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THE

GOSPEL STANDARD,

OR,

FEEBLE CHRISTIAN'S SUPPORT.

"Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they shall be filled."-Matt. v. 6.

"Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.”—2 Tim. i. 9.

"The election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded."-Rom. xi. 7. "If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest.-And they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.—In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."-Acts viii. 37, 38; Matt. xxviii. 19.

No. 3.

OCTOBER, 1835.

THE ELECTION, AND THE REST.

2d.

"The election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded.”—Rom. xi. 7.

What a solemn declaration! How expressive at once of God's sovereignty, his mercy, and his justice!-of his sovereignty, in discriminating amongst the children of men, giving no reason why, only that it was "because he would," because "it so seemed good in his sight," and because he doeth " as he will in the armies of heaven, and amongst the inhabitants of the earth" of his mercy, in choosing to himself a people out of every nation, and kingdom, and people, and tongue, on whom he fixed his love, aud in whom he resolved to show the greatness of his power and goodness, by bringing them safe to glory-not merely accepting a Surety, but himself providing one, and that Surety the only Son of his bosom: and of his justice, in pouring his wrath upon the wicked, upon the nonelect, upon them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, thereby satisfying the claims of law (nay, I beg pardon, the law never can, even in eternity, be satisfied by these latter), and, in the sight of angels,

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men, and devils, solemnly declaring that not one jot or tittle can fall to the ground till all be fulfilled.

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In this epistle, the apostle Paul appears to dwell more particularly upon the strong doctrines of the gospel, setting forth the utter impossibility of the non-elect procuring forgiveness of their sins, and the like impossibility of any of the elect perishing in theirs: "It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy:" "The Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith; but Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness:" "He hath mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth:" "There is a remnant according to the election of grace:' That he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy afore prepared unto glory, even us, whom he hath called:" The election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded." According to our natural reason, we are almost ready to wonder how any one, professing to believe the Bible, can read over this epistle, and yet not acknowledge the doctrine of God's sovereignty, in election and reprobation; but when we reflect that, in the days of the apostle himself, it was spurned at, and fought against, and that as it was in the beginning, it is now, and ever shall be, we trace even this very matter to the same source-"The rest were blinded;" and reading, as we do, in the word, that men shall murmur at and rebel against it, we no longer wonder that it is so, but say, with the dear Lord himself, they "believe not, because they are not of his sheep" (John x. 26); and stand with holy astonishment and adoration, that ever the Holy Ghost should have revealed this unto babes, and hid it from the wise and prudent.

I have no hesitation in saying, it is as impossible for any one to believe, vitally, these things, who is not one of the "remnant," as it is for any one to go to heaven without being made to believe them, acknowledging, before God, that were it not for such blessed truths, there could be no hope for him, feeling, as he does, that if there were no more mercy extended to him than there was to Judas, he must share the like fate, having no power to help his own soul, and being fully sensible that if God had left him amongst the number of the reprobates, and cast him for ever into that lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, he would have been a righteous God, and have done no more than he merited at his hands.

The principal thing, speaking after the manner of men, which prevents mortals from receiving the doctrine of God's

sovereignty, is, the pride of their hearts: they cannot bear the idea of God being and doing all, and having all the glory. They want to have a finger in the pie, and never will submit to lie broken-hearted at the feet of Jesus, willing to be anything or nothing, as shall seem good in the sight of God, till the Holy Ghost subdues their proud spirit, and, turning over the deceitfulness of their hearts, and " setting in order before their eyes" the sins of their youth, as well as of their riper years, makes them cry out, Behold, I am vile!" "Lord, save, or I perish!"

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If we converse for a time with an avowed Infidel, we shall find that this is the case with him-he cannot bow to God's sovereignty. I remember an instance of a fellow-workman of mine, who, one evening, in my own apartments, began cavilling with me about election, saying, he never could believe that God would make some men to save, and leave the rest without a chance. I was about referring him to different parts of the word of God, the epistle before us amongst the rest, when he hastily stopped me, and said, "As for Paul, though I, of course, admit such a man did once exist, yet, seeing that he and Calvin were both of a stamp, I don't believe a word he said; and this makes me look upon the supposed Christ as a knave, and the whole New Testament as a cursed catchpenny." I was, for a few moments, dumb; but at length coolly said to him, "Then you mean to say, that you have carefully read over the Bible, and, finding the doctrine of election clearly revealed in it, you are determined to set it at nought, because you think every man ought to have what you call a chance ?" "Just so," he replied; "and this makes me look upon the Methodists as a precious set of rascals; for I cannot see how any one can impartially read, at the same time that they believe in, what is called the Scripture, and yet not be a Calvinist; therefore, I do think some of the Calvinists may be sincere, because they are fools enough to believe what the Son of Joseph, the apostles, and the rest of them said, thinking they were sent and inspired by God: but, for my own part, I look upon them all as a set of impostors." Then, my friend," said I, "let me tell you, you are to me another natural proof that the Bible is the word of God; for it is therein declared that there shall be men who will not believe what is recorded, even though it is declared unto them; and, 'The election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded:' but, as I cannot associate with an Infidel, the sooner you go home the better." Though I felt deeply for the situation of this poor man, who was one of considerable learning, yet he was made the means,

