a promise have we, Isaiah Ix. 21. "Thy people also shall be all righteous, they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hand, that I may be glorified,”— compared with the next chapter, 3d verse, "That they may be called the trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified." See also verse 8. of the same chapter. Likewise chapter lx. 17, 18. "I will make thy officers peace, and thy exactors righteousness; violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy border, but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise." Here it is promised, that the rulers shall be righteous; and then, in the 21st verse following, it is promised that the people shall be so. The change of men to be of a peaceable disposition is promised, as in places innumerable, so in Isaiah xi. 6— 11. "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid," &c. Isa. lv. 5. " Behold thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee, because of the Lord thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee." Jer. iii. 15." And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding." This implies a promise that there should be such pastors in being, and that they should be faithful to feed the people with knowledge and understanding. Jer. x. 23. "The way of man is not in himself." Stebbing owns, that on Arminian principles, conversion depending on the determination of free will, it is possible, in its own nature, that none should ever be converted, (p. 235.) Then all the promises of virtue, of the revival of religion, &c. are nothing. Jer. xxxi. 18. "Turn thou me, and I shall be turned,"-compared with Jer. xvii. 14. "Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for thou art my praise." Which shows the force and meaning of such a phraseology to be, that God alone can be the doer of it; and that if he undertakes it, it will be effectually done. Jer. xxxi. 32-35. "Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand, to bring them out of the land of Egypt, (which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord ;) But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel. After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." Jer. xxxii. 39, 40. " And I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear

me for ever, for the good of them and their children after them: and I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good. But I will put my fear in their hearts, and they shall not depart from me." Jer. xxxiii. 8. "And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me." Ezek. xi. 18-20, "And they shall come thither, and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof, and all the abomination thereof from thence. And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and I will give them a heart of flesh that they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God."

Ezek. xxxvi. 25-33. "Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give unto you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh; and I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes; and ye shall keep my judg ments, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land which I gave your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God: and I will also save you from all your uncleannesses; and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you. And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, and ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen. Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight, for your iniquities, and for your abominations. Not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord God, be it known unto you; be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel. Thus saith the Lord God, In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities, I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded." And ver. 36. the whole is concluded with "I the Lord have spoken it, and I will do it." Zech. xii. 10. to the end: "And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications; and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced," &c.

$41. We are told, Job xxviii. 28. that "the fear of the Lord is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding." The same is also abundantly declared in other places. But it is equally declared, that God is the author and giver of wisdom, and that he is the author wholly and only; which is denied of other things. It is, also, abundantly declared in this 28th chapter of Job, that it cannot be obtained of any creature by

any means; and it is implied in the end of the chapter, that it is God that gives wisdom, as is asserted Prov. ii. 6. "For the Lord giveth wisdom; out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding."

§ 42. That expression, Rom. i. 7. and 1 Cor. i. 2. and elsewhere, called to be saints, implies, that God makes the distinction. Compare this with what Christ says, John x. 27: "My sheep hear my voice." Verse 16. "Other sheep have 1, which are not of this fold; them, also, must I bring; and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold and one shepherd." 1 Cor. i. 26, 27, 28. to the end: "For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: but God hath chosen the foolish things of, &c. That no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus," &c. According to the Arminian scheme, it ought to have been,-I have planted, and Apollos watered, and God hath planted and watered more especially. For we have done it only as his servants. But you, yourselves, have given the increase; the fruit has been left to your free will: Agreeably to what the Arminians insist on, in what they say upon the parable of the vineyard which God planted in a fruitful hill, &c., and looked that it should bring forth grapes, and says, what could I have done more unto my vineyard?

