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Lord's reluctant wrath, his compassion towards the guilty,his taking no pleasure in their death, with more force and frequency than they? And all the time, not the least suspecting that any one might think when they quote those Scriptures, that election is not true. When they take for a text,the verses which Arminians think the strongest support of their belief-the Presyterian or Baptist scarcely ever takes the trouble to tell what those verses do not mean; and it is never necessary.

Now to test this matter, I am not fond of set challenges in mat ters of religious discussion; and hope I shall never be vain enough to make one. But if one were to step forth, and actually call on an Arminian minister, to bring this matter to the touchstone of downright experiment, the reader shall judge if he could not say with truth, "You,sir, say, that parts of the Bible, forbid the belief of election, &c. Now furnish me with ten, twenty, or as many such Calvinistic preachers; they shall not know the object, and in a vast majority of the cases they will never think of telling what the words do not mean. They will just preach such practical sermons as they usually do-never resort to explanation, lest some impres sions be left unfavourable to Calvinism. Then for every verse thes given me, I will furnish you with five, and out of each five, you may choose one, and give them to ten, twenty, or more ministers of the Methodist persuasion to preach from. And in every in stance, if they are not compelled to say what they think the test does not mean, or to stray off entirely from the words, or to preach Calvinism, I will agree that I am vanquished; if they are not under the necessity of resorting to explanation, to prevent the audience from believing that they are preaching decrees, &c. under the stern necessity of putting a face upon the passage, or of saying nothing about it: I would not fear to say, that Calvinism is not true. And I think I might as well say one third of the Bible came not from God."

I am not yet done with the subject.-The reader shall have a chance of judging for himself, for I will do a part of this upon pa

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And if the verses I bring forward in behalf of the Arminian, are not the strongest-I am sorry for it, and it is owing to my defective judgment. If he were here I would gladly let him choose. I shall select such as I have most frequently heard in the mouths of Methodist controversialists-such as those with whom I have conversed, most frequently quoted as being opposed to my belief. Ezekiel, xviii. 32. For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye." Isaiah lv. 1. "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price." Rev. xxii. 17.

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"And the Spirit and the bride say, come. And let him that hath no money say, come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will let him take of the water of life freely."

These, with other passages, to which I cannot now turn, expressing God's will that ALL men should come unto him--all men-the reader may hunt out at his leisure.

And now I do not ask the reader, whether a Presbyterian or a Baptist could preach from the plain, simple, obvious meaning of these passages, without being under the necessity of explanation-without being under the necessity of opposing Arminianism; without appearing to dread the consequence of those words going forth to the audience; for if he has attended their assemblies he has often heard it done. He has seen that such are favourite passages in the mouth of Calvinistic ministers in their addresses to sinners, to Christians, from the pulpit, at the Lord's table, in their prayers and on all occasions. And now I will lay a few verses before him, and ask if he hears the same use made of them by Methodist ministers-words spoken by the Saviour-preached by the Apostles, and ask if the ingenuity of man can use them as the theme of a discourse and say nothing about decrees or election-ask if they are ever delivered without comment by Arminians in their sermons, their exhortations, their prayers, or in any of their public exercises.

Acts xii. 48. "And as many as were ordained to eternal life, believed." Ephesians i. 4, 5, 11. "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: In whom we have also obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will." Rom. ix. 11-24. "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. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared thoughout all the earth. Therefore, hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much long suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of his mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory. Even us whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?"

Rom. xi. 4-11. But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed

the knee to the image of Baal. Even so then at the present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work. What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it; and the rest were blinded. (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day. And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumbling block, and a recompense unto them: Let their eyes be darkened that they may not see, and bow down their back alway. I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.

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Titus, 1. 2. "In hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie, promised before the world began. Pet. i. 2. Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ; Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied. Acts, ii. 23. Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknow edge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. John, x. 16, 28 and 29. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shep herd. And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand. My F ther, which gave them me, is greater than all: and none is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. John, vi. 39 and 44. And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which i he hath given me I should lose nothing; but should raise it up again at the last day. No man can come to me, except the Fa ther which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up the last day."

Thus, I have quoted from thirty verses of scripture, all of them doctrinal, spoken by Christ or his Apostles: They are scarcely the introduction to what is taught on this subject in Scripture. And without claiming the gift of prophesy, I may safely predict, that no Methodist preacher will ever use any one of them as his text without taking measures to guard his audience against suppo sing that they teach the doctrine of God's eternal designs. No one of them ever will be used commonly and frequently by them in their public discourses, whilst they continue to wish the suc cess of Methodism.

