show that the hypothesis of man's ability to construct a system of Natural Religion, independently of ideas derived from Divine Revelation, is unsupported by any conclusive arguments; that it is contradicted by experience, and by the history and character of every religious system; and that it stands in hopeless antagonism to numerous well authenticated facts. The hypothesis, therefore, we must reject; and we are forced, with a constantly growing conviction, to the conclusion, mortifying indeed to the pride of human reason, that supernatural revelation is absolutely indispensable to the knowledge of even the first, and fundamental truth of Natural Religion. t. t.

ART. VIII. - Divine Sovereignty, manifested in Divine Predestination, is the only security for the Use and Success of Means.

Why do men so dislike, and so revile, the doctrine of predestination? Is it because they have examined it well and thoroughly, and therefore understand it well and thoroughly; or is it because they have neither examined it nor understand it; that they denounce it with such hearty bitterness, and hold it up to the universal scorn of mankind? We ourselves have no fancy for a doctrine worthy of such odium. If predestination be all that its enemies say it is, then we have not, any more than anybody else, the slightest motive to take up this rewardless burden, and bear it to our injury and our shame. We do not wish to endure any volunteer infamy, nor to suffer in the cause of doctrines hideous, appalling, and ruinous to the denominational prosperity of all people believing them. But we have a few things to say in accordance with the heading of this article, which will show, as we trust, that all this denunciation of predestination is the sheerest misunderstanding and misrepresentation of this whole matter, as found in the creeds and upon the lips of its advocates and defenders.

And first of all, it may be asserted that the atonement, like all the other acts of God, was and is the result of divine and eternal predestination. And further still, it may be stated, that all the results of the atonement, in all their extent. and in all their vari

ety, and in all their endless duration, are purely and efficiently and forever from this same source. There is no reason, there is no efficient cause, outside of the divine purpose, why the atonement should have a successful issue. Without this purpose of God, ever moving with efficacious power and never-failing success, the atonement would have been a failure, and a blot and an eternal dishonor upon the character of the great Jehovah. But that stupendous work of divine mercy is not suspended for its success upon any thing short of God's eternal and efficacious purpose. "He shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the glory of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied." Isaiah liii: 10, 11. No power of men or devils can turn aside or defeat the fulfillment of this language. The triune God will see the results of the atonement, and be satisfied. The work will be complete to the utmost jot and tittle, and therefore the satisfaction perfect and eternal. And it will be so for no other reason than that God holds the whole affair in his own hands, and will rule it all and complete it it all by and according to his infinitely wise, omnipotent, and eternal purpose. If there be any one failure, in any one place or period of the world; if God has "visited the gentiles and failed to take out of them a people for his name;" if Christ "has redeemed us out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;" if that "great multitude out of all nations, which no man could number;"-if all these do not correspond to the very utmost of extent, and to the very utmost of duration, and to the very utmost completion of the divine foreordination, then has the divine government failed, and Christ cannot see the full travail of his soul and be satisfied. Let him believe this who can. The day of judgment will be an exact and eternal expression of the designs and results of the atonement. For if it be not, then have the designs of God been defeated, his intelligence has been outwitted, and his power successfully contested. From all this it is manifest and irresistible, that the atonement owes its existence, and its entire success in, and among, and over all people, to the eternal exactitude, definiteness, and compass of sovereign foreordination or predestination.

This same doctrine is also taught by all those prophetic Scrip

tures which relate to the power, the spread, and certain triumph of the Gospel. These predictions, so absolute and so numerous, can be made upon no other ground than the divine and eternal purpose to accomplish them. Just as the prophecies relating to Nineveh, Babylon, Tyre and Egypt, were but manifestations of the divine purposes in regard to those cities and countries, so the predictions, relative to the present and future power and success of the Gospel, are but a preceding manifestation of God's will, purpose, or predestination concerning it. All prophecy is full of, and is a proof of predestination.

The divine sovereignty, in the use and success of means, is also taught in all those passages which attribute salvation to God's will and good pleasure. "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." Luke xii: 32. All the benefits of this kingdom is a predestinated gift, the good pleasure of God. The adoption of children through Jesus Christ is according to the good pleasure of his will. Ephesians i: 5. Not according to worth, merit, or deeds, but according to that good pleasure which works all things after a wise and predestinated plan. But if the making of men Christians, be an act of God's mere good pleasure, certain and unfrustrable, then the means to this end are equally certain and unfrustrable.