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at the time, of strengthening my faith, as I saw in it the hand of God, sending a raven to feed me, and making a Balaamı bear witness to the truth, though his proud heart did not like it.

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The election hath obtained it." Now, what hath the election obtained? By reading the context, we shall find, that it is the grace of God, making them wise unto salvation; not of works, but purely and entirely the gift of God. And here I might speak of the effects of this grace, and, indeed, also of the election-stating low the Lord first brought me to have a hope that I was one included in that blessed word, thereby, in his dear hands, comparing, as I went on, my statements with the word of God, being made the means of strengthening the feeble knees, of propping up the hands that hang down, of proclaiming liberty to the captives, and of binding up the broken-hearted; but as my object in this epistle is to dwell more particularly on the doctrinal than the experimental part of the subject, I will leave the latter until my mind is led into it at a future period; and proceed to make a few remarks (and they shall be few) on the latter part of our text-"The rest were blinded."

That "the rest" means all that are left, one would suppose no man in his senses would deny; and, indeed, between man and man, touching worldly things, we should be laughed at if we asserted the contrary. Nevertheless, we have a sect (the Fullerites) who say, "God has an elect people, whom he will save, and the rest have all a chance." How glaringly blasphemous, with such a passage as our text staring them in the face! Well, indeed, is it declared, that "the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked;" for Satan himself knows better, and, I am almost inclined to believe, never could have invented such a lie, had not the heart of man (deceitful above the devil) laid the foundation! That God has an elect people, whom he will save, I fully believe, and sometimes, in some degree, experience the sweetness of it; but I never can believe that "the rest" ever can be saved; for God says, "he hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart, that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted." (John xii. 40.) In other words, to prevent the possibility of his all-wise, almighty plans being frustrated, he has so ordered all things that no sinner can be saved whom he did not in eternity determine should be saved: for, "the rest were blinded:" consequently, if a soul could, by any stratagem, get to heaven, which Jehovah did not foresce would, or predetermine should, be there, it would set

forth that there was some being in existence wiser or more powerful than God himself; which is an idea at which an Infidel would blush! Therefore, if a poor sinner, under a deep sense of his lost, ruined condition, before a heart-searching God, be made to flee to Christ, as his only Saviour, it is because the blessed Spirit, according to the settled will of Jehovah, has turned him inside out, making it manifest that he is one of that happy number which the dear Redeemer says shall "never perish," but who shall show forth his praise.

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By the rest," then, without longer hesitating, we are to understand, the non-elect-all those who, according to the sovereignty of Jehovah, are left to the awful effects of their sin against God.

"Were blinded." Mark! it is in the past tense-were blinded; and if we attempt to inquire how far back, we cannot stop till we get to eternity, where we are immediately lost. 1 am not one of those who blasphemously assert that God makes a man to damn him. O, no! God forbid! Man was made upright and holy, and his sin, and that alone, made him unholy. Consequently, though in the sight of the Eye Omniscient, he was blinded in eternity, yet, in the sight of angels, devils, and men, he was blinded only from the time he fell. And from this I infer, that the apostle, when he uses the term, does not imply that God was the moving cause of his being blinded, but only that, foreseeing that he would fall, and by the fall be blinded, or hardened, he determined upon leaving him (the non-elect) in that state of darkness, or hardness, inte which the fall would sink him, and where he was found after the fall, the Holy Spirit not enlightening his eyes, nor renewing his heart, but leaving him in the "spirit of slumber," a slave to his heart's lusts, his deaf ears, and his blind eyes. (Rom. xi. 8.) And in this state is all the human race, the elect as well as the non-elect, till almighty, sovereign grace draws the line of distinction, bringing out the former, as vessels made to honour, causing them to see the awful state in which they stand before God, and making them cry out for help and deliverance to the mighty God of Jacob; while "the rest" are left to the folly of their ways, blinded by the hardness of their hearts, to perish in their sins, without God, and without hope.

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And now, let me ask, "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? "Who art thou, O man, that repliest against thy Maker?" "Canst thou, by searching, find out God?" O may we, my dear readers, be kept from presumptuously fighting against God's word; and may we be enabled ever to lie

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