good of the whole. God makes everything minister to one great leading purpose-a purpose which is agreeable to his nature, in accordance with his will, and in unison with his commands. God, then, never purposed the endless misery of any of his children.

Having, as I trust, shown, to the entire satisfaction of every hearer, that God has purposed the endless happiness of all men, I will proceed,

II. TO CONSIDER THE WISDOM OF THAT PURPOSE.

In doing this, we may assume, that God, when he formed his purpose, knew all the obstructions that would be encountered in its accomplishment. He knew how ignorant man would become; how wilful he would be in his opposition to truth; how he would despise the offers of grace, and how deeply he would become immersed in sin. We may assume, too, that God knew what would be the effect of all the means of grace which he was about to provide, and whether they would be sufficient to accomplish the end desired. All this he

knew, for his understanding is infinite, and known unto him are all things, from the beginning of the world. To his eye, all things are naked and

open.

These assumptions being admitted truths, any inference legitimately drawn from them must be acknowledged correct. We may, therefore, infer, that when God's purpose was formed, means were provided sufficient to carry it fully into execution. This conclusion is inevitable; for it would be supreme folly in God to form a plan, and seek its execution, when he saw, in the beginning, that the means provided would be incompetent to produce the desired object.

Suppose a case. Here is a father who wishes to reform three sons that have been blinded and deceived by the fascinations of sin. He loves them with all the tenderness of a father's heart, and his chief desire is their reformation. For this he would be willing to sacrifice all his possessions, and even the world, if it were his. Now, would such a father be likely to adopt a plan which he knew would be wholly unavailing, and which would even render his sons far more wicked and miserable? Would such a course be the dictate of either wisdom or goodness? I know the answer which will be given. You will tell me, that no father would form such a plan. But shall we charge upon God that which man would not do? Shall we accuse him of having formed a plan, which he knew would defeat his design? Why, no being attempts what he knows he cannot do. Neither does any attempt to accomplish an object in a way which he knows will be unsuccessful. Man often attempts what is doubtful in his mind; but never, in all his folly, what he knows cannot be done. We are, therefore, led unavoidably to the conclusion, that God's plan of grace is furnished with all the means which are requisite to produce the desired result. If it is not, God acts against knowledge, and has formed a plan which he knew would, in part, be unavailing, and prove an infinite curse.

Unless we are right, God does not purpose the salvation of all; he purposes the salvation only of those whom he knew his plan would be instrumental in saving. A single illustration will be sufficient to establish this point. Suppose there are six human beings cast away upon a desolate

island. Three of these are adults, and three helpless infants. I procure a ship, and send to that island, and give directions to have all taken who will come of themselves on board the ship, and no others. When I make this arrangement, I know that only the adults can walk, that the infants are perfectly helpless, and, therefore, that the adults will be the only ones brought back by the ship. Now what would my purpose be in such a transaction? Would any human being give me the credit of having purposed the rescue of the children? Would not all unhesitatingly say that my purpose as virtually excluded them as it included the adults?

This case is a fair illustration of the point we are discussing; for if God's plan of grace does not save all, he knew at its formation that it would not; and forming it as he did, knowing what would be the result, he could no more have purposed that it should save all, than I could have purposed that the ship should bring back the children.

If, then, the view we oppose is correct, God never purposed the salvation of all men; he did not create all for his pleasure; he never sent his Son to save all; and when the Bible asserts that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world, it asserts that which is absolutely false. Christ was sent to save only those which God foresaw would accept the terms of grace. rest were never intended to be saved. 'Unless we allow this, we must advocate the absurd idea, that God purposed what he knew would not be accomplished, and what he had provided no means for accomplishing. The truth is, God

The

knew in the beginning what would be the result of his plan of grace; and that result he designed. It will be of no avail to say, God gave man an agency, and designed that he should use it either for his damnation or salvation, just as in the full liberty of his will he should choose; for that is not stating the whole truth: it is withholding the fact that God knew what choice would be made. This statement, therefore, is no proof that a different result was purposed from what actually occurs. This is so evident, that some divines have argued, in order to avoid the difficulty, that God did not know how man would choose, and, therefore, could not be chargeable with any blame for giving an existence which terminates in an endless curse. The celebrated Dr. Adam Clarke has reasoned in this manner. If he were right in this particular, God might be said to purpose the salvation of all men; for we often form purposes which are never accomplished, and if God is ignorant, like us, he may do the same.

It should be remembered, however, that God is not thus ignorant; that he sees the end from the beginning; and, therefore, when he created man, the result of that creation was present with him, and that result, whether good or bad, must have been purposed. Hence we must either say, God purposed the endless misery of a part, and the endless happiness of a part, or say that all mankind will be heirs of grace; for the termination of his government, whatever it may be, was originally purposed.

Let us take another mode of reasoning. I have said that all plans are perfect or imperfect

according to the minds by which they are formed; and that, as God is a being of infinite knowledge, his plan of salvation must be absolutely perfect. I will ask your attention, therefore, while I proceed to point out some of the characteristics of such a plan.

1. It must be sufficiently broad to embrace all mankind.

If an individual should invite his friends to an entertainment, but make provision for only half the number to be present, we should pronounce his arrangements sadly imperfect, and accuse him of a lamentable want of wisdom. But would he be more unwise than God, if his plan of grace reaches only half he desires to save? Suppose we adopt the common sentiment, which teaches that all who die without faith in the Savior will be lost; we have then a plan of grace professing to seek the salvation of all men, and yet having no provision by which to reach one half of the race. Is this perfection? Could we say of such a system, that it is perfect? Does it show that God is good unto all mankind?

2. A perfect system must have no contingencies which can defeat its accomplishment.

Divines talk much about human agency, the liberty of the will, and the conditions of salvation. We have no time to examine these points. It will be sufficient to state, that we believe in human agency, in a freedom of the will, and in conditions of salvation. We subscribe most fully to the opinion, that man is an accountable being; that he will be rewarded and punished according to his deeds. Every man is conscious of such an accountability; and any system of divinity