory, pardoning, purifying, guiding, preserving grace, and heavenly and immortal glory. The field is the Old and New Testament Scriptures, which testify of Christ the Written Word Of God, of which Christ, the Living Personal Word of God, is both the chief Witness and the chief Substance. He is the Infinite Treasure hidden from the natural mind of both Jews and Gentiles who read or hear the Scriptures. But God suddenly reveals Christ to some of His elect who had not previously sought for Him, as Christ says in Isa 1xv.1, and Rom, x.20 I was found of them that sought Me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after Me'; as was the case with Matthew the publican (Matt. ix.9), Zaccheus the publican (Luke xix.1-10), the woman of Samaria (John iv.), the man born blind (John ix.), the thief on the cross (Luke xxiii.39- 43), and Saul of Tarsus (Acts ix.). These at once hide Him in their heart, anxiously meditate on and carefully keep and value the slight revelation that Christ has made of Himself to them, the hope of a hope that they have in Him, though they try to hide it from others, and they rejoice in it however small and slight, and they are willing to part with everything else to have it confirmed and secured to them forever. The merchant, in the second parable, represents another class of God's elect, who are quickened into divine life long before they realize their possession of the slightest interest in Christ. They are sensible of the holiness of God and their own sinfulness; they are restless and distressed; and some of them for months and years make it their chief business to seek goodly pearls to find relief and rest by morality, legal righteousness, prayers, vows, fastings, alms-givings, reading the Scriptures, attending upon the public worship of God like the Ethiopian eunuch, Cornelius the Roman centurion, and Lydia the purple seller (Acts viii., x., and xvi.); and when Christ, by His Spirit, reveals Himself to them as their Prophet, Priest, and King, their Divine-Human all-suitable and all-sufficient Saviour, their Wisdom, their Righteousness, Sanctification, and Redemption, their Sin-Atoning Sacrifice, their Risen and Justifying Redeemer, their Food and Drink and Clothing and Habitation and Physician and Captain, their Lord and their God, their All-in-All for time and eternity, the Chiefest among ten thousand and altogether lovely to their souls, they are made by His almighty grace perfectly willing, as He has given Himself for them, to give up all for Him their self-righteousness, self-wisdom, self-strength, all the riches, honors, and pleasures of the world, and mortal life itself for Him. And so both the farmer and the merchant, the non-seeker and the seeker after Christ, the seemingly accidental by really providential finder and the graciously intending finder of Christ, all of who are the elect and redeemed people of God, after Christ is revealed to them, are taught by His Spirit to esteem Him incomparably above all other persons and objects, and to exclaim, with the poet
'I could from all things parted be,
But never, never, Lord from Thee.' They incomparably esteem the Lord above all other beings, His people above all other people, His Book above all other books, His law above all other laws, His doctrine above all other doctrines, His gospel above all other pretended gospels, His church above all other societies, His salvation above all counterfeit deliverances, and His holiness, wisdom, love, and power inconceivably above all others. To all such characters the salvation of Christ is given without money and without price, because Christ has Himself, as their Head, paid down all the price of it in His sufferings and death and resurrection, and it is theirs forever just as surely as if they had bought and paid for it.
S.H.



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The Accountibility o

The Accountibility of Man
by Sylvester Hassell

ADVOCATE AND MESSENGER
DEVOTED TO THE CAUSE OF TRUTH AND RIGHTEOUSNESS
R. H. PITTMAN, Editor - - - SYLVESTER HASSELL, Editor


Williamston, N. C., October 1924


THE ACCOUNTABILITY OF MAN

'We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ'; 'every one of us shall give account of himself to God' (Rom. 14:10,12).
'We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad' (2 Cor. 5:10).
'Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting' (Gal. 6:7,8).
While 'the Lord is merciful and gracious, longsuffering and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin' in the case of all His loved and chosen people, providing an atonement for their sins by the blood of His Son, and giving them regeneration, repentance, and faith, hope and love by the power of His Spirit, He yet 'will by no means clear the guilty' (Exod. 34:6-7). 'Righteousness and judgment are the habitation of His throne' (Psalm 97:2). He 'will bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil' (Eccles. 12:14). This righteous judgment of God upon every man, both Jew and Gentile, is according to the gospel committed to and preached by the Apostle Paul (Rom. 2:1-11), and by every other inspired writer, from Moses to the Apostle John. Every human being has a natural conscience, or sense of morality, accusing him if he does wrong, and excusing him if he does right (Rom. 2:14, 15), although it may be greatly perverted by development or circumstances, and may even, by false teaching or evil habits, be 'seared with a hot iron,' or made utterly unfeeling (1 Tim. 4:2); and, in every person, it needs to be cleansed by the blood and word of Christ and enlightened and made tender by the Holy Spirit (Heb. 9:14; 10:22; Eph. 5:25-27; 1 John 1:7; John 3:5; Ezek. 36:25-27).
Our most holy Creator, Preserver, Benefactor, and Governor hates, forbids, threatens, and punishes sin in every one of His creatures, and holds them to an account, and brings them to judgment, either now or after death, as in the cases of Adam and Eve and Cain, and the corrupt and violent race at the time of the flood, and the filthy cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the idolatrous and sinful Israelites in the wilderness and in Canaan, destroying their city and temple, after they had crucified Christ, and scattering them all over the world, as He had told them He would, and overthrowing and desolating all their heathen conquerors.
God says of Christ, the Covenant Head and Surety of His people--'If His children forsake my law, and walk not in My judgments, if they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments, then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes, nevertheless My loving kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer My faithfulness to fail' (Psalm 89:30-33). 'His seed shall endure forever, and His throne as the sun before Me' (verse 36). In comforting and encouraging the afflicted people of God, the Apostle Paul says: 'Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh, who corrected us, and we gave them reverence; shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure, but He for our profit, that we might be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous; nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them who are exercised thereby. Wherefore lift up the hands that hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way, but let it rather be healed.' (Heb. 12:6-13). No wise and loving father (as God is) chastens his people for obedience, but for their disobedience, and for their lasting benefit. In this same chapter the Apostle declares to these afflicted believers, that they are not come to the fiery mountain of the law to be destroyed, but to the blessed mountain of the gospel to be saved; and that, having received an immovable kingdom, they need grace whereby they may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear, for our God, the God of the believers in Christ, is a consuming fire--that is, to sin in every form and in every being. Job was the most righteous man on earth, yet he needed sore afflictions to humble him, and to make him cry, 'Behold, I am vile; I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes' (Job 1:8; 40:5; 42:6).
S.H.


