the influence of his own lusts. In either case, the agent is perfectly free, and follows what is the bent of his own heart: only, in the one case, the heart is renewed, and in the other it is left under the power of its own depravity. Josiah and Cyrus both fulfilled the counsels of Heaven; the one by burning men's bones on the altar which Jeroboam had raised, and the other by liberating the Jews from Babylon. Both these events were foretold hundreds of years before they came to pass; and the very names of the agents were declared hundreds of years before any persons of their name were known in the world. Sennacherib also fulfilled the will of Heaven, in punishing God's offending people: "Howbeit he meant not so, neither did his heart think so; it was in his heart only to aggrandize himself at the expense of other nations." But God, by all, accomplished "the counsel of his own will:" and in all things "shall his counsel stand, and he will do all his will."]

4. That by all, whatever their conduct be, he will eventually be glorified

[That God will be glorified in the obedience of the righteous, is a truth which needs not to be confirmed: whatever they do, it is "to the praise of the glory of his grace:" and at the last day the Lord Jesus will come "to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe." But will he be glorified in the ungodly also? Yes. He declared that he would "get himself honour upon Pharaoh and all his hosts":" and this he did by overwhelming them in the sea: and so he will do, also, in the destruction of the wicked, at the last day: he will then make known the inflexibility of his justice, and "the power of his wrath :" and the whole universe shall be constrained to say, "Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments."]

Having thus explained the declaration in my text, I proceed,

II. To improve it—

All Scripture is said to be "profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness," or, in other words, for the establishment of sound doctrine, and for the enforcing of a holy practice. For these two ends I will endeavour to improve the subject before us.

And,

1. For the establishment of sound doctrine

[The doctrine which I hinted at, in the commencement of

e Isai. x. 7.

h Exod. xiv. 17.

f Eph. i. 11

g Isai. xlvi. 10. i Rev. xvi. 6, 7. and xix. 2.

this discourse, is strongly insisted on by the Apostle Paul; and the words of my text are adduced by him in confirmation of his statement. He is shewing that God, in the exercise of his mercy to the Jewish nation, had acted altogether in a way of grace, according to his own sovereign will and pleasure that he had entailed his blessings on Isaac and his seed, instead of imparting them to Ishmael and his posterity; and, in like manner, had again limited them to Jacob, the younger son of Isaac, and withheld them from Esau, the elder son. This had God done "in order that his purpose according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that called." Then, knowing that the proud heart of man would rise against this doctrine, and accuse it as "imputing unrighteousness to God," he further confirms his statement by express declarations of God to Moses: "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:" and from thence he draws this conclusion; "So, then, it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy." To this declaration he adds another of a similar tendency, addressed to Pharaoh, even the very words of my text: "For this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth:" from which words he draws again this remarkable conclusion; "Therefore hath God mercy on whom he will have mercy; and whom he will, he hardeneth."

Now here the doctrine of election is stated in the strongest and most unequivocal terms. But let not any one imagine that the doctrine of reprobation is therefore true. God has not said in my text, "I have brought thee into the world on purpose to damn thee, and to get glory to myself in thine everlasting destruction:" no, there is no such assertion as that in all the Holy Scriptures. There is, in the Epistle of St. Peter, an expression which in sound has that aspect; but, when properly explained, it has no such meaning. It is said by him, "These stumble at the word, being disobedient; whereunto also they were appointed!." But to what were they appointed?to disobedience? No: but to make that word, which they would not obey, an occasion of falling. God has ordained, that "they who will do his will, shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of Godm:" but that those who will not do his will, shall stumble at his word, and find the Lord Jesus Christ, as revealed in it, "a rock of offence, yea, a gin also and a snare"." This will throw the true light upon our text: God did not

k Rom. ix. 7-18.

1 1 Pet. ii. 8. m John vii. 17.

n Isai. viii. 14, 15, compared with the fore-cited passage from

St. Peter.

bring Pharaoh into the world on purpose to destroy him: but, foreseeing the inveterate pride and obstinacy of his heart, he raised him to the throne, where he would have an opportunity of displaying with effect those malignant dispositions, and would thereby give occasion for God to glorify himself, in an extraordinary display of his justice and his power, in the punishment of sin.

