Now note the words: "All that the Father giveth me." This word, all, is used in scripture in different senses, and according to the connections it is placed with. In this instance it cannot mean all the people in the world, because then all would be saved, which no one believes, so it can only signify those whom the Father giveth to Jesus. There is another all, which the psalmist speaks of: "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that for get God:" but this all has no more to do with all those who are given to Christ, than that all which is given to Christ has to do with this. Again. "All that the Father giveth me. This word, giveth, is an unlimited word: it doth not mean all that are given. He saith plainly that some are given to him that he may destroy them: "Thou hast given me the necks of mine enemies, that I may destroy them that hate me," Psalm xviii. These, therefore, cannot be those who are given in the passage cited at the head of this paper, for all of they shall come to him, they shall in no wise be cast out. Again, Some are given to Christ, that he by them might bring about some of his high designs in the world; thus Pharoah was raised up to shew God's power; thus Judas was given to Christ, that by him, as it was determined before, to bring Christ's death. Yea and Judas must so manage the business, so that he must lose himself for ever. "Those, said Christ, that thou gavest me, I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition, that the Scripture may be fulfilled." Thus Thus we see, that Judas was given to Christ, but not as those who were given in the text we quoted. Christ must bring about his dying for us in the loss of the instrument that betrayed him; yet he even fulfilled the Scriptures in his destruction, as well as in the salvation of others. Those mentioned in the passage quoted, are given by covenant to the Son. These be they that the Father hath given to Christ, to keep them; these are they that Christ will in no the Father that sent me, that of all wise cast out. This is the will of that he hath given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day; and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. Again, “All by covenant; let us enquire what that the Father giveth me;" that is, the Scriptures say of the covenant; there we cannot be wrong, but if we attend to man's opinion we may be led into error. Christ says, "The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, while as yet he had not made the earth; when he prepared the heavens, I was there, when he appointed the foundation of the earth, then I was by him and I was daily his delight: rejoicing always before him, and my delights were with the sons of men." Here you see plainly, Christ was with the Father before the earth was made. Again, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him, and without him was not any thing made, that was made." Here again, it is plain, that Christ was with God the Father, before the world was made. Again, The Holy Ghost was with God the Father and the Lord, at the making of the world. For it is written, "That the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God moved on the face of the waters." And again, God says, By his Spirit he garnished the heavens. These are the three persons, Father, Son, and Spirit, that covenanted to make the world. "There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one.' The testimony of heaven, comes from the Father with the Son, and from the Son to the Spirit, who is the speaker to all the churches. There the Father sits upon the throne, the Lamb in the midst of it, and the seven Spirits before it, or the Holy Spirit, who is perfect God, with his seven-fold gifts, who shall abide with the saints for ever, and who shall lead them into all truth. Again, By these three persons in one covenant God, we are redeemed. The Father appointed the Son, and prepared a body for him, and was with him in his sufferings in it. The Son obeyed the Father's will, and offered himself a sacrifice to him. And the Holy Ghost was the anointing on him, and through the eternal Spirit he offered himself to God. So also in the work of regeneration, the Father of his own will begets us by the word of truth: the Holy Ghost =produces a spiritual birth, and Christ is formed in the heart, the hope of glory. This is the covenant of grace, by which we must be saved. All that the Father giveth to me, shall come unto me. There you see two persons are plainly expressed, a giver and a receiver, which must be two distinct persons, although in one Godhead; and the Holy Ghost is implied, though not expressed, for it is the Spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing. Again, “All that the Father giveth me, shall come to me. That coming to Christ aright, is an effect of their being by God given to Christ before. Mark, they shall come to me; who? those that were given; they come then because they were given; "thine December, 1846.] they were, and thou gavest them me. Now this is indeed a singular comfort to those who are coming in truth to Christ, to think that their coming is, because they were given by the Father before to him. Thus may the winning soul reason with himself as he comes; am I coming indeed to Jesus Christ; this coming of mine cannot be attributed to me, or my goodness, but to the grace and gift of God to Christ; God gave my person to him, and hath now given me a heart to come to him. Again these words shall come, make thy coming to be the effect of an absolute promise. It was by virtue of this promise, that those first received strength to come. Therefore every sincere comer to Jesus Christ is called a child of