That there is no hope whatever for the use and success of means, except in the divine and sovereign intention to render them definitely and certainly efficacious, is irresistibly implied in all those passages which wholly deny that salvation is of man. "Born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." John i: 13. "Who hath saved us, and called us with a 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 Timothy i: 9. "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us." Titus iii: 5. Now all this salvation, so wholly denied to be of man, and so wholly asserted to be of God, was given us by a predestination of mercy in Christ Jesus, before the world began. And if so, the means by which all this is accomplished must be equally predestinated, both as to fact and effect. Means are only wise as they are appointed of God, and they are only effectual as

they are rendered so by His eternal and merciful intention. Whatever He does is but the manifestation of what He designed to do from all eternity; and wherever and to whatever extent means become effectual, it is but the manifestation of a purpose existing from of old, from everlasting. As, therefore, the atonement itself depended upon and resulted from an eternal purpose, so likewise its end and object depend wholly upon the same invincible and infallible power. And as the making, and completion of the atonement could not be defeated, nor in any way nor by any power turned aside, so all the means by which its intentions are to be fulfilled are equally certain of present and ultimate success.

And as neither earth nor hell could prevent the atonement from being made, so neither earth nor hell can prevent the preaching of the Gospel from being successful. "The kings of the earth may set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his Anointed," and against his Gospel, but "He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh, the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure." Psalm ii: 2, 4, 5. But without the sovereign and eternal purpose of God to be with his ministerial servants, and to give divine efficiency and certainty to their labors, who could hope for anything beyond laboring in vain and spending his strength for naught? Upon any other ground than a divinely predestinated success, the work of the Apostles and all their true ministerial successors was, and is, and will continue to be, the most preposterous undertaking ever devised or attempted by man. And the only thing which can fully and fairly and forever relieve it from such a charge, and elevate it to the loftiness of supreme wisdom, is the wondrous success which God has given it. But that success is the exact measure of the predestination concerning it. "So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereunto it is sent." Isaiah lv 11. : This reveals the divine. purpose in regard to the divine word. It sets the preaching of the Gospel in the light of hope, and supports it by the energy of faith. It sets all defeats and all enemies at defiance. Hope, courage, and confidence spring up, before such an unfolding of

the divine intentions in regard to all true ministerial labors. The burden of this revelation is certainty, absolute certainty, to the very utmost extent and to the very minutest exactitude; and this is the secret and inspiring power of all true ministerial toils, energy, perseverance, and efficiency. And just as this predestinated certainty animates the heart of the Church and the ministry, so will their zeal become steady, their fidelity true, and their activity more evident and more ardent. And what we have said in regard to the atonement and the preaching of the Gospel, is equally true in regard to all the other means of grace. Their efficiency depends wholly upon the sovereign appointment of God.

And now, for a moment, let us inquire what the atonement, what Revelation, what the ministry, and what all the other means of grace would be worth, were it not for their predestinated efficiency and object. We assert, in the light of Scripture and in the confirmation of all human experience, that they would be utterly and forever worthless, a mere manifestation of folly, weakness, and discomfiture. They would be a failure and a defeat, an annihilating reflection upon the whole character of God. And if the success of these divine appointments is to depend upon anything outside of, and independent of, God's everlasting intention concerning them, then their universal failure is just as certain, as every other agent is incompetent to the production of such an effect. The Church of God is a certainty; and its successes among the nations of the earth are a certainty; but upon what grounds? Is it upon the ground of self-efficiency, ministerial efficiency, water efficiency, or divine efficiency? The ministry is a means, and water is an emblem, and both stand in their appropriate place; but all saving efficiency is of God. Means are powers; but they are only instrumental powers. But God himself is a power which operates directly and efficiently upon the soul. He opens men's understanding, that they understand the Scriptures. He opens the heart of the people, and then they attend to the things spoken by the ministry. He prepares the heart, and then the Gospel becomes instrumentally the power of God unto salvation. He opens men's eyes, and then they see wondrous things in the divine law. He does not change the light, nor modify the light, nor in any way alter the natural condition