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Forgiveness and Fell

Forgiveness and Fellowship
by Sylvester Hassell

THE GOSPEL MESSENGER

J. R. RESPESS, Editor.
- - - W. M. MITCHELL, Assoc. Editor



Forgiveness and Fellowship

August 1891

All errors in doctrine and discipline seem to me to arise from a defective and exclusive attention to one class, and inattention to another class of scriptures. 'All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.' ----2 Tim 3:16,17. And if there is one lesson more than another that I would fervently desire, by the aid of the Divine Spirit, to impress upon the minds and hearts of my brethren, is that they 'search the scriptures,' and 'compare spiritual things with spiritual' (John 5:39, 1 Cor. 2:13,) in regard both to every doctrine that they believe, and every point of discipline that they practice. If any part of the scriptures had not been important and necessary for us to read and consider, it would not have been given originally by the Great Head of the Church, nor preserved by His providential care from generation to generation. I cannot say too often that especially in reference to spiritual and eternal realities, every person who has an 'honest heart,' 'in whose spirit there is no guile,' (Luke 8:15; Psalm 32:2; John 1:47,) wishes to know and to teach 'the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth;' and in every case where there is, on our part, a willful ignorance, or suppression, or misrepresentation of the truth, such a course is an infallible proof of the existence of deceit or guile in our hearts --- of some worldly or selfish motive --- of which every true child of God, who has thus erred; will feel the burden, and from which he will earnestly seek deliverance. In the solemn light of eternity, which reveals the fleeting and shadowy nature of all worldly things, we do not wish to be deceived ourselves, nor to be instrumental in deceiving others. 'All things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do,' (Heb. 4:13,) who 'will bring every work into judgement, with every secret thing" whether it be good, or whether it be evil.' (Eccl. 7:14.) 'The truth of the Lord endureth forever;' (Psalm 117:2,) the great principles of His government are, like Himself, eternal and unchangeable; they were true – thousands of years before we were born, and will be true thousands of years after we are dead and forgotten. 'Woe to him that striveth with his maker!' that 'fighteth against God' – Isa. 45:9, Acts 5:39. Such a contest, if continued, can result only in the destruction of the proud and foolish creature. May the Lord, in His great mercy, deliver us from such a course and such an end.
DIVINE FORGIVENESS.--- Forever blessed be the gracious name of Israel"s God, who, even when He God His holy law, proclaimed Himself, 'The lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.'---Exod. 34:4-9. If He should be strict to mark iniquity, not one of our sinful race would be able to stand (Psalm exxx. 3.); for before Him 'every mouth is stopped, and all the world is guilty.' --- Romans 3:19. And yet the word and the Spirit of God teach everyone of His children that without two things there never would have been any manifestation of His forgiveness to them, and those two things are the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ (Lev. 4:20; Dan. 9:24; Rom. 5:11; Eph. 1:7; Heb 2:17) and that heartfelt repentance and confession for our sins which He always gives us before He grants us a sense of His pardoning love .---Lev. 16:21-22; 1 Kings 8:33-34; 2 Chron. 7:14; Psalm 32:5; 51:1-3; 130:3-4; Prov. 28:13; Isa. 55:7; Zech. 7:10-14; 8:1; Luke 15:18-20; 24:47; Acts 3:19; 5:31; 1 John 1:9. In Jer. 31:33-34, the holy law of God is written in our hearts, and thus make a part of our inward natures, and we have that knowledge of the Holy One of Israel which is life eternal, and thus cannot but hate and confess and forsake our sins; and it is after this operation of the Holy Spirit that the Lord says, 'I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sins no more.' The parable of the prodigal son forms no exception to the invariable order in the kingdom of grace; the father in that parable represents God, and he knew ( for He knows all things, and is Himself the fountain of every spiritual blessing) that His poor wayward son was coming back to Him with a reverent, penitent, and confessing spirit (Luke 15:17-19) before He ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him (verse 20). As for that elder son in that parable, it is perfectly evident that he cared nothing for the misery or repentance or confession of his younger brother; that he did not wish his father to receive him back on any terms; that he had no real love, but only hatred and contempt for the erring one.
Upon repentance, confession and forsaking of their sins, every true child of God is heartily rejoiced to forgive, re-admit into the church, and receive into full fellowship any erring brother or sister.
DIVINE FELLOWSHIP.---With all those who have been redeemed by the blood of His son, and quickened and sanctified by the power of His Holy Spirit, and who lovingly walk in the way of His holy commandments, God dwells in living and loving fellowship.---Exod. 29:45-46, Lev. 26:3-13; Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 11:20; 36:25-28; Zech. 8:7-8; John 14:15-23; 2 Cor 6:14-18; 1 John 1:3, 5, 6. But if even the redeemed and regenerated children of God walk in disobedience to His commandments, their sins separate between Him and them, and hide His face from them; and if, while they thus walk in darkness, they say they have fellowship with Him, they lie and do not speak the truth---Deut. 32:19-20; Isa. 59:2, Psalm 51:9,12; Hab. 1:3; 2 Cor. 6:14-18; 1 John 1:5-10. God is light and in Him is no darkness at all; and unless that Holy light dwells in the heart, and shines in the life of His child, the latter will not realize the fellowship of his Heavenly Father, who will never compromise His holy character, and stain His glory by showing the slightest fellowship for sin.
HUMAN FORGIVENESS.---Forgiveness is ceasing to feel anger, and ceasing to seek revenge or requital for wrong done one. All human beings are sinful creatures; and we are required, in the Scriptures, as we hope for Christ"s sake to be forgiven our sins by our Creator, even so to forgive from our hearts, not only our offending brethren, but also our enemies, whether they repent and confess their wrongs to us or not---to leave vengeance to the Lord---to love our enemies, to bless them that curse us, to do good to them that hate us, to pray for them that despitefully use and persecute us---not to return evil for evil, and thus be overcome with evil, but to overcome evil with good.---Matt. 5:43-48; 6:12, 14,14; 18:21, 22, 35; Eph. 6:31-32; Col. 3:13; James 2:13; Rom. 7:14, 19-21; 1 Pet. 3:8-9. In Luke 17:3-4, Christ says to us, 'If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him;' but in the passages just quoted, no mention is made of our brother"s repentance, and still we are commanded to forgive him from our hearts, even seventy time seven times---that is unceasingly—for true charity never faileth.---1 Cor. 13:8. Without the possession of this genuine love and mercy for our fellow creatures, all our profession of religion is sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal---an empty delusion.---1 Cor. 13:1; 1 John 2:9-11; 3:11-22, 4:7-21.
HUMAN FELLOWSHIP.---Gospel fellowship is the mutual interest and delightful intercourse of saints in the truths, blessings, ordinances, and duties of the gospel---the loving union and communion of the children of God with one another in spiritual; things which they together receive and enjoy with one mind and heart. It is nor merely that natural
love and kindness., forbearance, and forgiveness which all men should have for one another, but it is that spiritual principle that divine harmony of renewed souls with one another in the belief, enjoyment, and obedience of the gospel, which no power but the Holy Spirit can produce. It is simply impossible for gospel fellowship to exist between one who is and another who is not manifestly a child of God, or between an obedient and a disobedient child of God. Such fellowship may be professed, but it is a vain mockery. Those who are regenerated and influence by the Spirit of God cannot fellowship with 'the unfruitful works of darkness' (Eph. 5:11); cannot partake sincerely of the Lord"s supper with 'any man called a brother, who is a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner.'--- 1 Cor. 5:8,11. It is only by ' walking in the light that we have fellowship one with another.'---1 John 1:7. It was only by 'continuing steadfastly in the apostle"s doctrine' (including both their declarations and their precepts), that the primitive believers in Judea continued in 'fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.'---Acts 2:42. Righteousness can have no fellowship with unrighteousness, not light with darkness, nor Christ with Belial.'---2 Cor. 6:14-16. The faithful children of God bear, in this respect as well as others, the image of their Father, who hides His face from His disobedient people, in jealousy for His glory, and in love to them---not to destroy them, but to save them. In loving sorrow, we are to 'withdraw from every brother that walketh disorderly.'---2 Thess. 3:6. When we disobey this injunction of His apostle, we dishonor God, corrupt the church, and injure the offending brother. Gospel discipline is neither malice nor Pharisaism. Paul"s first epistle to the Corinthians contains more instructions in regard to discipline than any part of the New Testament, and yet it also contains, in perfect consistency the glorious thirteenth chapter on Charity, of Love. Faithful discipline is true, and not false charity. Without proper government, the church would degenerate into the world, and families, schools, states, the universe itself, would be reduced to primeval chaos. Faithful gospel discipline has always been a characteristic mark of the true Church of Christ; and its absence has been a mark of the Anti-Christ.
The wisdom that is from above has no respect to the persons of men, and is without partiality.---James 2:1-9; 3:17; Jude 16. It uses the same discipline towards church members who are learned, exalted, and wealthy, as those who are ignorant, lowly, and poor, and thus proves its heavenly origin.---Deut. 10:17; 2 Sam 14:14; Matt. 23:16; mark 7:14.
May the God of Israel mercifully deliver us from that evil spirit of idolatry, of self, and man, and the world., which, when it reigns, always confuses and divides His people, and breaks the fellowship of the churches of the saints.---1 Cor. 14:33; Eph. 4:1-6. SYLVESTER HASSELL.