the promise. Now we, brethren, af Isaac was, are the children of the promise, that is, we are the children that God hath promised to Jesus Christ, and given to him; yea, the children that Jesus Christ hath promised shall come to him; all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. Mind the strength of the words, shall come. This word engageth Christ to communicate all manner of grace, to those thus given to him, to cause them to come to him; (not that they are left to their own natural will, because if that was the case all would run farther from him) but of grace, wisdom, power, a new heart and the Holy Spirit all joined together can make them come. When God made that absolute promise to Abraham, that Sarah should have a son, Abraham did not at all look at any qualifications in himself, because the promise looked at none, but as God had by the promise absolutely promised him a son, notwithstanding his age, and the barrenness of Sarah's womb; he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God, being 2 L fully persuaded that what God had promised, he was able also to perform. This is an absolute promise which is made without any conditions; such is this that we have before us, it does not say you shall if you will, but it saith, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and another such promise he hath given, when he saith, my people shall be willing in the day of my power; when God by his power and Spirit makes us will ing, then we come to Christ, and not till then can we come. Absolute promises must be fulfilled; conditional ones may, may not be fulfilled: absolute ones must, because of the faithfulness of God: conditional ones may not, because of the unfaithfulness of men. The absolute promise is a large promise, that is all the conditional ones included in it, because it hath in itself a fulness of all desired things for us, and will, when the time of the promise is come, yield to us that which will verily save us and make us capable of answering the demands of the conditional ones. The conditional ones call for repentance; the absolute gives it: the conditional calls for faith; and the absolute gives it: the conditional calls for a new heart, the absolute gives it. Again as they harmoniously thus agree, so again the conditional promise blesseth the man, who by the absolute is endued with its fruits; as for instance, the absolute promise maketh men upright, and then the conditional follows, saying, blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walketh in the way of the Lord. The absolute giveth faith, and then the conditional follows: blessed is he that believeth. Again, the absolute promise brings free forgiveness of sins, the conditional blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. says: The absolute promise says, that God's people shall hold out to the end, then the conditional follows with this blessing, he that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved. Thus do all the promises gloriously serve one another, and us, in this harmonious agreement. Now the promise under our consideration is an absolute one. This promise therefore is a large one, and hath in itself all those things to bestow upon us that the conditional calleth for at our hands. Shall they come? Yes, they shall come; but if they want those graces, power and heart, without which they cannot come, why, shall come, answereth all that, and all things else that are wanting. If it should be said, that the wicked are Satan's captives; he takes them captive at his will, and he is stronger than they, how then can they come? It is true man whose soul is possessed with the devil, is tuned whithersoever the governor listeth, but what will he do, when shall come puts forth itself; can the devil then hinder his coming to Christ; no that cannot be, for his power is only the power of a fallen angel, at most, but, shall come, is the power and word of God, which must be fulfilled, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. But how if they have not faith and repentence, how shall they then come? Why he that said they shall come, hath said that faith and repentence shall be given to them; Christ is exalted to give repentance, they shall come weeping, seeking the Lord their God; and again, with weeping and supplications will I lead them; again, I told you before, that an absolute promise is very large and contains within it all conditional ones; if shall come, be an absolute promise, which it certainly is, then it must be fulfilled upon every one who is concerned in it. Coming and be lieving is all one: he that cometh to me, saith Christ, shall never hunger, and he that believeth in me, shall never thirst. When Christ saith, they shall come, it is as much as to say, that they shall believe, and consequently repent, to the saving of the soul. The present want of faith and repentance cannot make the promise of God of none effect, because the promise hath in it to give what others call for and expect. I will, says God, give them a new heart; I will give them my Spirit; I will give them faith; I will give them repentance. