nor, after they have sinned, is he under the smallest obligation to eradicate their depravity, and restore them again to a state of holiness and bliss. If he were bound to do these things, the operation, as I stated before, would not be grace, but debt. The learned professor of Divinity in Trinity College, and Arminians in general, maintain, that God has conditionally bound himself to give a new heart, faith, repentance, and other graces. They allege, that he has engaged to give these things to all who sincerely seek them. He has promised, they tell us, to give his holy spirit to them that ask him. In all this there is a complete fallacy. Arminians here are altogether mistaken. In the whole sacred volume there is not a single promise made to the prayers or endeavours of unregenerate men. In the prayers and endeavours of unregenerate men there is nothing of the nature of true virtue-nothing that is well pleasing in the sight of God. Their prayers and other endeavours cannot be acceptable, because they do not proceed from faith; for without faith it is impossible to please God-they cannot be acceptable, because they do not proceed from love. Nothing can be acceptable that proceeds from a mind filled with enmity. If we give all our goods to feed the poor, and have not charity, (love) it will profit us nothing. Finally, unregenerate men have no regard to the divine glory, and therefore their prayers and other endeavours are altogether unacceptable. Whether we eat, or drink, or whatever we do, all should be done to the glory of God. Arminians talk absurdly when they talk of the sincere prayers, and endeavours of unregenerate men.. In an unrenewed heart-in a heart filled with pride, enmity, and unbelief, there can be no true sincerity-no godly sincerity. There may be a sincere desire to avoid misery, or a sincere desire to be happy. The Devil himself has this sincerity. But there is no sincere love to God-no sincere love to his law-no sincere love to holiness. In a word; an unregenerate man has no sincerity which is truly virtuous, and, on this account, well pleasing in the sight of God. God has not promised his spirit, as Arminians suppose, in answer to the prayers of unregenerate men. It is true he has promised his holy spirit to them that ask him: but how must they ask? Is it not in faith? And does not faith presuppose regeneration ?-and does not regeneration presuppose a previous influence of the Holy Ghost? When our Saviour says, Ask and ye shall receive, and assures us that every one that asks receives, &c. he only intends that species of asking, seeking, and knocking, which is accompanied with faith. (Matt. xxi. 22,) “ All things "whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall "receive." The Apostle James teaches the same doctrine. (James i. 5, 6,) "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God-but let him ask in faith, nothing wavering." That the promises of the Gospel are not made to every species of asking, seeking, and knocking, is evident, not only from the above cited texts, but the spirit of God posi tively declares, with regard to certain characters who are not believers, (Prov. i. 28,) Then shall they call, but I will not answer: they shall seek me early, but shall not "find me." It is only the prayer of faith that God has promised to hear and faith, the Apostle assures us, is "not of ourselves, it is the gift of God."* : Dr. Graves fully admits, (p. 273,) that we cannot pray. acceptably till God previously pour upon us a spirit of grace and supplication: and thus we are furnished with a striking example of that species of sophism, which logicians denominate "reasoning in a circle," circle," or the "circulating "syllogism." Ask Doctor Graves how we are to obtain faith; he will say, By prayer. Ask him again, How can we pray acceptably? he will reply, By faith. That is to say, acceptable prayer precedes faith, and yet faith precedes acceptable prayer! Such is the contradiction in which the Arminian system involves one of its most learned advocates! It is therefore abundantly evident, that when a man believes and repents, God is the first mover. It is God that Arminians endeavour to evade the force of this text by a grammatical criticism. They say, it cannot be faith that is the gift of God; for the relative Touro, being in the neuter gender, cannot agree with TITI, which is feminine. Now, if this criticism be admitted to be just, upon the very same principle, Arininians might contend, that in Phil. i. 28, salvation is not said to be of God; for TOUTO, in the neuter gender can no more agree with the antecedent Ts in the one case, than with gaya in the other. The truth is, that in these cases, and others that might be adduced, the neuter relatives do not refer immediately to the feminine nouns that precede them, but to the word owings understood. has made that man to differ from his unbelieving and impenitent neighbours. The Arminian says, No. The man himself was the first mover. By his earnest prayers he moved God to grant him faith and repentance. But, let me ask the Arminian, who poured upon him this spirit of grace and supplication? who enabled him to pray so fervently? Surely it was God. The Deity then was still the first mover, and still it was God that made him to differ. Dr. Graves maintains, that all the divine promise and dispensations are conditional. I grant, indeed, that certain privileges are promised on certain conditions; but then I maintain, that, in all those who are saved, God himself works those very conditions. Salvation is promised on the condition of faith; but, in all those who are saved, God himself works this condition. Faith is the gift of God. Jesus Christ is both the author and finisher of faith. Unto you it is given, says the Apostle, not only to believe, but to suffer for his name. The conditions which are mentioned in Scripture, are conditions of connexion. There is a real and inviolable connexion between faith and salvation. It is the duty of all to believe, and all who believe shall be saved. These propositions are both true-but it is equally true, that none will believe, but those whom God by his omnipotent grace persuades and enables to embrace Jesus Christ, freely offered to them in the Gospel. To all others the Redeemer may say, as he said to the unbelieving Jews, "Ye will not come unto me that ye may have life." No less unwilling are those who believe, till in the day of his power God makes them willing. The careful student of the sacred volume will easily perceive, that what God enjoins as a condition, and commands as a duty, he has elsewhere promised as a privilege. Wash ye, make ye clean, is a duty commanded; but what is thus commanded is elsewhere promised. (Ez. xxxvi. 