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The Great Commission

The Great Commission
by Sylvester Hassell

THE GOSPEL MESSENGER
Devoted to the Primitive Baptist Cause
Sylvester Hassell, Editor ---- W. M. Mitchell, Associate Editor


Williamston, N.C., July 1896

Eld. E. S. Counts of VA., requests my views on Mark xvi. 15, 16: and brother E. J. O"Neal asks me to write an article on Baptism, for the GOSPEL MESSENGER. As baptism is embraced in the text in Mark, I will endeavor to comply with both these requests in the same article, with such ability as the Lord may grant me. All our attempts at expounding or understanding His Written Word are in vain without the enlightenment of His Hold Spirit, which He has promised to give for the sake of His Son, to those of His children who ask Him.
The text reads:--'and He said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.'
PREACHING
As I have tried to show, in the GOSPEL MESSENGER for Dec. 1892, the FINAL COMMISSION of Christ to His Disciples seems to have been given, in words somewhat different but having substantially the same meaning, on four different occasions after His resurrection from the dead---1 st , on the night of the first day, when He rose from the grave (Mark xvi. 14, Luke xxiv. 33-48, John xx. 19-23): 2d, at His appearance to seven of His Disciples by the sea of Galilee (John xxi. 15-17); 3d, at His appearance to eleven of His Disciples, and probably to five hundred brethren also, on a mountain in Galilee (Matt. xxviii 16-20, 1 Cor. xv. 6); and 4 th , when He met the eleven apostles for the last time in Jerusalem, and led them out to Bethany, and ascended in their sight to heaven (Mark xvi. 15-19; Luke xxiv. 49-53, Acts i. 1-12).
Just as the direction which Christ gave to Peter, in John xxi 15-17, to feed His sheep and lambs undoubtedly applied also to all the apostles, and is applied by Peter to all elders--- 1 Pet. V. 1-4, so I feel sure that (as plainly intimated in His words in Matt. xxviii, 20, 'Lo, I am with you always,' not to the end of each one of your personal earthly lives, but 'even unto the end of the world .') Christ in His words in the Final Commission, commands His true ministers, to the end of time, to go unto all the world, as they may be impressed and directed by His Spirit, and as the way may be opened to them by His providence, and to teach the nations, whether Jew or Gentile; to tell them of the infinite holiness of God and of their just condemnation by His righteous law, and of their sinful, lost, and ruined condition, and of their indispensable need of being regenerated by His Spirit, and of Repentance, and turning from their sins; and to point every creature; every human being burdened by a sense of sin; to the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world, to the dying and risen Savior of sinners, who calls every laboring and heavy laden soul to Himself for rest; and to exhort all those who heartily receive their message to follow Jesus into the liquid grave, and to thus unite with His visible Church, and to yield humble and loving obedience; to all His commandments all their lives, and in this manner to benefit their fellow creatures and glorify God (in addition to the already cited, see Acts xxvi. 15-20; xx. 21; xvii. 30,31; John iii. 1-17, i. 29; Matt. xi. 28-30, Acts ii. 38-42, John xiv. 15; Matt. xxii. 37-40.)
As I have said in the ninth chapter in the Church History, 'the qualifications laid down in the New Testament for a gospel minister are that he must be a regenerated, Christ-loving, God-called, and God-qualified man---kind, gentle, humble, quiet, firm, virtuous, upright, just, sober, temperate, unselfish, not covetous, well-proved, exemplary, of good repute, sound in doctrine, able and apt to teach, and divinely impressed with the work of the ministry, not for ambitious or sordid ends, but for the good of men and the glory of God.' He is not to resort, for preparation to preach the gospel, to Theological Seminaries, the chief hot-beds of infidelity; but he is to read, search, and meditate upon his one great infallible text-book; the Hole Scriptures, and to beseech the Lord Jesus for His indispensable Spirit to enable to understand His written word aright, and not to despise true light given to the meaning on the word from any source opened to him by the providence of God, but to test such instructions by the Scriptures and his own experience, and himself to be a personal witness od the living and eternal truths of the gospel, and he is to preach those truths fully" faithfully, fearlessly, and tenderly, to all to whom he has opportunity both at home and abroad, both publicly and privately, and he is to proclaim, not the power of dead sinners or of human appliances of any kind, but the power of a Divine and Almighty Savior not to save every sin-laden soul but also to quicken into eternal life those who are spiritually dead. Thus he is to find and teach and guide and tend and feed (not goats and dogs and swine but) with the sincere milk of the word, and the strong meat of the divine, sovereign, and all-sufficient grace, and the sound doctrine of the apostles and prophets, including faithful and continual exhortations to hearty obedience to all the commandments of Christ. Having freely received of God, he is to freely give of his spiritual service to the saints; and they are" with equal freeness and faithfulness, to give to him of their substance for the temporal support of him, and his family. The Lord only knows where are His people who need teaching, guiding, tending and feeding, and, as He did in person in the days of His earthly ministry, He only, by His spirit now can direct His servants where to find His people; and the history of Modern Men Made Missions demonstrates that He has not delegated this directing power to Missionary Societies or Boards. If a true minister of Christ is divinely impressed to visit and preach to people at a distance from his home, in this country or any other country, the true children of God should as in the apostolic age, help him on his way after a godly sort (Acts xv. 3; Rom. xv. 24; 1 Cor. xvi. 6; 3 John 6.)