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, but how came he to be a new creature, since none can create but God? Why God doth indeed make them new creatures; behold, saith he, I make all things new: and this new creation, after it is made, standeth in the several operations and special workings of the Spirit of grace, who is God. Shall come to me, saith Christ; why? because there is in Christ a full sufficiency of every thing, that is needful to make us happy. Hence it is said, for it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; and again, of his fulness we have all received, and grace for grace. It is also said of him, that his riches are unsearchable : "The unsearchable riches of Christ." Hear what he saith of himself: Riches and honour are with me, and durable riches and righteousness; my fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold, and my revenue, than choice silver; I lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment, that I may cause them that love me, to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures. There is that light in Christ, that is sufficient to lead all those who come to him, out of that darkness in which all others who do not come to him must stumble and fall and perish. I am the light of the world, saith he, he that followeth me shall not abide in darkness, but have the light of life. Man by nature is in darkness, and walketh iu darkness, and knows not whither he goes, for darkness hath blinded his eyes. Neither can anything but the Spirit of Jesus Christ, lead men out of darkness. Again, there is life in Christ, which cannot be found anywhere else: he that believeth in, or cometh to me, he saith, as the Scriptures have said, "Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." Again, the person speaking, is he alone by whom poor sinners can have acceptance with the Father, because of the glory of his righteousness, by which he presenteth them, amiable and spotless in his sight, neither is there any way besides him so to come to the Father: I am the way, saith Christ, the truth and the life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. Again, Christ saith, I am the door, if any man enter in by me, he shall be saved. 66 Again, The person speaking in the passage quoted, is the only one that can give everlasting peace. He saith, My peace I give unto you;" my peace, which is the peace of God, peace of conscience, and that of everlasting duration; not as the world giveth, give I unto you, for the world's peace is but carnal and transatory, but mine is divine and eternal. Thus it is called the peace of God, which passeth all understanding. Again, Christ hath enough of all things truly spiritually good, to satisfy the desire of every longing soul; and he stood and cried, saying, “If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink.' "And to him that is athirst, I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely." 66 In Christ is power to protect, defend and deliver, all those who come to him for safeguard: Fall power, saith he, is given to me." They that in truth come to Christ, come for light, life, and reconciliation with God; they also come for peace; they also come that their souls may be satisfied with spiritual good, that they may be protected by him against eternal damnation. Christ alone is able to do all this for them, to the fulfilling of their joy, as they also find when they come to him. This is evident from that plain declaration of those who are already come to him; "Being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ; by whom also we have access with boldness, into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God." Again, It is evident that while men keep their eyes upon Christ, they never desire to change him for another; "God forbid, said Paul, that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." Yea, I count all things but loss, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith." Oh, the heart attracting glory that is in Jesus Christ, to draw those to him, that are given to him of the Father; "And we behold the glory, as of the only begotten of the Father." 66 66 The reason why others come not, but perish in their sins, is for want of a sight of his glory. If our gosbe hid, it is hid to them that are pel Ïost, in whom the god of this world, hath blinded the minds of them that believe not." Indeed his glory is veiled, and cannot be seen, but as discovered by the Father; but they that can in God's light see through these things, they shall see glory in him yea, such glory as will draw and pull their hearts unto him. When he saith, shall come to me, he means, they shall see and feel the glory that is in him; the beauty of which is, that it constraineth and prevaileth with the hearts of those who are given to him. Thus I have endeavoured by the word of God, to shew you, that all that the Father giveth to Christ, shall come to him; and it is said, again, in the chapter before us, by Christ himself, that no man can come unto me, except the Father which sent me draw him. I will defy all the critics in the world, with the word of God on one side, to fix any other meaning on the words before us, namely," All that the Father giveth me, shall come to me:" than as they plainly and literally stand. LETTER TO A FRIEND. My beloved and respected brother in Jesus, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the the fulness of the Godhead bodily, faith of him, in whom dwelleth all and in whom we are complete! thers and affectionate sisters worGrace be with you and my dear broshipping God in spirit and in truth, in the upper rooms, who by the power of the Spirit rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh, Again, and again, kind friend, do I thank you for the very savoury and truly unctious epistle of love which has not only just come to hand, but which also with one, received a little while since from my sister in the Lord, was a means in the Lord's hand of comforting my poor mind under a particular temptation; blessed therefore be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort, who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them, which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. How true then |