sufferings and labours with a view of promoting and securing the Salvation of the Elect, and consequently he did not consider their Salvation as certain, but as depending upon the success of his exertions. This is perfectly consistent with the idea of the Elect being Christian converts in general, who might or might not be saved, but cannot be reconciled with the Calvinistic notion, that the Elect are persons infallibly destined to Salvation.

"There shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved (2) but for the Elects sake those days shall be shortened. Then, if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible (a), they shall deceive the

very

(z) It appears from the context, that the word "saved" does not here relate to eternal Salvation, but to preservation in this world.

(a) The words of the original, si duvarov, do not imply physical impossibility, but only a great degree of difficulty thus St. Paul" hasted, if it were possible for him si duvatòv nv autã, to be at Jerusalem the day of Pentecost," Acts, 20. v. 16.-the thing itself was possible, but it required exertion, and St. Paul did all he could to accomplish it. In like manner it was possible for the Elect to

very Elect (b)" our Saviour is here describing the unparalleled distresses which would attend the approaching destruction of Jerusalem; distresses so severe, that if they were to continue, no one could possibly escape; but for the sake of the Elect of those Christians who will adhere to the profession of their Faith in the midst of trials and afflictions, it will please God to shorten this tribulation. In those days, many impostors will arise calling themselves prophets, each pretending to be the Messiah, and they will practise every art and contrivance to deceive, if they possibly can, even those who are instructed in the knowledge of the true Christ. "Immediately after the tribulation of those days. . . . he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his Elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other (c);" immediately after the destruction of Jerusalem, he will send his messengers or ministers into every quarter of the world to preach his Religion, who will gather into one holy Catholic Church all who shall embrace and sincerely believe it; and thus the dissolution

of

be deceived, and it was here predicted by our Saviour, that the false prophets would do all they could to effect it," to bewitch those, that they should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ had been evidently set forth." Gal. c. 3. v. I.

(b) Matt. c. 24. v. 21—24.

(6) Ver. 29 & 31.

of the Jewish polity, ecclesiastical and civil, will be succeeded by the formation of the Christian Church; the Jewish theocracy and the Temple service will be utterly abolished, and the kingdom of Christ and the worship of God in spirit and in truth immoveably established. The whole of this passage, in its primary sense, is prophetic of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, and of the subsequent propagation of the Gospel among the Gentiles and there seems not the slightest ground for considering the Elect here spoken of, as persons selected by an irreversible decrce of God for Salvation in the life to come; and indeed such an idea is not reconcileable with the cautions which our Saviour gave to his disciples upon this occasion. This prophecy, like others, was designed as a confirmation of the truth of the Gospel; and its precise accomplishment, of which we have the most satisfactory testimony (d), must have had great effect upon the minds of those who lived at that time, many of whom both heard the prediction, and saw its fulfilment.

"Put on therefore, as the Elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long suffering, forbear

ing

(d) Vide Bishop Newton's 18th Dissertation on the Prophecies; and History the Interpreter of Prophecy.

ing one another, and forgiving one another, if

any

man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body (e):" the Apostle here applies the word Elect to all the Colossian Christians, and tells them, that they had been "called in one body to the peace of God," through the knowledge of the Gospel; he exhorts them to walk worthy of that holy Faith which they had embraced; and not the slightest intimation is given of any decree of God by which their Salvation was made certain; but on the contrary, their Salvation is represented as depending upon themselves, upon their "continuing in the Faith, grounded and settled, and not moved away from the hope of the Gospel (ƒ)."

"When Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our Father Isaac; (for the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God, according to Election, might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth) it was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger: As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated (g):" the purpose of

(e) Col. c. 3. v. 12, 13, &c. (f) Col. c. I. v. 23. (g) Rom. c. 9. v. 10—13.

of Election here spoken of, has no relation to a future life, but refers to the Election of the descendants of Jacob to be God's peculiar people, in preference to the descendants of Esau: and this is the meaning of the expression, "Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated." "The elder shall serve the younger" was not true of Jacob and Esau, as Esau never served Jacob; but it was true of their posterity, as the Edomites, the descendants of Esau, served the Israelites, the descendants of Jacob, which is distinctly mentioned in the original prophecy in the book of Genesis, "And the Lord said unto Rebecca, two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels: and the one people shall be stronger than the other people: and the elder shall serve the younger (h)."

The word Reprobate, or Reprobation, as used by Calvin, refers to a supposed decree of God; but we shall find it used in a very different sense both in the Old and New Testaments.

In the Old Testament, it occurs only once according to our translation; Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the Lord hath rejected them (i)." In the original Hebrew, and also in the Septuagint Greek version, it is the same word which our translators have rendered "reprobate"

(h) Gen. c. 25. v. 23.

(i) Jer. c. 6. v. 30.