BAPTISM
'He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned' ---Mark xvi. 16.
This language of Christ proves that none but believers shall be baptized; and that want of belief, and not want of water baptism, is followed by damnation. The most eminent scholars and preachers, in modern times, in all enlightened nations, both Catholic and Protestant, frankly admit that there is not the slightest New Testament authority either for the baptism of unbelievers , whether infant or adults, or for and so-called 'form of baptism' than immersion; and yet the Strict Baptists of England and the Old School Primitive Baptists of the United States, who are one in doctrine and practice, are the only church that stands fully and firmly upon the fundamental New Testament principle of a regenerated church membership, baptized, first with the Spirit of God inwardly and then in water outwardly, as an external sigh of the inward renewal of the Holy Ghost, quickening and convincing the sinner of his sins, and then leading him to Jesus and giving him to realize his sympathetic union with the blessed Son of God in His sufferings, death, burial, and resurrection.
As I have said in the Church History, 'the practice of infant baptism is a weak thoroughly unscriptural, idolatrous superstition, and probably arose in North Africa in the third century (the first recorded instance being in A. D. 256) from the false idea of the magical, regenerating, saving power of water, and which did not become general until the fifth century, thus securing its triumph in the Dark Ages about the same time with the establishment of the papacy; and it is worth only of the Dark Continent and the Dark Ages. It is a vain human tradition which utterly make void the commandments of God----those commandments requiring baptism after repentance and faith, as fitley symbolical of those internal graces; while the human tradition requires the baptism of unconscious, impenitent, and unbelieving infancy. It is a solemn mockery, substituting for the indispensable faith of the recipient the unscriptural proxy-faith of humanly invented sponsors, god parents, and sureties. It is a cruel falsehood and deception, pretending that the unconscious infant is regenerated and grafted into the body of Christ"s church, and depriving him the comforts of believers" baptism if he should even believe. The Catholics, who invented it, deny its Biblical authority, and rest its validity on the authority of the church, and they justly insist, therefore, that Protestants who practice the rite abandon the great Protestant principle that the Bible is the only rule of faith, and revert to the authority of tradition. A most terrible and all sufficient argument against infant baptism, is the implementation of the diabolical doctrine, that all infants who die unbaptized, even though they die unborn, and even though they be elected, redeemed, and regenerated by the Triune God, are for the want of a drop or two of natural water applied to them, consigned to everlasting torment or privation of happiness.
There are few stronger proofs of the total depravity of the human heart than the willful and deliberate perversion, not by the Catholic, but by the Protestant world, of the meaning of Greek word Baptizo, from which comes the English word Baptize. There is not a Greek Lexicon received as an authority by any University in Europe or America that dares to define Baptizo by the English words sprinkle or pour; Mr. T. J. Covant, of New York, has proved that such a meaning of that word is not found in the whole range of Greek literature; and yet nearly all Protestant churches pretend that the word is susceptible of this meaning. The Roman Catholic apostasy bases the charge from baptism to sprinkling on the authority of the 'church' to change rites and ceremonies; (for which, however, there is not the slightest authority in the Scriptures) and their scholars do not, like the Protestants, falsify the meaning of the original word Baptizo. The Creek Catholic Church, which certainly ought to understand the Greek word Baptizo, has always immersed and still immerses, even in the severe climates of Russian and Siberia, all its members, both infants and adults, and uncompromisingly declares that every other form of the rite is essentially invalid. The Roman Catholic Council of Ravenna, in A.D. 1311, was the first council of that 'church' which legalized baptism by sprinkling, by leaving it to the choice of the officiating minister. John Calvin, the founder of Presbyterianism, and John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, admit that immersion was the practice of the Apostolic Church. 'There can be no question,' says Dean Stanley, of Westminster Abbey, 'that the original form of baptism, the very meaning of the word was either unknown or regarded, unless in the case of dangerous illness, as an exceptional, almost a monstrous case. In the early centuries baptism was an entire submersion in the deep water, a leap as into the rolling sea or the rushing river, where for the moment the waves close over the bather"s head, and he emerges again as from a momentary grave. This was the part of the ceremony on which the Apostles laid so much stress. It seemed to them like a burial of the old former self and the rising up again of the new self.
The change from immersion to sprinkling has set aside the most of the apostolic expressions regarding baptism, and has altered the very meaning of the word.'
How any child of God, who is acquainted with the above indisputable truths on the subject of baptism, can remain satisfied with any pretended form of baptism administered to him in his unconscious infancy, or with sprinkling or pouring administered to him for baptism after he believed in Christ, is beyond my ability to understand. O for light from Heaven to dissipate the ignorance, superstition, and perverseness in which the religious world is enveloped!
S. Hassell