25,) "Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean; from all your filthiness and from all your idols, will I cleanse you." The conditional promises to all the heirs of glory are converted into absolute promises. For instance, "If ye are willing "and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land,” is a conditional promise, but it is turned into an absolute promise thus; Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy "power. Arminians look only at one side of the subject, at the conditions of the promises; but they seem to forget that those very conditions God has promised effectually to work in the souls of all who shall be finally saved. Sup. posing, for a moment, the Arminian doctrine to be true, that all the promises are conditional, and that the conditions of the promises depend on the self-determining power of the will; then it is possible that no promise should ever be fulfilled. For example, "He that believes shall be saved," is a conditional promise. Now, if it depend on the free will of every man whether he believe or not-if every individual may reject the Gospel, then all may reject it, and none may be saved! According to this Arminian tenet, it is in the power of free will to frustrate the whole work of redemption. God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life; but the free will of man may render all this love useless. Notwithstanding this love, all may perish and not one be saved. Jesus Christ loved his church and gave himself for her. "He was betrayed, forsook, denied, "Wept, languished, prayed, bled, thirsted, groaned and died; "Hung, pierced and bare, insulted by the foe, "All heaven in tears above, man unconcerned below!" -But it is in the power of free will to render all that Jesus Christ has done and suffered quite vain and without effect. His love may have been exercised in vain, his blood may have been shed in vain, and the ransom, the price of our redemption, paid in vain! Doctor Graves tells us, that the Holy Spirit may be resisted, quenched, and grieved: upon his own principles he might have added that his mission, and all his gracious operations, may, by the free will of the creature, be rendered altogether vain and ineffectual. "Time flies, death urges, knells call, heaven invites, "More than creation labours." -But all the exertions of Father, Son, and Holy Ghostof prophets and apostles, pastors and teachers-of God, angels and men-all these mighty and combined exertions to save sinners, may ultimately prove utterly abortive: the perverse will of man may completely counteract and frustrate them all!-the old serpent may prevail over the seed of the woman-Michael and his angels may be completely foiled, whilst the devil and his angels enjoy an eternal triumph! All this may be done by Arminian free will! Free will must turn the balance; free will must decide, whether the dragon or the lamb shall be ultimately victorious! According to the Arminian system, and the plain language of an Arminian poet, "God wills-Almighty man decrees, By the omnipotent power of free will the almighty power of God may be counteracted, and all the promises he has made relative to the success of his Son's undertaking, may fail of accomplishment! God, who cannot lie, promised eternal life before the world began; but Arminian free will can frustrate this promise!-God, who cannot lie, promised that Jesus Christ shall see his seed, and prolong his days, and that the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand; but Arminian free will may determine, in opposition to all these promises-that the Redeemer shall never see one of his seed-one of the travel of his soul-that he shall never be satisfied, but for ever discontent-that the pleasure of the Lord shall never prosper in his hand-that he shall never obtain the heathen for his inheritance, nor the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession! These promises, with regard to us, are all, I humbly conceive, absolute; but free will can frustrate them all! It depends on free will, according to the Arminian, whether any one of them shall ever be accomplished! In vain do Arminians attempt to evade the force of the preceding reasoning, by saying, that God foreknew that free will would determine otherwise. The evasion will not do. It makes bad worse. The foreknowledge of contingent events involves a contradiction, as we shall afterwards see: and we all know that contradictions can solve no difficulties. But were we to suffer such contradictions to pass; and were we to admit that God foresees that some will believe, though at the same time they may never believe—still the evasion would not do. Were every iota to come to pass exactly as God had promised, still it was not God that fulfilled those promises. Were I to promise that Dr. Graves shall preach first Christmas-day in the Castle Chappeland that the Lord Lieutenant shall be a hearer; and were all this to come to pass as I had promised; surely nobody would say that I fulfilled the promise. The Doctor's preaching does not depend upon my will but upon his own willthe Lord Lieutenant's hearing does not depend upon my will |