Here, then, we see the electing grace of God. God chose Moses, who had been in rank and authority the second person in the kingdom of Egypt, to be the deliverer of his people. Moses, when called to the work, declined it again and again; and might well have been left to reap the bitter fruit of his folly. But God, by his Spirit, overcame his reluctance, and upheld him in the performance of his duty. To Pharaoh he gave not this grace; but left him to the power of his own lusts. In making this distinction, God did no injury to Pharaoh. Neither Pharaoh nor Moses had any claim upon God. If, when Moses declined the honour which was offered him, God had transferred that honour to Pharaoh, and given up Moses to the evil of his own heart, he would have done no injury to Moses: Moses would have brought the punishment upon himself, by his own wickedness: and God had a right to bestow his grace on whomsoever he pleased: and consequently, in leaving Pharaoh to harden his own heart and to perish in his sins, whilst he shewed mercy to Moses, and made him an honoured instrument of good to the Jewish nation, God did no injury to Pharaoh or to any one else: in the exercise of mercy, he acted as an Almighty Sovereign; and in the exercise of judgment, he acted as a righteous Judge, in perfect consistency with justice and with equity. We see at all events the fact, that "God did, after much long-suffering, make known on one his wrath, as on a vessel of wrath that had fitted itself for destruction;" and that toward another "he made known the riches of his glory, as on a vessel of mercy which he himself had prepared unto glory." The exercise of his mercy was gratuitous and without desert; but the exercise of his displeasure was merited and judicial.

Now what is there here to be offended with? The fact is undeniable: and, if God was at liberty to exercise his sovereignty in such a way then, he is at liberty to do it still: and if he may justly do it in any case, as that of Ishmael and Isaac, or of Esau and Jacob, or of Pharaoh and Moses, he may with equal justice do it in every case. Let us, then, not ignorantly and proudly deny to him a right, which all of us claim for ourselves even that of dispensing our favours to whom we will. If no one has a claim on him, no one has a right to complain

• Rom. ix, 22, 23. See the Greek.

if a favour which he despises is withheld from him: on the other hand, the person on whom that special favour is conferred, must to all eternity adore the sovereign grace that has dispensed it to him.]

2. For the enforcement of a holy practice

[All of us, whether high or low, rich or poor, are in the station, which God, in his infinite wisdom and goodness, has allotted to us. The rich therefore have no reason to boast; nor have the poor any reason to repine. The different members of our own body have not all the same office: but God has "placed each member in the body, as it has pleased him;" and for purposes which each is destined to accomplish. One great duty is common to us all; namely, that of discharging to the utmost of our power our respective offices, and of bringing to God that measure of glory of which he has made us capable. God is, in reality, as much glorified in the submission of the poor, as in the activity of the rich. The eye, and the foot, equally subserve the interests of the body, whilst discharging their respective functions; and equally display the goodness of our Creator, in so administering to our wants. Let us then simply inquire, what that service is which we are most fitted by capacity and situation to perform; and let us address ourselves to it with all diligence. If placed, like Pharaoh, in a post of great dignity and power, let us improve our influence for God, and account it our honour and happiness to advance his glory. If called, like Moses, to labour for the deliverance of God's people from their spiritual bondage, let us execute our office with fidelity, and never rest till we have "finished the work which God has given us to do." Thus shall we acceptably fulfil the ends of our creation; and God will be glorified in us, both in time and in eternity.]

p If there were occasion to speak more fully to Ministers, here the subject might be amplified to advantage.

LXXII.

THE DANGER OF DISREGARDING THE WORD OF GOD.

Exod. ix. 20, 21. He that feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh, made his servants and his cattle flee into the houses: and he that regarded not the word of the Lord, left his servants and his cattle in the field.

THE word of God in every age has met with a very different reception from different people: from the antediluvian scoffers to the present moment, the generality have deemed it unworthy of their attention,

while a few have regarded it with reverence and godly fear. Never had any declaration a better title to belief than that to which the text alludes: Moses had already, in the space of a few days, foretold many judgments, which were instantly inflicted or removed according to his predictions; and since they had not been effectual to subdue the stubborn heart of Pharaoh, he announced the determination of God to send another judgment on the land of Egypt, even a storm of hail and lightning, which should destroy every man and beast that should be exposed to its fury. There were many however who despised the threatening, and disdained to send their servants and cattle to a place of shelter; but others, who had profited by past experience, used with eagerness the precaution suggested to them

From this circumstance we are led to shew,

I. How a regard for God's word will influence men here

In all temporal concerns men are affected by any report in proportion to its credibility and importance

[If they hear of any great good that is placed within their reach, they feel a desire after it springing up in their minds: if there be some considerable probability of their attaining it, their hopes are excited, and their endeavours multiplied in order to secure it. If the possession of it appear near and certain, they already congratulate themselves on the expected acquisition, though not without a mixture of anxious suspense. On the other hand, do they hear of any great evil that may come upon them? they begin to be disquieted: does it approach nearer and nearer? they think how they may avoid it, and use every precaution that prudence can suggest: does it appear imminent and almost unavoidable? their fears and anxieties are proportionably increased. Nor are these effects peculiar to any times, places, or persons: they will be found on examination to be invariable and universal.]

Thus it must also of necessity be with respect to men's spiritual concerns, in proportion as what God has spoken concerning them is believed and felt

[Suppose a person to be thoroughly persuaded that, "except he repent he must eternally perish;" that, "except he be born again of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven;" and that, "he that hath the Son hath life,