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Predestination

Predestination
by Sylvester Hassell

THE GOSPEL MESSENGER

J.R. RESPESS, Editor.
- - - W. M. MITCHELL, Assoc. Editor


Williamston, N. C., Oct. 21, 1887.
PREDESTINATION

If we are blessed with the ground of 'a good and honest heart,' we will really desire, in every discussion, not victory, but truth; we will really desire not so much to silence our opponent as to avoid error ourselves; we will be more ashamed of continuing wrong than of confessing that we are not right; we will regard TRUTH as the noblest of ends, and we will earnestly strive to divest ourselves of the last remnant of prejudge, partiality and prepossession; and we will resolve to follow TRUTH whithersoever it may lead--fearlessly, unfalteringly, perseveringly--until we arrive, so far as we may be divinely enabled, at THE TRUTH, THE WHOLE TRUTH, AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH.' To be sure we are aware that in our present state, sin has so corrupted our hearts and darkened our minds, that we cannot now perfectly attain to the truth in all its divine fullness and glory. Even inspired Apostles but 'saw through a glass darkly,' and confessed that they 'knew only in part;' much more are all uninspired men liable to darkness of sight and partiality of knowledge, especially upon the deep mysteries of the Divine Nature, and of sin and salvation. Not pride, but humility, is the mark of the highest worldly and of the highest spiritual wisdom belonging to any creature, especially any sinful and imperfect creature like ourselves. To the truly humble child of God, the SCRIPTURES are, on all points of doctrine and practice, the highest and final standard of truth; and all the assertions and all the reasonings of all uninspired men, if contrary to the Scriptures, are 'less than nothing, and vanity.' And now comes in the question—what is the teaching of the Scriptures? that is, what is the eternal truth in regard to the great doctrine of God s predestination of whatever comes to pass? Let it be clearly and continually borne in mind that the real question is not what any confession of faith, or any human periodical or book, or any uninspired writer or speaker says upon the subject, but alone what the SCRIPTURES declare. We are to cut loose from the last foothold of human authority, and to launch forth on the pure ocean of divine testimony. And on this great subject we are to seek to know not only 'the truth, and nothing but the truth' but 'THE WHOLE TRUTH' is SO far as the Scriptures reveal it to us. The perception of only half truths is a fruitful source of darkness and controversy. If one class of scripture passages bears upon one aspect of the subject of predestination, and another class of scripture passages bears upon another aspect of that subject, we have no right to receive the one class and reject the other, but are bound to receive both as equally divine and eternally true, and also, as essential to a scriptural understanding of the subject. It does not matter in the slightest possible degree, what uninspired men reject either of these classes of scripture passages, we are unhesitatingly and unreservedly to receive both classes of scripture passages as the indisputable truth of God. 'All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.' For our understanding and guidance in the present world, we have a need of not only a part, but of all the scriptures, otherwise they would not all have been given. And we are to 'compare spiritual things with spiritual,' 'not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but what the Holy Ghost teacheth.' One class of texts represents one aspect of the Divine Character as merciful and loving, and in the manifestation of this attribute, God saves His people from their sins; while another class of texts represents another aspect of Divine Character as just and holy, and in the manifestation of this attribute God plunges His sword into the bosom of His dear Son, the Shepherd of Israel, the Covenant Head of His sinning people, and pours out upon voluntary, unredeemed and impenitent sinners, the vials of His eternal wrath. We should be equally in error to reject the one or the other of these classes of texts—to consider God as merciful but not holy, or as holy but not merciful. Even so there are TWO classes of texts, (sometimes blended in the same sentence) bearing upon the doctrine of the divine PREDESTINATION of the future, and the truly humble child of God will receive the one as well as the other, and believe both, to be equally and certainly true, no matter in the least whatever any other human being, in the pride of human reasoning or preconceived opinion, decides to reject or ignore of the Divine testimony. 1 st . The first class of texts bears upon the truth of God's predestination of all things—whether the infinitely free, sovereign, wise and powerful Creator, who knows the end from the beginning, and who create, all things out of nothing—did from eternity foreordain all the consequences of His creative work—all the events in the universe? In the light of the Scriptures, this question answers itself: 'In the beginning; God created the heaven and the earth.'—Gen i 1. 'All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made.'—John i. 3. 'By Him were all things created that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him and for Him; and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist.'--Colos, i. 16, 17. He is 'the Most High.'--Psalms ix. 2. He is 'the Lord God of hosts.'—Psalms lxxx. 19. He is 'the King of kings, and Lord of lords.'—I Tim. vi. 15. 'His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom is from generation to generation: and all the inhabitants of earth are reputed as nothing: and He doeth according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of earth: and none can stay His hand, or say unto Him, What doest Thou ? '—Dan. iv. 34, 35. 'Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world.'--Acts xv. 18. 'I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel stand, and I will do all my pleasure.'—Isaiah xlvi. 9, 10. 'Who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will.'—Eph, i. 11. 'He hath made of one blood all nations of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation.'—Acts xvii. 26. 'Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.'—Matt. x. 20, 30. 'The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord.'—Prov. xvt. 33. 'We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.'—Eph, ii. 10. 'Lord, Thou wilt ordain peace for us; for Thou also hast wrought all our works in us.'—Isaiah xxvi. 12. 'It is God who worketh in you both to will and to dc, of His good pleasure.'—Philip. ii. 13. 'The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.'—Gal, v. 22, 23. 'Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the beloved.'—Eph, i. 3-6. 'In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will.'—Eph. i. 11. 