And now is not this a lamentable condition to be in? To be afraid to use the words the Saviour used to sinners without comment and without explanation. To be afraid to use in calling sinners to repentance in 1829, the very expressions which Paul used in calling sinners to repentance in the first century-afraid to teach the Church at large in the very words spoken and writ

ten by the Church's God for her instruction.

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HEBREWs XI 17........By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered p Isaac.......

THE apostle begins this chapter with a brief description of faith: Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things ot seen." This is a just, but brief and figurative description of true aith. The meaning of it is not this, that faith gives existence to things oped for, and creates the evidence of things unseen. It would be a Freat perversion of the apostle's words, to infer from them, that the obelects of faith have no existence, but in the mind of the believer; and hat there would be no evidence of things unseen, if they were not beieved. The things for which believers hope, have a reality in themselves; and the evidence of unseen things, is the same, whether it be perceived or not. The apostle's meaning is obviously this; that faith, when lively and strong, makes things hoped for appear real, and the evidence of unseen things appear certain. The objects of faith, though invisible to the eye of sense, and ever so distant in point of place, or remote in point of time, appear substantial realities to the believer; and the evidence, which he sees of their existence, appears clear and indubitable.

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Having described faith, the apostle proceeds to illustrate it by its fruits and effects, in a great number of instances on sacred record: "By it, the elders (i. e. the ancient saints,) obtained a good report." The good works, by which their faith was manifested, gained them the reputation of piety and goodness. He proceeds to relate what these ancient worthies did, and what they suffered, in the exercise of a true and living faith. And among other remarkable instances of obedience and self denial, he mentions the conduct of Abraham, in offering up his son: By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac."

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Three things are implied in these words, viz. that Abraham was tried; that, when tried, he offered up his son; and that his doing this, was owing to his faith. To illustrate these ideas contained in the text, it seems necessary to make three enquiries :

I. How was Abraham tried?

II. What did he do, when he was tried? And

III. How was what he did, an exercise and fruit of his faith?

I. How was Abraham tried, in the instance referred to in our text? We are informed in the twenty-second chapter of Genesis: "And it

came to pass, after these things, that God did tempt (i. e. try,) Abraham; and said unto him, Abraham: And he said, Behold, here I am And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou kvest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt-offering, upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of."

This was a trial, indeed. The child, which he was commanded to effer up, was a son, his only son, by Sarah his wife-and not only so, but a son born to him at an advanced age, long after he had given up the expectation of receiving such a favor-a son, who possessed many amiable and endearing qualities, and whom he greatly loved. With this his darling son, whom he had tenderly nurtured, over whom he had watched with constant care and solicitude, whose growing powers and knowledge he had observed with increasing delight, and who had now arrived at an age, when children most engage the affections of their parents-with this, his tender and dearly beloved son, he is commanded to part. This would have been trying, if he had only been required to send him from his house, on a perilous voyage at sea, or on a tedious journey to some distant country. But, he was required to part with him in a more affecting manner. He must part with him by death-by the most awful kind of death. He was required to deliver him up to be slain, and burnt upon the altar, as a sacrifice. How could he endure the thought! But, he must see the bloody and monstrous sacrifice, with his own eyes. Nay, more, he must perform the excruciating rite, with his own hands! When his son was to be the victim, it was his dreadful office to be the priest!

But what made this mysterious command still more trying to Abraham, was, that he had been divinely directed to make Isaac his sole heir, and had received a divine promise, that from this son a numerous posterity should descend, in one of whom, all the families of the earth should ultimately be blessed. It must have appeared to him, that by sacriûcing his son, he would destroy this high hope of his family, and cause this precious promise to fail. Thus was Abraham tried.

II. What did he, when thus tried?

The sacred historian informs us, how he conducted, on this trying oecasion. Genesis, xxii. 3-10. “And Abraham rose up early in the morning and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering of which God had told him. Then, on the third day, Abraham litted up his eyes and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said unto the young men, Abide you here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you. And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hands, and a knife; and they went on both of them together. And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: And he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold, the fire and the wood; but where is the lamb for a burnt-offering? And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt-offering.

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