§43. Sincerity, itself, is spoken of as coming from God. Phil. i. 10. "That ye may approve the things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence in the day of Christ." And elsewhere God is represented as "creating a clean heart, renewing a right spirit, giving an heart of flesh," &c. The apostle "gives thanks for the faith and love of the Colossians, their being delivered from the power of darkness, &c.; and prays that they may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and might, agreeable to their knowledge, being fruitful in every good work; and for their perseverance, and that they might be made meet for the reward of the saints." Col. i. 3, 4, 9—13. This argues all to flow from God as the giver. Their first faith, and their love that their faith was attended with, and their knowledge and spiritual wisdom and prudence, and walking worthy of the Lord, and universal obedience, and doing every good work, and increasing their grace, and being strengthened in it, and their perseverance and cheerfulness in their obedience, and being made meet for their reward, all are from God. They are from God as the determining cause; else, why does the apostle pray that God would bestow or effect these things, if they be not at his determination, whether they shall have them or not? He speaks of God's glorious power as manifested in the bestowment of these things. Col. ii. 13. "And you being dead in your sins, and

the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him." 1 Thess. v. 23, 24. "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit, and soul and body, be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that hath called you; who, also, will do it." 2 Thess. i. 3, 4. "We are bound to thank God always for you, because your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth; so that we glory in you-for your faith and patience in all your persecutions and tribulations." Verses 11,

12.

"Wherefore we pray always for you, that God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power: That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God, and the Lord Jesus Christ."

§ 44. The apostle thanks God for his own prayers, and for those of others; 2 Tim. i. 3. If they were from God, then, doubtless, also, our prayers for ourselves, our very prayers for the Spirit, are from him. The prophet ascribes persons' prayers to their having the spirit of grace and supplication. True acceptable prayer is spoken of, Rom. viii., as being the language of the Spirit; not that I suppose the very words are indited, but the disposition is given. 2 Tim. i. 7. "God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love, and of a sound mind." Philem. iii. 4. "I thank my God, making mention of thee always in my prayers, hearing of thy love and faith, which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus Christ, and toward all saints." Heb. xiii. 20, 21. Now the God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work, and to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever, Amen." Jam. i. 16-18. "Do not err, my beloved brethren: Every good gift, and every perfect gift, is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness nor shadow of turning. Of his own will begat he us by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures." The scope of the apostle, and the connexion of his discourse, plainly shows, that the apostle means to assert, that all moral good is from God. In the preceding verses, he was warning those he wrote to, not to lay their sins, or pride, or lusts, to the charge of God; and, on that occasion, he would have them be sensible, that every good gift is from God, and no evil; that God is the Father of light, and only of light; and that no darkness is from him, because there is no darkness in him; no change from light to darkness; no, not

the least shadow. But, if all moral good is from God, cometh down from him, and is his gift, then the very first good determination of the will, and every good improvement of assistance, is so.

§ 45. Philip. ii. 13. "It is God that worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." The plain meaning of the text is, that it is God, by his operation and efficiency, who gives the will, and, also, enables us to put that will in execution; or that he, by his efficiency, gives both the will and the deed. And this will remain the indisputable meaning of the text, notwithstanding criticism on the word everywv, &c. I question, whether any word can be found, in all the Greek language, more expressive and significant of an effectual operation. Wherever the words effectual and effectually are used in our translation of the Bible, this is the word used in the original.

§ 46. By the disposing or determining cause of a benefit, I mean, a cause that disposes, orders, or determines, whether we shall be actually possessed of the benefit or not; and the same cause may be said to be an efficacious or effectual cause. That cause only can be said to be an efficacious cause, whose efficiency determines, reaches, and produces the effect. A being may be the determiner and disposer of an event, and not properly an efficient or efficacious cause. Because, though he determines the futurity of the event, yet there is no positive efficiency or power of the cause that reaches and produces the effect; but merely a withholding of efficiency or power.

Concerning the giver's being a disposer or determiner, let us consider that objection, that when a man gives to a beggar, he does but offer, and leaves it with the determination of the beggar's will, whether he will be possessed of the thing offered. In answer to this, I observe, that in the instance before us, the very thing given is virtue, and this consists in the determination of the inclination and will. Therefore the determination of the will is the gift of God; otherwise virtue is not his gift, and why should we pray to God to give us such a determination of will, when that proceeds not from him but ourselves?

§ 47. Arminians make a great ado about the phrase irresistible grace. But the grand point of controversy really is, what is it that determines, disposes and decides the matter, whether there shall be saving virtue in the heart or not; and much more properly, whether the grace of God in the affair be determining grace, than whether it be irresistible. Our case is indeed extremely unhappy, if we have such a book to be our grand and only rule, our light and directory, that is so exceeding perplexed, dark, paradoxical, and hidden, every where in the manner of expression, as the scriptures must be, to make them consistent with Arminian opinions; by whatever means VOL. VII.

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