'We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose. For whom He did foreknow He also did to be predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren. Moreover, whom He did predestinate, them He also called: and whom He called, them He also justified: and whom He justified, them He also glorified. What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?'—Rom, viii. 28-31. These four verses just quoted (Eph. i. 5, 11; Rom. viii. 23, 20) are the only places where the word predestinate, occurs in the King James or Authorized version of the English Bible, and in each of these instances the revised version substitutes for the word predestinate, the word foreordain, which means the same thing. But there are two other places in the New Testament where the same Greek verb (pro-orizo), thus rendered predestinate, or foreordain, occurs, namely, Acts iv. 28, and 1 Cor. ii. 7. 'For of a truth against Thy holy child Jesus, whom Thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, for to do whatsoever Thy hand and Thy counsel determined before' (Greek pro-orizo, elsewhere rendered predestinate, or foreordain, or ordain) 'to be done.'--Acts iv. 27, 28. 'But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained (Greek, pro-orizo) before the world to our glory?--I Cor. ii. 7. The simple verb orizo, without the prefix pro, (meaning before) occurs in these eight, passages: Luke xxii. 22; Acts ii. 23; x. 42; xi. 29; xvii. 26, 31; Rom. i. 4; and Heb. iv. 7. In these passages this word is rendered, in the King James version, determine, ordain, declare, and limit. Two of these passages bear especially upon our present subject: 'And truly the Soil of Man goeth as it was determined'— Luke xxii. 22. 'Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain.'—Acts ii. 23. The writer to the Hebrews, vi. 17, speaks of 'the immutability of His (that is, God's) counsel.' In Gen. xxxvii. 25, we read: 'Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver; and they brought Joseph into Egypt;' while in Gen. xlv. 7, 8, we read: 'And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God.' And in Gen. 1. 20: 'As for you, ye thought evil against me, but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.' In Exodus ix. 12: 'And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he harkened not unto them.' In Psalms xvii. 13, 14, we read: 'Arise, O Lord, disappoint him, east hint down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is Thy sword: frown men which are thy hand.' And in Isaiah x, 5-7, 12, we read: 'O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation. I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoils, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. Howbeit, he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but it is irk his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few. Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed His whole wrath upon Mount Zion, and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruits of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.' In Job i. 12, we read: 'And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself, put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth froth the presence of the Lord.' After Satan had destroyed the property and children of Job, the latter says, in verse 21: 'The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away: blessed be the name of the Lord.' In 2d Sam. xvi. 10, we read this language of David: 'So let him (Shimei) curse, because the Lord hath said unto him, Curse David.' In 2 Sam. xxiv. 1, we read: 'And again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he' (the word he is not in the original, but is supplied by the translator. Some think that it would be better to supply the word one , referring to Satan, as in 1 Chron. xxi. 1,) 'moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah;' while in 1 Chron. xxi. 1, we read: 'And Satan' (or an adversary; the article is not used with this term here, as it is in Job)'stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.' In 2 Cor. xii. 7, we read: 'And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me.' I must confess that I am convinced by these Scripture passages (as I have said on the 485 th page of the Church History) that, in one sense, God has predestinated or foreordained all things; without Him they would never have been created; and without Him they would not be sustained now for an instant. 'If God is omniscient and omnipotent, and existed alone from eternity, and created all things out of nothing, and disposed of all things in his providence, with all the surrounding circumstances, exactly foreknowing all the results, then certainly, in one scene, His foreknowledge of all things is equivalent to His foreordination of all things, including the violations of his creatures, yet without the slightest degree of sin on His part, as the Most Holy God tempts no one to sin. The sinful, carnal mind of fallen, darkened rationalism, paints this-certain truth of nature and Scripture in the most revolting colors, preferring that senseless and heartless fate or chance should sit at the helm of the universe; but the regenerated, enlightened, spiritual mind of the child of God incomparably prefers that his Holy and Heavenly Father should sit at the helm, and direct and work all things according to the counsel of his own will.' 2 nd . In regard to the difficult and mysterious subject of God's predestination or pro-orization of sin, there is a second class of Scripture passages, which are just as inspired and truthful as the first class, which we have not a particle more right to reject than the others, and which are absolutely necessary to the scriptural understanding of the subject; and the truly humble child of God, who harkens to God rather than man , will receive them as the eternal truth with the same unquestioning reverence as the first class of Scripture passages, no matter, in the slightest possible degree, what human being may reject them. 'Let God be true, but every man liar.'—Rom, iii. 4. Now for the second class of texts, some of which, as partly belonging to the first class, have already been quoted. 'Predestinated according, to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel' (boule--will, determination, plan, design, decree; so Liddell and Scott define the word) 'of its own will.'—Eph, i. 11. 'The immutability of His counsel;' (boule, the same word as above, in the Greek).—Heb. vi. 17. 'Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world.'--Acts xv. 18. He is 'the same yesterday, and to-day and forever.'—Heb. xiii. 8. 'With whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning'--James i. 17. 'Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure—Isaiah xlvi. 10. God is 'the Sun of righteousness.'—Mal, iv. 2. 'God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.'—I John i. 5. 'The Lord is righteous in all His ways, and holy in all His works.'—Psalms cxlv. 17. 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.'—Isaiah vi. 3. 'Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty.'—Rev. iv. 8. 'Be ye holy, for I am holy.'—I Peter i. 16. It 'is impossible for God to lie.' –Heb. vi. 18. 'He cannot deny Himself.'—2 Tim. ii. 13. 'And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good.'—Gen, i. 31. 'and spared not the angels that sinned, but cast. them down to hell.' –2 Peter ii. 5. 'The angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, He hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.'—Jude 6. The devil 'was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him'—John viii. 44. 'Let. no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God, for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man; but every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.'—James i. 13, 14. 'For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.'—I John ii. i6. 'And the Lord God commanded the man saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat. of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.'—Gen, ii. 16, 17. 'Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? Ye shall not surely die, for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eye, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof and did eat, and gave also to her husband with her; and he did eat.'—Gen, iii. 1, 4-6. And then God pronounced severe judgment upon the serpent, the woman and the man. 'As for you, ye thought evil against me, but God meant it unto good.'—Gen. 1. 20. 'But when Pharaoh Saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart, and harkened not unto them; as the Lord had said.'—Exod, viii. 15. 'Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Execute true judgement, and shew mercy and compassion, every man to his brother: and oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart. But they refused to harken, and pulled away their shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear. Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the Lord of hosts hath sent in His Spirit by the former prophets; therefore came a great wrath from the Lord of hosts.'—Zech, vii. 9-12. 'O, Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in Me is thine help.'—Hosea xiii. 9. 'And the Lord said, O that there were such an heart in them that they would fear Me, and keep all My commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children forever!'—Deut. v. 28, 29. 'O, that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!'—Deut, xxxii. 29. 'O, that My people had harkened unto Me, and Israel had walked in My ways!'—Psalms lxxxi. 13. 'O that thou hadst harkened to My commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea.'—Isaiah xlviii. 18. 'Therefore will I number you to the sword, and ye shall bow down to the slaughter: because when I called ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but did evil before mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not.'—Isaiah lxv. 12. 'Ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life.'—John v. 40. 'O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold your house is left unto you desolate.'—Matt, xxiii. 37, 38. 'In the business of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to enquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him [Hezekiah] to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart.'—2 Chron. xxxii. 31. 'And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand'—Job i. 12. 'And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold he is in thine hand; but save his life.'—Job ii. 6. 'So I gave them up unto their own hearts' lusts: and they walked in their own counsels.'—Psalms lxxxi. 12. 'He suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew Him.'—Mark i. 34. 'And all the devils besought Him saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them. And forthwith Jesus gave them leave.'—Mark v. 13. 'And He suffered them.'—Luke viii. 32. 'And truly the Son of man goeth, as it was determined; but woe unto that. man by whom He is betrayed! '—Luke xxii. 22. 'Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain.'—Acts ii. 13. 'Then God turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven.'—Acts vii. 42. 'And about the time of forty years suffered He their manners in the wilderness.'—Acts xiii. 18. 'Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways?--Acts xiv. 16. 'God gave them up to vile affections, and to a reprobate mind.'--Rom, i. 26, 28. 'God endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction.'—Rom. ix. 22. 'Surely the wrath of man shall praise Thee: the remainder of wrath shalt Thou restrain.'—Psalms lxxvi. 10. 'O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!'—Rom. xi. 33. These scriptures thoroughly satisfy me that God is as holy as He is sovereign infinitely and eternally holy, not only in His will and law, but in His essence and nature; that holiness is not an arbitrary creature of the divine will; but a fundamental and changeless attribute of the divine nature, of which His holy will is but the expression; that sin proceeds, not from the Creator, but from the creature; that 'God neither causes sin nor approves it., but only permits, directs, restrains, limits, and overrules it for the good of His people and the glory of His name;' and thus that God's predestination or pro-orization of sin was not of a compulsive but of a permissive, directive, restrictive and overruling character. The very word pro-orizo , (the only word rendered predestinate in the English Bible) seems to me to set forth this momentous fact in its primitive and radical meaning; it signifies, as every Greek scholar knows, and as every Greek dictionary will show, not the fore- compelling, but the fore -bounding, the fore -limiting of anything, the fore-determining of its bounds, as shown by the same root word in Acts xvii. 26. This fact is in exact accordance with the scriptures already quoted, which speaks of God as leaving, giving up, suffering and enduring men in their sins; and what God thus permits in time, He must, if He is unchangeable, have eternally decreed to permit. His connection with the existence of sin is, thus, not a bare permission, but a voluntary and predestinating permission, but still a permission and not a compulsion. Sin originates in the will of the creature, and not. in the will of God, to whom, and to all who have His mind, or will, or Spirit, sin is utterly detestable and abominable, and not at all admirable and lovely. Even when the incarnate Son of God bears in His body the sins of His people, the ineffably holy nature of the Divine Father necessitates His forsaking Him and leaving Him to die. There could not possibly be a more emphatic and stupendous demonstration of the essential, unchangeable and infinite holiness of God. Men are voluntary in the commission of sin, and therefore accountable and justly punishable for their sins. This is the view of predestination and sin held by all the Baptist, and by, I suppose, nine hundred and ninety-nine thousandths of all the predestinarians of former centuries, and, I believe, by nine-tenths of the Primitive Baptists of the present century. It is precisely the view of the Westminster (the most esteemed Presbyterian) Confession of Faith, and of the London (the most esteemed)Baptist Confession of Faith. My special and careful, and I hope sincere and prayerful examination, during the past month of the original Hebrew and Greek Scriptures in regard to what the Scriptures teach of predestination and sin, apart from all human teachings, has greatly increased my appreciation of the scriptural wisdom of these two old Confessions, which declare that God decreed all things, but does not force the will of the creature, or originate nor fellowship sin (Chapter iii., Section 1); that He did not compel Adam to fall, but was pleased, according to His wise and holy counsel, to permit him to fall, having purpose to order it to His own glory (Chapter vi., Section 1); that He leaves (or permits--these two words have the same meaning in all English dictionaries) men and angels to act in their sins to their just condemnation, to the praise of His glorious justice (Chapter iii., Section 3); that He loves His own children oftentimes for a season to manifold temptations, and the corruptions of their own hearts, to humble them, and make them feel more sensibly their dependence upon Him for support, and to make them more watchful against all future occasions of sin (Chapter v., Section 5) and that He wisely and powerfully boundeth and otherwise ordereth and governeth the sins of angels and men, to the praise of the glory of His wisdom, power, justice infinite goodness and mercy (Chapter v., Sections 1 and 4). It is worthy of observation that the King-James version of the Bible and the Westminster and London Confessions of Faith, always use the term predestinate in reference only to the salvation of the people of God, and never in reference to sin or damnation; but, as I have said before, the Greek word pro-orizo is used in reference to sin in Acts iv. 28, and perhaps in 1 Cor. ii. 7; and the Greek word orizo is used in regard to sin in Luke xxii. 22, and Acts iii. 23. To say that 'God is infinitely and eternally holy, and that He reigns in righteousness, and there is no unrighteousness in Him; that He is not the author of sin; and that men act voluntarily when they commit sin, and are accountable and justly punishable for their sins; that God had a purpose, worthy of Himself, however inscrutable to us, in not preventing the entrance of sin into the world; that He sometimes binds and at other times looses Satan; and that He restricts the wickedness of ungodly men, making the wrath of men praise Him, and restraining the remainder of wrath; and that, by His supreme power and decree, He restricts all the rage and malice of Satan to do no more nor less than what He will overrule for the good of His people, and His own glory,' as the most able, and sound, and esteemed Northern Old School Baptist writer has declared (see Church History, pages 943 to 950), is exactly the same in substance, if language has any meaning, or if I understand the meaning of language, as to say, in the language of the Scriptures, that God permits, or bears, or suffers, or endures, while He does not tempt to sin, but that He directs and bounds, and makes it praise Him. All of our most strenuous supralapsarian brethren (whom I heartily esteem as among the excellent of the earth,) agree in declaring that ' God is not the author of sin.' Now the latest and most approved dictionaries of the English language gives the following definition of author: 'One who makes to grow or increase, originator, beginner, former, producer, creator, maker, first cause, first mover, efficient cause.' Such being, beyond all controversy, the meaning of the word author, it is certain that when these brethren say that 'God is not the author of sin,' they say that God is not the originator, beginner, former, producer, creator, maker, first cause, first mover, efficient cause of sin; and God's connection with sin is not an origination of it, or a compulsion of the creature to sin, but a foreknowledge, a permission, a direction and an overruling of sin for the glory of God and the good of His people. In no other way is it possible for us to conceive how the creature can be responsible and justly punishable for his sins. And it thus seems to me indisputably established that supralapsarianism and inpralapsarianism amount to the same thing, and that there is no substantial or essential difference among Old School or Primitive Baptists on the subject of predestination. Why God, who is infinitely wise, powerful, holy and merciful, ever permitted sin, and consequent misery in the universe, is a question 'peculiar to no system of theology, but pressing equally upon any system which acknowledges the existence and moral government of God, and the moral agency of man; a question perplexing heathen philosophers of old, and deists in modern times, and Pelagians, Socinians and Arminians just as sorely as Calvinists; a question that must ever demand submission, and defy solution.' As truly asserted by Sir William Hamilton, 'the two great articles of the Divine foreknowledge and the Divine predestination, are both embarrassed by the self-same difficulties;' for a Sovereign and Almighty God, who knew what the result would be, created all things out of nothing. So irresistible is this conclusion that Arminians have begun to recognize (as the Socinians did long ago) that in order to maintain their system, they must deny the foreknowledge of God. Other unscriptural writings are: that if the doctrine of predestination and election be true, the punishment of the wicked is 'injustice,' and what is called 'grace' is 'unworthy the acceptance of honorable free agents;' that 'every man has a free, unpredestinated chance to be the artificer of his own eternal as well as temporal fortunes ;' and that men will be finally saved for their 'obedience and holiness,' and rejected for their disobedience and unholiness.' Thus human reason and religion affirm that salvation is of man, while the Scriptures affirm that 'salvation is of the Lord.' The most intellectual and virtuous heathens of ancient and modern times, have believed in the doctrine of pantheistic fatalism; while under the enlightenment of the Divine Spirit, the most intellectual and virtuous Christians have believed in the doctrine of the all-comprehending predestination of the personal and perfect Jehovah, who, in the most wise, and holy, and gracious manner, 'works all things after the counsel of His own will' for the good of His people and the glory of His name. Such is the testimony of the Holy Spirit in the Scriptures, in church history, and in every Christian experience. As admitted by all writers on the subject. Divine predestination is a mystery which no finite mind can explore, and upon which, therefore, brethren should not disagree, at least to the extent of non-fellowshipping each other. 'For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.' l Cor. xiv. 13. Sylvester Hassell

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